There are comments and opinions that deserve no reply, especially at a time like this in Ekiti, when political jobbers and their sponsors are out to score cheap political goals, however, ridiculous. The off-calendar Ekiti governorship election is two years away and it is natural for ambition to have set in for individuals who want to slug it out with Governor Biodun Oyebanji.
A short piece by certain Idowu Osatuyi was recently shared on various social media platforms with the above title and it caught my attention like other Ekiti patriots. On the first glance, I dismissed it as a puerile outburst from perhaps a frustrated social media errand boy who was looking for how to vent his anger but on a second look and the issue raised, I felt the urge to address some of the issues.
I don’t know the writer and so I’m not sure if he stays in Ekiti or relies on jaundiced hearsay from a pessimist who has chosen not to be moved by the development strides of the BAO administration in Ekiti. My conclusion about whether the writer lives in Ekiti or not is born out of the fact that the thrust of his story doesn’t in any way reflect the situation on ground.
First, Osatuyi started on a ridiculous and embarrassing note when he declared in his first paragraph that Ekiti people celebrated the 2024 yuletide season in sorrow because they had nothing to celebrate with. But this is far from the truth. In a state where workers were paid a new minimum wage in December and the salary was paid before Christmas, it is not true that the yuletide season was poorly celebrated. Even the pensioners benefited from the minimum wage signed into law by Governor Oyebanji and these senior citizens had a truly merry Christmas.
Since Oyebanji became the governor, prompt payment of salary and pensions as well as payment of outstanding salaries, pensions, gratuities and even deductions has been the order of the day.
Besides, I’m a member of a social club in my locality and 80% of our members are teachers and local government staff. Before and during the yuletide period, I experienced firsthand the reflection of the joy and happiness in various homes as a result of Oyebanji’s promptness in his constitutional duty.
Still on the season, the administration is not unaware that not all Ekitis are civil servants and so the government rolled out a strategy through which a 50kg bag of rice was sold for N40,000 in the open market. As part of the measures to spread happiness across, the Oyebanji administration has consistently promoted local content policy and this informs while local vendors are being patronized for supplying basic needs, including gifts and food items. During the Eid prayers, Easter and Christmas, the bulk of what the government distributed were supplied by local vendors.
On the endorsement of BAO for a second term by Local Government staff, I can say categorically that the decision was informed by the Governor’s excellent performance and how he has responded to the yearnings of the people in the areas of infrastructure development, human capital development, women and youth empowerment, power infrastructure upgrade and healthcare delivery among others.
For workers, who have collected their salaries uninterruptedly for two years without any hitch, it will not be out of place if they express their appreciation. Did I hear you say it’s their constitutional right? Yes, it is, but we have witnessed in Ekiti, occasions where they were owed for months. We have witnessed in Ekiti when workers were said to have been paid on television but received nothing. We have witnessed in Ekiti where people were promoted on papers and no reflection on salary. It is on and on.
The writer also made reference to President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Enugu. For God’s sake why can’t we pause momentarily and speak to facts rather than pontificating? Must President Tinubu be in two states at a time? That the President hasn’t been invited to Ekiti in recent times is not enough for anybody to conclude that Oyebanji has not done enough to attract a Presidential endorsement. For example, in the last two years, he has completed the Ado-Ekiti Central Bus Terminal, the Ekiti Council of Traditional Rulers’ Chamber, ten Secondary Health Facilities, major street lights, re-connection of Ekiti East, Aiyekire and some parts of Ekiti West and Ikole Local Government areas to the national grid after many years of darkness.
The Oyebanji administration has also undertaken and completed new projects such as rehabilitation of many roads in Ado-Ekiti, Ikole township road and rehabilitation of the Ilawe-Igede, Ado-Ilawe roads, Ikere-Ilawe, Erijiyan-Ilawe roads. The administration has also reconstructed the Igbara-Odo-Ikogosi road among others.
Another area I findy very disturbing was the reference to the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport. On this, the said Osatuyi gave himself away as someone who was only out to politicize every achievement of this administration. How can someone pretend not to see the recent development in the state and still go ahead to throw a salvo in the midst of practical achievement. Just recently, the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) commenced the calibration of landing systems at the Airport in readiness for commencement of commercial flights operation. This came barely a month after the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) granted approval for non – scheduled flight operations at the airport for a period of six months. What other evidence does the writer need to measure the achievement of the Oyebanji administration on the Airport?
Finally, it appears Osatuyi has reduced our respected traditional rulers to mere ‘amala’ and ‘gbegiri’ politicians with his conclusion that they are not being fed well by Governor Oyebanji. This is Ekiti where dignity and self-esteem is sacrosanct. Perhaps one need to remind the writer the father-son relationship between the Ekiti traditional rulers and Governor Oyebanji, which dated back to 1996 when the Governor, then a young lecturer , served as secretary to the committee on the creation of Ekiti State , where he related well with the traditional rulers, who were the main force behind the state creation campaign. Now, as Governor, Oyebanji sees the welfare of the traditional rulers as a major priority.
Osatuyi’s gaffe is legendary and I will advise him to focus more on facts and figures rather than fiction. Ekiti people can read between the lines and cannot be distracted by his purple lies.
*Akingbolu, a Journalist writes from Aramoko Ekiti.
