In the face of the serial endorsements currently going on in Ekiti political space, for a governor who has spent just two years of his constitutional first term of four years, it is not inappropriate to genuinely appraise the situation. In this regard, every reasonable mind has to objectively look at a crucial part of democratic governance as being practiced in Nigeria constitutional democracy.
In the executive realm of political governance, an individual is allowed to have a two-term tenure of four years each. However, it is never a guaranteed adventure, but a right which could only be utimately secured by the rights of the majority of the electorates. Meanwhile, how the electorates decide and make their choices is of a great concern in a developing democracy like ours. But if the truth must be told, one of the main criteria for a sitting governor to seek a re-election should be how far he has done with his or her initial campaign promises. Has he or she measured up to the standard that he/she can ask for another term?
And more relevantly, in the case of Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, who has only spent few days above two years in office, and one of the main trending issues in the state’s political space is his serial endorsements for a second term. What really brings to the fore the endorsements? Can we genuinely rate him as far as fulfillment of his campaign promises is concerned? Is he really on track in this regard?
Remarkably, while electoral promises form crucial part of democratic elections, it can also be a very complicated business, especially, considering the dramatic nature of our electoral system. Therefore, in most cases, while their feasibility is often questionable, a thorough evaluation is also made unrealistic.
However, when it comes to electoral campaign promises, building trust with the people is crucial for a politician’s success, to achieve this, politician should honour his words and keep to his promises. This is not just only by showcasing expertise and ability to deliver on the promises, but also by ensuring that the electorates as well as the general public are able to feel the realities of such promises. In this, they will see transparency in governance, accountability in public finance as well as genuineness in socioeconomic development and growth.
In this vein, let us take a look at the campaign promises of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, and relate it with what he has done so far. This is by assessing him in this regard relying on major promises made during the campaign processes that led to his election on June 18th 2022, particularly in his campaign manifesto document during the gubernatorial debate interestingly titled “The Promise of an Ekiti man to His People.” And then the agenda made at the official launch of his manifesto at the Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye Hall in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, April 26th 2022, where he presented a six-point agenda which he described as his strategic plan of action designed to focus on critical growth areas the state needs and to deliver the future that the people of the state want.
The six-point development agenda included; Youth Development and Job Creation, Human Capital Development, Agriculture and Rural Development, Infrastructure and Industrialization, Arts, Culture and Tourism as well as Governance. Two years after, how far as he gone and why are they calling on him for a second term at this particular time?
The importance of youth development, especially in a developing countries like ours can never be overemphasized. So, it is not unusual to see it forming fulcrum of any agenda of a serious government. Significantly, effective attention to the needs of young people is critical for the future of every society. With the larger percentage of youths forming the population of the state, development of the group becomes more crucial.
In the last two years, thorough assessment of Oyebanji’s administration offers a perception of government in tandem with what youths really want. It is a fact that the government has unprecedentedly serve as an inspiration to a growing number of Ekiti youths, this is not just by his inclusive style of governance but also via sustainable empowerment and development. He has made substantial investments in acquisition of digital skills and promotion of innovative ideas. It is noteworthy to mention that over 500 youths has been trained in digital skill across different skill sets through Ekiti State Digital Academy in partnership with Tech4Dev & Meta.
On February 29th 2024, Ekiti Future Agenda, which I am honored to convene had a Roundtable with the theme Let’s Talk About the Ekiti Knowledge Zone: Its Mission and the Missing Points, this particular roundtable was informed by the misconception about the Ekiti Knowledge Zone, at the event , the Commissioner in charge of the project, Seun Fakuade, who was the Lead Discussant made a good number of stunning revelations about the prospects and the opportunities of the project, one of it was the approval of the Zone as a Free Trade Zone which will provide 12,000 jobs for young people in Ekiti.
Also recently I had the privilege to have an official conversation with the Commissioner for Youth Development, Adebayo Gold, where he provided developmental strides of his ministry in the last two years. These cut across various areas of youth development, growth and empowerment. Personally, I am interested in governance above politics, and in this regard, I could see that the pre-electoral promises as far as youth is concerned was never a misplaced priority. The Youth Resource Center situated within the ministry is a good testimony to what a state could do in ensuring that a good number of the youth populace can have access to contemporary facilities that will make them relevant and productive in this current age. This is designed and promised to be replicated in the sixteen Local Government Areas of the State.
There is no gainsaying in the fact that agriculture and rural development has been one of the main action points of Governor Oyebanji’s administration, in fact it is a central pillar of the administration’s development focus. Remarkably, on October 31st 2024, the Ekiti Future Agenda also have a special Roundtable on food security. This was with the theme- “achieving food self-sufficiency and improved agricultural production in Ekiti; the way out.” the event which was chaired by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwatife, and attended by a good number of relevant stakeholders in both private and public areas of the sector was mainly with the aim to resourcefully engage the stakeholders in agricultural sector towards genuine development and growth of the sector cum Ekiti State’s economy.. The highly successful event provided the public with a wide range of achievements of the administration in the agricultural sector in the last two years, especially in fulfilling the campaign promises. These included and not limited to allocation of 1,535 hectares of arable land to 66 farmers and investors across the two farm settlements and five farm centres, signing of MOU with Cavista Holding to boost cassava farming and develop offtake markets for farmers in Ekiti State, payment of N60M as counterpart funding for the World Bank-financed L-PRES counterpart contribution to develop the livestock sector, and the activation of $800,000 support from the World Bank, collaboration with FG to commence registration of farmers for the FG National AGRO pocket scheme (NAGS-AP) and distribution of inputs, mapping and profiling of livestock farmers. (11,000 farmers has been profiled), distribution of Agro chemicals worth N80m and 18,000 bags of assorted fertilizer to all farmers within the state at no cost to the farmers. And more importantly, over 1000 youths are currently involved in active agribusiness through government – private partnership initiative.
I strongly believe at this point that, the serial endorsement notwithstanding, the most relevant thing at this moment is what Governor Oyebanji has done with the half of the four years already in his possession. He should be judged by how far he has fulfilled his campaign promises so far.
In all, while I personally think that, for genuine development to take place, as a developing democracy, we must always think about governance as most important thing other than politicking. However, I will not agree that those who choose to play politics at this stage of Governor Oyebanji’s administration are not entitled to their opinions. Meanwhile, the most important issue is that whatever is being done in the process, the Governor should be aware that the mandate of four years is still intact, it is just half way and any distraction at this particular time is not healthy. He should just concentrate on how his works and achievements will continue to speak for him.
Adesina Adetola is the Convener of Ekiti Future Agenda, a nonpartisan cross-generational organization.