Ekiti kete, it gives me a great delight to address you on the occasion of the 63rd Independence Day celebration of our great nation and more importantly, the 27th anniversary of the creation of our dear Ekiti state. Twenty-seven years ago, during the 36th Independence Day broadcast, all Ekiti sons and daughter clang tightly to their radio and television gadgets, waiting with anxiety, to listen to that historic breaking of the news of the Federal Government's pronouncement of Ekiti as a State.
For me, today is historic and self-fulfilling, it also brings a lot of memories, being my first State Broadcast as governor on an occasion like this. It is self-fulfilling because it gladdens my heart that providence has granted me a rare opportunity to be the Governor of the same State I was part of the movement that struggled for its creation on a day like this 27 years ago by the military administration of Gen. Sanni Abacha.
For the State Creation Committee, it was like a dream; even though the Committee had done everything to deserve the eventual announcement, yet, we were all overwhelmed with joy that the “Epic Struggle”, did not end in vain.
It is difficult to believe that 27 solid years have thus far passed since the State was created. While everything seems like yesterday, we have abundant reasons to say indeed, the creation was justified. In terms of physical and economic development, our State has moved on progressively. Politically, the State is now an important factor in Nigeria’s political enterprise. In many aspects of Human Development Indices (HDIs), we have excelled.
Ekiti is a front-liner in education, life expectancy, access to quality healthcare services, physical infrastructure development, access to water, peace, ease-of-doing business, gender equality, social inclusion among others. Gradually and assuredly, Ekiti is building a formidable profile of a progressive and development-oriented State that is poised for inclusive prosperity for all.
Èkìtì kete, an occasion like this provides us another opportunity to pay homage to those who fought for the independence of this Great Nation and the creation of our dear State. While it will be difficult to mention them individually, for they are many, we acknowledge the individual and collective roles they played to give us a nation and a State today.
We must also acknowledge the great work done by patriots who have at one time or the other presided over the affairs of the State and gave their best for the development of Ekiti. These include His Excellency, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, the first democratically elected Governor of the State; His Excellency, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, the immediate past Governor of the State.
Also on this list are the pioneer Military Administrator, Late Colonel Inua Bawa (rtd); Navy Capt Atanda Yusuf (rtd); His Excellency, Dr. Peter Ayodele Fayose; Late General Idowu Olurin; His Excellency, Engr Segun Oni; Rt. Hon. Tope Ademiluyi and Rt. Hon Tunji Odeyemi.
In this world that Williams Shakespeare says is a stage, and we are all players, they have played their parts creditably well. But the business of nation building is a going concern, it is never a completed task. Each generation is faced with different challenges, and the test of their place in history, is how well they are able to courageously confront the most pressing of their contemporary challenges. Today, we are generally faced with the web of challenges of insecurity, unemployment, poverty and inequality.
It is in response to these contemporary challenges that we came up with the six pillars of our administration’s development agenda, which primarily, is to ensure a shared prosperity for all Ekiti people. We are determined to ensure job creation and life abundance for our people. We believe in inclusive growth and collective development without leaving anyone behind. As it can be seen in our efforts so far, our Government is very focused and strategic in our development drive. We want to ensure every policy and programme is connected to the chains of Ekiti Development Plan 2021-2050 and the focal six pillars of administration to deliver the shared prosperity promise.
As an administration, we acknowledge that one of the dreams of our founders is that government is a continuum and that no administration is an island from those before it and that, development must be integrated, continual and strategic. Therefore, we see our Government as a continuation of those before us and that government projects that were ongoing or abandoned before we took over, but, which are useful to the socioeconomic development of the State, must be completed.
For example, we have 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. We have also undertaken new projects such as rehabilitation of many roads in Ado-Ekiti. We are continuing with the Ikole township road, just as we are rehabilitating the Ilawe-Igede, Ado-Ilawe roads, Ikere-Ilawe, Erijiyan-Ilawe roads. We are also reconstructing the Igbara-Odo-Ikogosi road among others. More projects will be captured for execution in the ongoing budget preparation exercise.
Similarly, I am committed to the dreams of the founding fathers to utilize our abundance mineral resources for the economic development of the State. To achieve this, the State is already working with appropriate Federal Government agencies that will invest in the exploration of our God-given mineral resources. This is a major way of creating wealth, increasing internally generated revenue and realizing the shared prosperity agenda of our State.
My word to you today, is that, the Ekiti Dream of our founding fathers remains our creedal confession and the sole mission unto which we are committed. We will not allow their dream for an egalitarian and inclusive society where fairness, probity, justice, equal opportunity and prosperity for all, is guaranteed, to fail.
Ekiti kete, there is no doubt that times are hard now and tough for most people and government. We are nationally contending with serious macroeconomic slope which is affecting our micro-economic management capacity at sub-national and even at the individual levels. The current economic challenges is as a result of a confluence of economic issues that have spiraled into galloping inflation which has rendered income earners almost prostrate.
While this can be traced to past policies inconsistencies, it is even more traceable to some other complex macroeconomic mishaps that have affected our foreign exchange regime. Consequently, every segment of the country is seriously affected by this challenge.
Yet, a hot pap must be sipped gently so as not to cause more damage unto an already precarious situation. Accordingly, government and labour have been in constant engagements for sometimes, I am pleased to note that the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is confronting these challenges frontally and the country will be better for it in the long run.
On our part, we have undertaken some interventions to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal on our people. Apart from the direct food distribution and cash transfer to the most vulnerable, Government has also made buses available to staff and students, especially in the state capital, to ameliorate the cost of transportation. We therefore appeal to our Local Governments to replicate this in their respective Local Government Areas.
Beyond this however, is that, the Federal Government has promised that there will be a wage review across board soonest. The good news is that, even, for those not earning salaries directly from government, with more money available for workers as more disposable income and more money for government to undertake critical infrastructure development, more jobs will be available and the circular flow of money will ensure that the current monetary challenges will give way to the envisaged shared prosperity.
I therefore want to appeal to the organized labour movement to exercise absolute patience and dialogue in resolving the current economic challenges. We cannot afford to compound the already tensed situation by shutting down this extremely fragile economy. It will be like cutting one’s nose to spite one’s own face. Whatever may be gained thereafter will be nothing but a temporary victory which would have done an incalculable damage to the economy and which may be difficult to reverse in the immediate.
Finally, I want to congratulate all Ekiti people for the 27th anniversary of our state creation and to thank those whose toil and sweats brought it about. As we are thankful to God for how long we have gone as a people, we also need to reflect on the unity of the past that gave us the State and the need to do even far more to achieve more.
Once again, happy anniversary!
Long Live Nigeria
Long Live Ekiti State.
Biodun Oyebanji
Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria
Sunday, October 1, 2023 | Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
