Biodun Oyebanji's top 10 Campaign Promises

Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji, popularly known as BAO is the 5th democratically elected Governor of Ekiti State. He won the popular vote in the June 18, 2022 polls with a total of 187, 057 votes, which represented 53.16% of the total votes cast. According to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the election recorded a voter turnout of 36.5%, the lowest voter turnout in the democratic history of the state. 

Born on December 21, 1967, in Ikogosi-Ekiti, a historical town that hosts the popular cold and warm water springs. It is located in Ekiti West LGA. One of the five local government areas in the Central Senatorial district of Ekiti state.

Oyebanji has a bachelor and Masters degree in Political Science from Ekiti State University and the University of Ibadan respectively. He has served in public service through appointments or as a member of committees at various points. Serving as Chief of Staff, Commissioner, Director and until his resignation in 2021 was the Secretary to the Ekiti state government in the John Kayode Fayemi's second term.

Oyebanji’s rhetoric and actions since his election have communicated unification, commitment to due process, and a strong resolve to better the lot of Ekiti kete (a culturally significant call used to emphasize the oneness and unity of all Ekiti people). 

AdvoKC carefully analysed 122 of his campaign promises collated from sources ranging from community & media engagements, the gubernatorial debate and his campaign manifesto document, interestingly titled "The Promise of an Ekiti man to His People." 

This was done in recognition of the development needs of the state and the resources available to it. We have now extracted our Top 100 promises which we will track over the next 4 years of the Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) administration.

In this article, we shine the spotlight on our ten most important promises and why they are integral to delivering development to the people of Ekiti. 

Promise 1 –

Deliver a structured reward, training, and monitoring program to improve and motivate teachers.

Rationale: Ekiti state boasts a literacy rate of 84.9% and currently has the best teachers-pupils ratio in Nigeria, which is 1 to 28. Over 1.9 billion naira has recently been deployed for the Operation Renovate All Schools (ORASE project) to strengthen infrastructure across schools in the state. Yet teachers posted to rural communities in Ekiti State have been found to always refuse their postings, citing poor incentives and lack of basic amenities as the reason. This leads to a shortage of teachers in rural areas, making it difficult to ensure effective education in these areas. 

Promise 2 –

Extending the road projects from JKF 2.0

Rationale: Extension of strategic road projects begun in JKF 2 such as the Ado- Iyin road dualization to Aramoko, Agbado – Ode-isinbode , Oye- Ikun – Otun road, amongst others, that serve as feeder routes for the Cargo Airport, Knowledge Zone, and Agro Processing Zone is critical to optimize for maximum value on those investments.

Promise 3 -

Optimize Egbe and Ero dams to supply portable water across the state

Rationale — The Egbe and Ero dams have been under construction since 2020, a 19.8 billion naira investment co-funded by the World Bank.  The dams, at full capacity, will supply 1 million cubic litres of pipe-borne water daily to 10 of the 16 local government areas in the state.

Promise 4 –

Restructure the Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA) into an Enterprise Trust Fund run as a PPP, with seed funding from the state government

Rationale —Despite MEDA enjoying a robust capital allocation within the last 3 years. On the ground, performance indicators are suboptimal. Fixing this gap is important because the combined impact of a critical mass of successful MSMEs would be catalytic for Ekiti’s local economy. An enterprise trust fund run as a PPP is likelier to experience better management, have a larger capital pool due to higher investor interest, and be efficiently deployed to yield premium returns for all stakeholders.

Promise 5 –                                                       

Institute a mechanism to ensure adherence to Standard Operating Procedures across hospitals

Rationale — Maintaining standards in service delivery across health infrastructure in the state is critical to ensure equity and improve the quality of the health index. This mechanism will hugely influence operations and budget, and enforce a duplication of best practices across health care installations in the state regardless of where they are located or who they serve.

Promise 6 –

Implement existing laws and policies that have been put in place to protect vulnerable people and women

Rationale — To solidify the impressive work done by the Fayemi administration to protect women, children, and people living with disabilities. Recently enacted laws such as the 2019 Revision of the 2011 Gender Based Violence Act, the Naming and Shaming of Sexual Offenders Act, the 2020 Sexual Violence against Children Act, and the Compulsory Treatment and Action Care law, amongst others, should be thoroughly implemented.

Promise 7 –

Complete the rural roads project to ensure at least 500 kilometres of farm roads are completed by 2024

Rationale — A World Bank co-funded Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (EK- RAAMP) targeted at delivering 1000 km of rural roads is currently in progress in the state. The project will expand market access for agricultural produce, improve the Farm to Table experience for consumers, reduce wastage and increase profit margins for rural farmers. 

Promise 8 –

Raise the financing required to commence the Ekiti Special Agro-industrial processing zone

Rationale- Ekiti has received approval to be a part of Phase 2 of the Africa Development Bank project to build and finance Special Agro-industrial processing zones across the country. 

This zone will develop priority value chains through developing infrastructure in rural areas to finish and transform raw materials and commodities. This will help optimize the use of farm produce and unlock opportunities for smallholder producers to increase productivity and grow incomes. This holds the promise for rural development through agro- industrialisation and expanding the space for small, micro and medium enterprises to succeed and scale. 

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Promise 9 –

Design a set of programmes to optimize tourism, e.g. a comprehensive mapping of historical sites and capacity-building initiatives to meet employment needs in the tourism

Rationale –

A Tourism Economic Impact Assessment on Nigeria in 2012 by the World Travel and Tourism Council revealed that Ekiti State has the required tourist resources to enhance her economic landscape and hence, witness steady growth economically.

This resource has still not been effectively harnessed till date. Combined revenue from the state's major tourist attractions in the last four years is less than five million naira. A basket of creative interventions, programmes and policies is still needed to change things quickly for the sector. 

Promise 10 –

Prioritize the implementation of the 30-year Ekiti State Development Plan and ensure policies and budgets are aligned with the plan

Rationale —The Ekiti state development plan (2021 - 2050) envisioned by the Fayemi Administration is designed to make Ekiti State the fastest growing and wealthiest subnational within thirty years by transforming the state into an economic hub and a knowledge zone in the long term.

The ten promises spotlighted above is a snapshot of the quality of vision possessed by the BAO-led administration and a bar on which Ekiti indigenes everywhere should hang their expectations. 

This new government is critical to the metamorphosis of Ekiti State into a major economic and knowledge zone in the country as envisioned by the 30-year development plan initiated by Dr John Kayode Fayemi. That transformation is important to building the socioeconomic profile of Ekiti and ultimately drives human, capital, and infrastructural development in the state. 

At Advokc,  we are committed to traveling this journey with Abiodun Abayomi Oyebanji day by day, step by step, and promise by promise. More importantly, it is our sincere prayer that BAO succeeds.  

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