Since the return of civilian administration in 1999, Ekiti State has produced five governors: Otunba Niyi Adebayo of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Engr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Progressives Congress (APC); and Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the APC.
None has attracted or received huge adulation for style more than the incumbent. BAO, as the governor is fondly called, has become a brand, a reference point, and a home-boy leader in whom the indigenes and residents are well pleaded.
Today, the blood of all Ekiti flows in the veins of the Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji government. The over 120 towns and villages are in one accord. Gone are the theatres of war and rumours of violence. There is peace in the ruling party, the government it midwifed, and the state. There is no scandal. There is no controversy. There is no bickering. There is no media confrontation. There is no protracted antagonism. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. Ekiti is not in the news for the wrong reasons.
Twenty-nine years after its creation, the state is in the safe hands of its youngest founding father, who keeps the vision and hope alive. As Ekiti gazes at 2026, the collective focus is the continuity of good governance under the people-friendly governor who has demystified power and mobilised the people to take ownership of the administration.
Nearly all the bigwigs in the Fountain of Knowledge state have endorsed him for a second term. They cut across the ruling and opposition parties. It is unprecedented. Greater is the number of townspeople, particularly the voters, who have endorsed him in their hearts without voicing it. In every district, constituency, local government, town, and ward where the endorsements have taken place, there is justification. It is just too easy to point to the imprints of the current administration in every neighbourhood.
It is a big lesson to his colleagues in some other states, especially those who are distracted by the predecessor-successor crisis they brought upon themselves by their lack of knowledge, experience, foresight, hindsight, and tact.
Read Also: Oyebanji’s compassion, humanity and politics
Oyebanji stands tall in character, sincerity, and integrity before the common man who is more interested in the distribution of the dividends of democracy than plunging with the players into the murky waters of politics. Across the sensitive sectors, there are no letdowns in the scorecard.
There is public trust because the governor is straightforward, loyal to the state, and genuinely concerned about the yearnings for improved welfare. Workers, pensioners, traditional rulers, top politicians, traders, and youths are perceptive that a new foundation for future prosperity is being erected.
There is inclusion. There is an open-door style of governance. But Oyebanji has also been firm and decisive in decision-making, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programmes dictated by need analysis.
The humility of his heart and soul is legendary. Never allowing power and the prestige of a transient position to draw the wool across his eyes, BAO is still the pre-2021 BAO – simple, tender, respectful, and wiser. He accords the elders due respect and encourages a system of problem-solving. The picture of a governor prostrating for his elders in public is not showmanship; it is spontaneous, voluntary, and cultural. It is an expression of the internalised beliefs, values, and virtues of an Omoluabi.
The inclusive policies of his administration have birthed the expansion of the structures of participation and responsibility. The masses’ involvement has engendered commitment and fostered a sense of belonging among the people who are linked by historical factors as “One Zone-State” and not by accident of geography. A sense of involvement is a core and tangible dividend of democracy.
As an Ekiti man to the core, the governor’s grassroots exposure is a vital asset in boosting communication and cementing the bond with the countryside. Since he is approachable, channels of information and feedback on government policies and programmes are also accessible. Equipped with the Ekiti dialect he enjoys speaking, there is no perceived aloofness and remoteness. Oyebanji does not forget that he needs to check on his old teachers, former barber, cobbler, old mates, a political ward, or those who played the game of draughts on the streets with him that a good habit is not only for the fun of it. Critics may impugn a populist tendency. But the governor, in the process, feels the pulse of the people in his environment and what good governance entails. He practicalises service delivery and he discovers the areas his administration needs to improve upon.
Yet, BAO, the political scientist, is also adept at diplomacy, which he taught his students of Foreign Policy at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, in the mid-nineties. The nucleus of his administrative style is the application of tact – to the extent that being diplomatic entails a problem-solving skill that enables him to restore order and normalcy in any situation without upsetting the two sides in a dispute.
The corollary is native intelligence, which has greatly assisted the governor of the complex and politically sophisticated state in tackling challenges through reasoning, understanding, and judgment in a moment of grave anxiety.
It is also a rare display of wisdom for someone who knows so much to also be so calm and reticent to the extent that observers are logically content that a slice of butter would not melt in his mouth.
That image of a powerful man who nevertheless cannot hurt a fly has been helpful so far in his politics of penetration and consensus-building. Oyebanji became a unifying factor, with the past governors who never politically saw eye to eye now joining hands to build a protective shield around him.
He is an APC chieftain, but through his exceptional inter-party relations, Oyebanji, who also has many Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members enjoying appointments in his administration, is also reaping the partisan benefits of political tolerance and accommodation.
It is gratifying that the multiple endorsements have not diverted his full attention from state duties to praise singing. The governor is focused on the implementation of people-centred developmental policies, programmes and, particularly, infrastructural projects that are evenly distributed across the three artificially delineated senatorial districts. There is balance. There is equality. Also, there is equity.
There is the element of luck in Oyebanji’s political ascendancy. Being a true Christian, he understands that it is the special grace of God that has ensured his survival on the slippery political field.
It would be strange, and indeed, counter-productive, if the governor changes this unique style, for whatever reason, with the passage of time. The character should persist so that he can also remain a man of honour.
Next year, he is expected to break the second-term jinx. The feat would also make him a reference point in Ekiti politics.