By Segun Dipe
“Continuity gives us roots…” -Pauline R. Keizer
DRIVE DOWN to Ekiti today to see change. It’s an unusual change derived from continuity of a party in government. Until recently, the State was known for the power-must-change-hands kind of politics. But for the first time, in 2022, the people voted for change in the form of continuity, and this has resulted in a tremendous transformation. The people experienced a smooth exchange of baton within a party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and everyone became eager to see the outcome of the experiment.
Today, the experiment seems to have worth it. Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, codenamed BAO, is not allowing the electorate to regret their choice of voting for him as a symbol of continuity in the State. It is indeed a risk worth taking.
Continuity, if allowed to thrive and not taken undue advantage of, can lead to a better network in many areas of life. People feel the impact, the society feels the impact, projects feel the impact, and even the workers who are usually afraid of allowing a political party to rule them back to back, lest they are taken for a ride, are now feeling the positive impact of continuity.
In many of his pre-, during and after election speeches, Gov Oyebanji had vowed not to re-invent the wheel, but to sustain the legacy of his immediate predecessor in office. He promised that if he would be remembered for anything, it is that he was able to complete all the projects embarked upon by ex-Gov Kayode Fayemi.
Oyebanji is not a neophyte to governance. He had served in many governments, he had seen the impact of discontinuity across Nigeria and their untold effects on the people. Even where it was being argued that government was a continuum, Oyebanji knew what power lies in a governor to redirect his energy and want to breathe fresh air, instead of being suffocated by the legacy of a predecessor. But he decided not to toe such path common to many incumbent governors.
The effect of charting new paths by succeeding governors has shown tell-tale signs that no real baton exchange was done. The baton must have been deliberately dropped and the speed of progress impeded by egoistic tendencies. Much as every government initiates projects with the intention to develop the society and improve on the welfare of the people, completing them by succeeding government becomes an impossible task, especially when it is another party that has produced the succeeding government. The new party in power would want to initiate an entirely new project and abandon the one inherited from the previous administration.
The reason for the above is predictable. Most governors who come on board afresh are legacy hunters. They want to erase what was and replace them with what is. They want to start on a clean slate and rush to finish their own projects so as to carve out a niche for themselves. In essence, they do not want to waste their energy and resources on projects for which they might have to share the credit with their predecessors. This justifies why we see abandoned projects littering the space, not minding the amount of money that might have gone down the drain as a result. These are the projects tagged white elephants.
In the right sense of it, toeing the line of continuity of government (CoG) is the best way to go. It results in consolidation of all that is good and prospers the society. Projects are sustained and people can have a long term vision without disruption.
One such projects that the people of Ekiti can point to as a gain of continuity is the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport (EAICA), which recently received the approval of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to commence flight operation from 15th December 2024. When compared to what is happening in a contiguous state that had equally embarked on the same huge project, we see the effects of continuity or discontinuity in the outcome today. We see how party succession has played a part in the execution. Earlier in the year, Gov. Oyebanji had assured that the project was not a white elephant as some cynics kept insinuating. He further assured that the airport would become operational before the year rolls out. And the promise has been kept.
Why didn’t Oyebanji come up with the usual excuse that would have kept the project in abeyance? Why didn’t he cite poor siting of the airport as it’s happening in another state right now as reason for slowing down on it, so he could seize that opportunity to either gift his own community with it or forget about it and start something else from the scratch? He could justify such options, but he chose the path of honour, put Ekiti interest first and prove to the world that continuity pays.
The Cargo Airport is not the first project that Oyebanji had inherited from Fayemi and would see to its completion. There is the Rural Access and Agricultural Project, RAAMP, which was initiated in 2021, during the second term of Fayemi and which Oyebanji has sustained. There is the Ado-Ekiti Ultra Modern Bus Terminal, which was inaugurated by Governor Fayemi in his time, and which Oyebanji in his tenure, allowed his predecessor in office to open for operation last year. There is the Traditional Council Chamber also commissioned in 2023 by Oyebanji, but which was a brain child of Fayemi. These are just very few of such projects that continuity of a party in government has cured of going the way of white elephant.
Oyebanji is not just continuing the legacy of his predecessor in office, he is also consolidating on those of other former governors that had ruled in the affairs of the State since its inception. He is busy tapping from all his predecessors in office, beginning from the first civilian governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, to the second civilian governor, Engr Segun Oni, to the third, Ayodele Fayose and then his immediate predecessor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who happened to be both the fourth and sixth in office. He consulted them all and consolidated all their achievements into one. So when next you want to have a peep into the strategy being employed by the sitting governor and why he is enjoying peace like a river in deploying the gains of democracy to his people, look no further than that he has taken from all who reigned before him. Wisdom. Oyebanji is consolidating to safely navigate the hitherto stormy waters of Ekiti politics. His mantra is “No foe.” Those expecting the governor to heap blames on any former governor for whatever might have gone wrong in the past will therefore have to wait till eternity. Oyebanji sees the good in every past government and moulds every experience into a superb whole.
Now, how sustainable is such consolidation? Sustainability, through the eyes of the United Nations, means to responsibly meet the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. If Oyebanji must play according to this rule, then he must not embark on palliative projects, but enduring ones. To do so is to establish a growing rapprochement between himself and the electorates, who entrusted him with their votes in 2022. He must not only gain the people’s hearts but also earn their trust that he won’t compromise the future with the present.
It is rare in this country, Nigeria, to compare the present with the past and not to wish for a return to the past. But with Oyebanji in the saddle in Ekiti, everyone is praising the present as an improved version of the past. Not a few believe the present must sustain for a while and Oyebanji must be encouraged to continue in government till he is statutorily barred from doing so. The governor has also allayed the fears of his people, promising not to abuse their trust now or in the future.
Oyebanji is presently stabilising the fortunes of Ekiti State. No risk can be dangerous than thinking there is someone who can perform any better magic. Such deception had pervaded our political space for long and it is about time to give stability a chance, especially when there is a justifiable reason for doing so.
By the way, every 21 December is the Birthday of our phenomenal Gov. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. He doesn’t celebrate it and this year will not be any different. But it reminds us of his good deeds and determination to share prosperity among his people. It is in the light of this that we are wishing him a Happy Birthday. Your Excellency, surely, the lines will continue to fall for you in pleasant places.
* Segun Dipe is the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ekiti State
