There comes a moment in every meaningful journey when purpose becomes clear. For some, leaving home is an escape. For others, it is preparation.
For Olumide Kola-Lawal, it was always preparation.
Years ago, he left the shores of Nigeria with hope in his heart and determination in his hands, seeking knowledge, skills, and broader horizons. Across continents, he studied systems that function efficiently, institutions that deliver consistently, and leadership models defined not by rhetoric, but by measurable results. He experienced firsthand how transparent governance, innovation, and accountability can transform everyday life for citizens.
Yet distance never weakened his connection to home. If anything, it deepened it.
Because leaving was never about turning away from Nigeria. It was about gathering the tools necessary to return and build the Nigeria we deserve.
Today, as he continues his strategic stakeholder engagements and grassroots mobilization across communities in Lagos Central, that calling has only grown stronger. The pulse of our markets, the resilience of our small business owners, the creativity of our young people, and the determination of families striving for better lives are daily reminders of why this mission matters.
This is not politics as usual. It is service, grounded in lived experience.
What Lagos Central needs is not another cycle of promises. It needs practical solutions. Transparent leadership. Policies that open real opportunities for entrepreneurs, students, artisans, and professionals alike. It needs systems that work for the people, not against them.
The experience gained abroad must now serve our streets at home.
Kola-Lawal believes that sustainable development is not abstract theory; it is reliable power supply for businesses, quality education for children, accessible healthcare for families, and institutions that treat citizens with dignity. These are not luxuries. They are fundamentals of good governance.
And this campaign is bigger than one candidate.
It is a movement of Nigerians—at home and in the diaspora—who believe that our country is worth investing in. People who left to learn and are ready to return to build. People who know that global best practices can meet local realities to produce real progress.
The story is simple: we left, we learned, and now we return to build.
To build institutions that function.
To build communities that thrive.
To build a future our children will be proud to inherit.
The time to serve is now. And for Lagos Central, the time to rise together is here.
Olome Joseph writes from Nigeria
