HAUGHTINESS, THE ONLY “VIRTUE” BAO LACKS AS HE FACES 20 JUNE.
By Segun Dipe
In Nigerian politics, virtues are scarce, vices are worn like medals. Power intoxicates, and proximity to authority breeds a sickness many leaders never survive: haughtiness. The nose-in-the-air syndrome. The _“do you know who I am?”_ disease.
Yet as Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, BAO, approaches the 20 June governorship election, one truth rises above the billboards: haughtiness is the only “virtue” BAO lacks.
Watch the average politician after six months in office: The handshake weakens. The phone goes unanswered. The convoy lengthens. Distance becomes doctrine. Haughtiness becomes policy.
BAO caught the power but dodged the virus.
The absence shows with receipts in the streets where market women in Oja Oba still call him “our son” and he stops to listen. No sirens scattering tomatoes. That humility powered the reconnection of over 60 communities that had been in darkness for nearly two decades. Haughty men build flyovers to nowhere. BAO lights up villages.
In the civil service, when BAO cleared salary arrears and pensions, he apologised that it took long. He didn’t posture as “benefactor.” He pays doctors and health workers at par with federal counterparts and stays current on gratuities. Ekiti State University, EKSU, just became the first state university in Nigeria to implement the new ASUU salary structure. That itself is a big deal, but BAO is not seeing it as such. To him, it is stewardship.
In infrastructure, haughty leaders do foundation laying, BAO does commissioning. He has delivered 10 major roads and 25 others, with the second overhead bridge in Ado-Ekiti ongoing. The Ikole-Ara-Isinbode 20km road, which eluded his predecessors, was commissioned by the first executive governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo. BAO completed the Ekiti Agro-Allied Cargo Airport, project that spanned three administrations, and commercial flights now run.
In agriculture and youth, BAO's “Bring Back the Youth Into Agriculture” scheme paid N140m to young farmers for off-taken produce and recently shared N1.4bn profit among participating youths. Enrollment jumped from 1,000 to 5,000 in one year. He also paid N160m compensation to landowners for farm acquisition.
In education and health, BAO renovated 203 secondary schools and 900 primary schools, plus 9 general hospitals and 105 PHCs. Through _Ulerawa_, residents access free essential healthcare. The result? Infant mortality fell 57%, from 42 to 18 per 1,000. Ekiti now has the 2nd lowest out-of-school children nationally.
In fiscal discipline, haughty men would hide budgets. BAO topped BudgIT’s Fiscal Transparency League Q2, Q3 2024 and Q1, Q2 2025 and ranked 1st in Annual Growth Rate of IGR 2023.
In party politics, BAO attends ward meetings, hikes with youths, and runs quarterly stakeholder feedback sessions. 350+ groups, all former governors, and every NASS/State Assembly member have endorsed BAO for 20 June. Haughty men buy loyalty. BAO earns it.
Why will this matter on 20 June? Ekiti elections are not won by federal might alone. They are won in compounds, at naming ceremonies, under village trees. Ekiti people reject leaders who carry themselves away and embrace the likes of BAO who warm up with them.
The 20 June ballot is a referendum on temperament. Can this man still enter any community without a battalion? Can he play draught or _ayo_ at anywhere in Ekiti without cameras? Can he be real in his relationship with the man or woman on the street? If you don’t know, ask those who know.
BAO’s answer, backed by 80% completion of inherited projects and power licenses to 14 investors to move Ekiti from 20-25MW to 130MW, has been "Yes, I do."
That is why all the past governors, beginning with Niyi Adebayo to Ayo Fayose to Segun Oni and the immediate past, Kayode Fayemi, say they’ll lead BAO’s campaign from the front. The Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele has agreed to chair the campaign council that will ensure BAO's victory come June 20. It is the same reason teachers have sworn “never again” will they gamble with the future of Ekiti. Or why do you think the youths call him “BAO” not “His Excellency” – and he doesn’t arrest them for it? familiarity, not haughtiness.
Saying haughtiness is the only “virtue” BAO lacks is not canonization. Roads still need tarring – his 2026 budget targets massive township rehabilitation. Youth unemployment still bites – hence 2,000 youths are trained in AI, cybersecurity, software development.
Talking of the sins that bury second terms – detachment, arrogance, tone-deafness – BAO has avoided them. He refuses to buy the argument that he is too big for the people who made him.
The Verdict: Come 20 June, Ekiti will not elect an angel. They will elect a man. The man on the ballot who has structure and projects: Airport, Ring Road Phase 1 done, N415.57bn 2026 budget signed.
But BAO has something rarer: the ability to remain small in his own eyes while occupying a big office. In a country where power teaches leaders to look down, BAO still looks around. And looks you in the eye.
With 80% of inherited projects completed, infant mortality down 57%, and 60 communities relit, the data matches the demeanor.
Haughtiness is a “virtue” many master by year two. It is the only one BAO refused to learn even as he closes year four. On 20 June, that will be the difference between re-election and rejection.
Know this, know peace.
Segun Dipe writes as the Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekiti State.
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