Governor Biodun Oyebanji just marked his second year in office. In what passes as a midterm report, the Ekiti State chief helmsman on his achievements and challenges. Oyebanji speaks on how he is achieving peace and the giant strides he is making in agriculture among other issues. Excerpts:
As you reflect on your second year in office, what would you say has been your administration’s most impactful achievement in governance?
The last two years have been exciting; working as governor of Ekiti State has been a learning curve for me, and the experience has been a mixture of the good, the bad, and the ugly, but God has been faithful. I made a promise to Ekiti people that the government will provide a platform for them to prosper and whenever I see government policies responding to that promise either by providing infrastructure or supporting farmers and business owners, ramping up the security architecture of the state, paying pensioners their gratuities, paying workers’ salaries promptly, paying outstanding arrears and leave bonuses subventions and other services that make people happy, I am very grateful to God. I just want to see the people smile and live well.
In government, there are a lot of unknown variables but I see myself as a bit lucky because I was part of the last administration as the Secretary to the State Government.
That government laid a 30-year development plan for Ekiti State. So, it is like we have our job cut out for us and the six pillars of this administration are an offshoot of the perspective plan, and it recognizes the fact that one government can’t do everything at the same time, so priorities were set in achieving the set goals.
So, what we have done in trying to balance all the sectors is to communicate our priorities to the people, and in doing so, we have earned the trust of our people.
Ekiti people know that when the governor says he will deliver on a task, they take my word for it and we do not fail them. I want to be remembered as a governor that tells the truth all the time.
Each time I look back on my campaign promises to the Ekiti people, I realise I have fulfilled almost all, and that gives me peace of mind. Our policies and programmes have always corresponded to their needs and aspirations. We have also embarked on the process of the 2025 budget preparation by engaging our citizens at the senatorial district level, asking them what they want from the government in the coming year. As a government, we do not sit in our offices and just develop policies for our people, and this has deepened our transparency and accountability index in governance. That is the difference between governing the people and governing with them. We prepare our budget based on available resources and suitable to meet the needs of each community.
We have agreed at the Executive Council that we must meet the deadline of major projects in the third year of our administration and the third year budget is designed to address the completion of those projects but with emphasis on agriculture and the welfare of our people.
How have you tackled the issue of insecurity in the state to assure investors that Ekiti is safe to live, work, and invest?
Insecurity is a national and global challenge, but in fairness, Ekiti is still one of the safest states in Nigeria. Although we have our pocket of criminalities we are responding to that accordingly. We have been holding periodic security meetings with chiefs and major stakeholders in the state. What we have done is scale up intelligence because no matter how professional a security architecture is, if the intelligence is not accurate, there will be issues. So, now we have adopted a system in communities across the state that provides us with intelligence about criminal elements in society and that allows us to respond before they strike.
You will discover that some months ago, there were killings within the Ado metropolis, but our strategies were swift enough to counter the situation and restore others in the state capital. 99 per cent of the perpetrators have been brought to book, and justice has been served. I must also thank our people for volunteering information and for trusting us to handle the situation. After the killing of some of our Obas, we held a meeting with the Traditional Rulers’ Council, and we agreed to put in place what we call the ‘Agro Marshalls’ and they have been strategically distributed across farmsteads in the state to protect farms, farmers and host communities alike. We have also improved on our technology for the advancement of state security.
Ekiti used to be in the news for the wrong reasons especially in terms of political acrimony, but you appear to have changed the narratives. How have you been able to achieve this?
As a servant-leader, and every leader has a choice of how he wants to lead the people. I am an apostle of what they call soft power and leadership. It means you know that you have the power but you are careful not to misuse it. It means empathy and compassion. When God entrusted this office into my hands, I made up my mind that the only thing I will do on this seat is to serve Ekiti people in a way and manner that will bring development into this state. One of the basic ingredients of development is peace and I promised myself that as long as it depends on me, I will be at peace with everyone. I believe that politics ended after my swearing-in as the governor of the state and that day I took an oath to protect the Constitution of this country and to serve the people regardless of political affiliation. As the governor, I see all of us as indigenes of Ekiti not belonging to party A, B or C.
I also note that an average human being deserves to be respected and as a leader you need to humble yourself and respect your people; you must show compassion and it will be very easy for them to walk the path of development with you. So, in the last two years, we have exhibited the highest sense of humility, compassion, empathy and transparency. I know that if the led trust their government, it will be very easy to lead them and I try as much as possible to be truthful in anything I say. If something is within my power to do, I will do it and if I cannot do it, I will come back to explain to Ekiti people why I have not been able to do it.
So, we have exhibited trust as an ingredient of our politics. The people know that when their governor makes a promise, it may be late, it will be done. To all leaders in the state, they are critical stakeholders and I need their help in one way or the other and I run to all of them for advice. Let me say that I don’t go to them as a politician, I go to them as governor of the state and that makes it easy for them to relate with me. That is what is responsible for the peace we have in this state. As a leader, I have chosen the path of peaceful coexistence with everybody irrespective of political affiliations. It is a choice I have made, it has its own consequences and sacrifices but as long as the strategy translates to the development of our people, it makes me happy.
The price of people not accustomed to this style. You see some of our people telling me that I am not using my power. Some elements within my political party are also not comfortable with this posture. There have been a lot of ripples within APC with the choices I have made, but like I told them, it is in the interest of Ekiti people.
We don’t play politics with everything; there is time for politics and governance. So far, so good, I have the backing and support of critical leaders in the party and party members are getting used to this style. Don’t forget it is a new style in our politics in Ekiti and some feathers might be ruffled, but I thank God that our people are getting used to it.
We have the Office of Transformation, Service and Delivery (OTSD ) and they have carried out assessment of members of the Executive Council twice. And I have the reports, but I am a very fair person. I know ministries that we have supported, and I know those we have not been able to support. We are in midterm now; they will do another assessment, which will make it three and after that I will sit down with the DG of OTSD, to look at the performances of members of EXCO and if there are those that need help, we will help. And if there are those we cannot help, they will have to leave the cabinet, there is no doubt about that. I will be guided by facts and whoever that does not measure up to the threshold will leave the government.
What would you consider your most memorable day in the last two years in office?
I don’t know if you will believe what I’m about to tell you. I made a promise to the pensioners that I would pay their gratuities, and we started paying as promised. During one of the events where we distributed cheques to beneficiaries at the Lady Jibowu Hall, Government House Grounds, Ekiti State Chairman of the Union of Pensioners was addressing us and he said one of the local government pensioners who had been in the queue for over 14 years came to his office when he was called to pick up his cheque.
He asked the man what he would do with the money after waiting for so long to get his pension; the man replied, he would go and buy a mattress to sleep on. I almost wept when I learnt of this, and I have vowed to continue to offset gratuities, pension and other outstanding dues that are owed to our people. I count that as the most memorable day for me.
How would you describe your daily routine, and how have you been able to balance your social and work life as governor?
Let me start by thanking my wife for her understanding because she has been the one bearing the brunt of my busy schedule. Every day I have spent as governor has been filled with one activity or the other and, by the reason of this, we have barely spent time together. There are weeks that we don’t even see each other. I must express my profound gratitude to her and the children for supporting this cause. I don’t have a social life per se. I attend