By Wole Olujobi
His image looms larger than the man because he likes to tread both the charted and uncharted political terrains. A broad-based entity that thrives in communal ethos and amity in a complex social environment, like the archer, he takes his aim, training his ideal at the primacy of people’s place in the dynamics of power relations to achieve his development goals.
Not for him the grotesque essence of archetypal seasonal dice-throwers that fiddle with the intelligence of their people at the market squares at every election cycle. For him, vision, mission, brilliance, integrity, bluntness, courage, generosity of the heart, boldness of enterprise, unassuming social pedigree, fairness and genuineness of the spirit (as his religion teaches him), are potent weapons to fight political battles in the aid of the people.
His method is passing message to transcend the frontiers of social class and connect with the people at the intuitive, sincere level; to reinforce his energy of the spirit that is always on a quest for knowledge and conquests, and an abiding faith in his capacity, creativity, resilience, technical skills and emotional intelligence to rally others; all of which are necessary for a visionary leader to turn challenges to thrilling opportunities to achieve the objectives of his mission.
During campaigns, harsh critics dismissed former Secretary to the State Government, (now Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji) as a horrible shadow of a politician and rank mockery of a performer. But by the time he hit the loop, that shadow had receded to reveal a real, new sherrif that nobody ever thought would create a vista for a novel governance system that rallies varying interests in a common pool for the development needs of Ekiti people.
But then, the local political indulgences of the past validate critics’ biases against any hope for redemption. This is because, typically, power relations dynamics that rankle critical stakeholders will abort prospects for hope at conception. Alienation, a cruel instrument of repression by cloudy cohorts that thrive in lone benefit and comfort, is a wage to menace party members and the general public after their suffocating toils sweating it out on campaign trails.
This is also because typical electoral campaign promises are mere political rituals that eclipse with the festivals that accompany campaign razzmatazz, while development agenda blueprint is just one of the soiled literature texts that end up with groundnut sellers at the obscure corners where street trading thrives.
But not anymore! Those nightmarish conditions have since given way to a refreshing dawn in Ekiti State, as Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has now woken a compelling, new consciousness in Ekiti people that, indeed, in the comity of leaders, and in the most despondent of a political environment, a very beautiful soul can emerge to take people’s challenges as personal tasks with the best of intentions and principled discipline to offer solutions.
For him, governance is an art that thrives in collective responsibility and politics is the vehicle in the act of delivering on mission.
His vision is building a society that takes care of the present and the future. The method is the mobilisation of all stakeholders in the onerous task of providing succour for the people.
For Oyebanji, politics and governance are an organic whole in a systemic marriage of form and content. Moral principle is the content, politics is the form with which to transcribe the very purport of leadership’s vision in the service of the people; a rare application of moral and personality contents in public service to create development paths for the wellbeing of the people.
Call it governance unusual, it is just striking the right chord.
For the “People’s Governor” as Oyebanji is called, public good must be the centrepiece of holding power in trust for the people for a prosperous future.
Besides, Oyebanji has a thrilling spirit that craves for universal communion because he loves peace and cherishes amity in human relationships. And when he does that, his motive and motivation are borne out of a desire to expand his coast to strengthen his sense of tribe and community. For him, there is nothing greater than community spirit where one feels secure that he has delivered on a divine call to serve the people.
To achieve that informed Oyebanji’s engagements with all Ekiti people irrespective of partisan views and creed, for on assumption of office on October 16, 2022, Oyebanji leveraged his personal quality to profit from the need to eschew the animosity of the past by opponents and critics. He raced across the length and breadth of the state visiting his opponents in the governorship election and other stakeholders not keen on his election victory. And today, Oyebanji is a regular guest at every Ekiti home on a short notice or none at all, making him to be a leader to run a community government where every citizen has a voice.
Oyebanji enunciated his agenda for development at his inauguration on October 16, 2022, at the Ekitiparapo Pavilion in Ado-Ekiti, at a ceremony attended by the national and state leaderships of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including all the strata of the society, where he reeled out his six-point agenda, pledging to mobilise all social sectors of the state to build a prosperous Ekiti State for the general good of Ekiti people.
He also planned to create conducive environment for private investments to spur job opportunities for Ekiti youths, even as he pledged to continue to build on the progress made by his predecessors, notably Governor Kayode Fayemi, to create an economy that takes care of the needs of all.
So far, Oyebanji has posted sterling results in his six-point agenda encompassing governance, youth development and job creation through micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) financing and support, digital skills; vocational skills, Ekiti Knowledge Zone and sports development while education, healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social investment sectors also take the front seat.
In order to achieve the objectives of his mission, he reinforced his strategies for success through the introduction of Strategic Project Monitoring System to track MDA’s derivables, establishment of Export Trade Desk in the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry; approval of Export Strategy Guidelines and Policy to encourage export business in Ekiti State, including partnership with the China-Africa Discourse Studies to build technology training hub in the state for job opportunities while also strengthening procurement standards to ensure accountability. All these constituted the criteria that made Ekiti State to rank Number One in transparency and accountability across the nation.
Agriculture and rural development, infrastructure and industrialisation, arts, culture and tourism and governance sectors, all with multiplier effects for job opportunities, have also posted positive results.
Roads construction is one of the prime projects of the governor, as the long-abandoned roads now wear new looks across the state; the state capital, Ado-Ekiti, being a pointer to what is going on in other parts of the state.
Most prominent in several agriculture initiatives include the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Carista Holdings to boost cassava farming and creation of Agriculture Rangers to secure farms from threats of criminals, including construction of ultramodern dormitories in farm settlements across the local government areas in a determined effort to boost food security and create jobs, including transforming Ekiti State into the agricultural production hub of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo era in the Western Region.
In education sector, Oyebanji distributed computers with Disability Assistive Electronic Software in the three special schools in Ikere, Ido-Osi and Ijero local governments.
Students scholarship scheme has been restored, bursary benefits are paid, more schools, including model schools, are being built, thereby increasing school enrolment and taking school age pupils off the streets, and above all, Ekiti students are among young Nigerians that have taken the lead in the nation’s public examinations.
In his empowerment schemes, the governor constructed youths and women skills acquisition centres, in partnership with Coolplus Ltd, to train refrigeration and air-conditioning technicians, while constructing “Drop-in-Centre (skills acquisition) for out-of-school boys and girls. Today, Ekiti State Adire Hub competes with Ogun State in “dye and tie” clothing business, with many engaged productively to earn a living and strengthen local economy.
He has provided free mass transit scheme for workers and students while he has also constructed runway strip, control tower cabin and emergency operations centre, among other facilities, to ensure smooth operations at the Ekiti Cargo Airport with potential to create jobs, attract investments and exposure of Ekiti goods and services to the outside world.
Oyebanji also partnered the international development agencies in the World Bank-assisted Ekiti State Community and Social Development Agency (EKSCDA) and Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) to give Ekiti State a face-lift in basic infrastructure, notably rural access roads and water supply schemes, environmental protection through erosion control and disiltation, including provision of social amenities, such as medical centres, rural markets, electricity and rehabilitation of schools. Of note in electricity supply is that several communities that were in darkness for more than 10 years have now been reconnected to the national grid.
Deliberately, Oyebanji created State Capital Development Agency to give Ado-Ekiti a befitting face-lift that a state capital deserves, while the Office of Community Communications was also created for mass participation of the communities in governance process.
Oyebanji also enjoys cult followership among workers, including retirees, across the state over prompt salary and retirement benefits payment, which the governor routinely describes as a right.
As a man that takes integrity and performance credibility as essential elements of governance, his methods for service delivery include embracing Mid-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), an innovative financial and fiscal responsibility system, which emphasises openness and breaking administrative bottlenecks, for quick service delivery; including expanding and sanitising revenue sources while also ensuring quick payments for services delivered.
In the age of science and technology with an eye on sustainable development and job opportunities, Oyebanji also holds the ace, and this is where the governor triumphs as a model of futuristic leadership.
Today, Ekiti State is investing heavily in life-lifting schemes that conform to the millennium development goals agenda with heavy investments in technology in smart schools and Ekiti State Knowledge Zone.
Two years down the line, Oyebanji has deployed his genius to marry politics and governance in such a symbiotic fashion with the people at the centre of his policy, to create an enthralling momentum that takes Ekiti State to embrace development models with potential to survive the complex development challenges and prospects of the next century.
For whatever any cynicism is worth, particularly among his critics, fact is that this is the first time in the history of Ekiti State that the opposition leaders and their supporters are branding cars and other mementos to openly campaign for a sitting governor to run for second term in a scheme that already has the backing of all former Ekiti State governors from multi-partisan platforms.
This is also the first time that a sitting governor will unite a bitterly divided political elites in the state, to find a rallying point in that incumbent governor to bear the leadership mantle to chart development path for Ekiti people. As I write, the governor is meeting Ekiti people in their constituencies on non-partisan platforms to aggregate their inputs and views on the 2025 budget preparation.
Thus, Oyebanji is the Ekiti ultimate political prodigy and conscience of a reflective people in the dialectic of history.
Exploiting power to create an historical momentum in the life of Ekiti people, his method is using the instrumentality of politics to transform Ekiti State to a model of a prosperous society founded on a mutual, community spirit, which has indeed ignited an historical flowering of the opposition’s place and importance in a liberal democracy.
It is in recognition of these attainments that a top marketing publication, Marketing Edge, recently honoured Oyebanji with the award of ‘Best Governor in Inclusive Governance’ at a ceremony held in Lagos.
Great are Oyebanji’s mid-term score-cards, greater milestones are the targets he sets before the end of his first term to write his name in gold. Ekiti people yearn for good governance and right leadership. Oyebanji is that legend that bears the torch of hope and grace.
More balm to the arm of a visionary and hard-working leader in the task of building a prosperous and virile Ekiti State.
- Olujobi, a journalist and Commissioner in Ekiti State Local Government Service Commission, writes from Ado-Ekiti
*