A BISHOP’S ELOQUENT TESTIMONY ON OYEBANJI’S STELLAR PERFORMANCE IN EKITI
The BAO Impact Series No. 24
BY ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA
Governor Biodun Oyebanji keeps getting more admirers everyday across the length and breadth of Nigeria and even outside the shores of the country as the impact of his purposeful governance in Ekiti continue to reverberate.
Nigerians appreciate good governance if they see one and this will not only impress them but will also make them to urge others to emulate such for good governance to reach every part of the country.
Governor Oyebanji is a prophet who has honour both at home (in Ekiti) and other parts of Nigeria because of his servant-leadership style, unquenchable desire to better the lots of the people and superintending a government that prioritizes the welfare of the masses and leads with humility.
Humility and power are two direct opposites. Although Governor Oyebanji holds power given to him by the majority of the people of Ekiti State at the 2022 governorship election, he has continued to exercise it with humility and fear of God and this keeps the number of his admirers to increase in legion.
Because he possesses the character, ye has not been intoxicated with power but he has succeeded in handling it with humility and fear of God. Governor Oyebanji sees power as an instrument of service and not a sceptre to lord it over people and disconnect himself from the people he is supposed to serve.
He is a governor that has brought himself down to the level of the masses with whom he interacts without allowing the paraphernalia of power around him to create a wedge from reaching them. This is a governor that feels the pulse of his people, mingles with them, talks with them, visits them in their neighborhoods and business centres and even patronizes their businesses.
What Governor Oyebanji does with the people who elected him into office is not a mere tokenism; it’s not a fake public show to hoodwink the masses but a demonstration of a real character he had imbibed since his formative years.
Combining such virtues with widely acknowledged superlative performance that has made impact on the lives of the people he has led for nearly four years now has turned the governor into an admirable brand and l a very formidable candidate that will be very difficult to beat at the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti State.
Another testimony of the good governance presently being enjoyed in Ekiti State came from the pulpit few days ago. The commendation was not given by a cleric from Ekiti this time around but from a nearby state where people there are hearing of the impact of governance in the Land of Honour.
It came from no less a person than the Bishop of the Diocese of Akoko of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Right Reverend Jacob Bada. The setting was the funeral service held in honour of the mother-in-law of the Senator Cyril Fasuyi, the lawmaker representing Ekiti North Senatorial District in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly.
Anybody who hails from Ekiti or who identifies with Ekiti would be proud of what Bishop Bada said about Governor Oyebanji in his sermon at the funeral held for the late Madam Patience Omolola Adamu at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Arigidi-Oja Quarters in Arigidi Akoko, Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Hear what the Bishop said: “My wife is there, there is no time we don’t pray for BAO (Governor Oyebanji) and it’s our prayer that God that has done this for Ekiti should not forget Ondo State. If BAO will contest election ten times, he will always win.
“If everyone of you will understand, my body language this morning is to say you may have a wonderful calling, you may have a wonderful training but your character matters. BAO is humble to a fault and he is a God-fearing man. I don’t understand political song but at the appropriate time and in appropriate place you will sing political song.
“Whether it is your mandate I don’t know but I have the mandate of God to tell you the truth of the word of God. In everything we may do in the world, whether you were called as a governor, whether you were called as a deputy governor or the wife of the governor, you were called as a president, I was called as a bishop, we will all stand before the judgment throne of God.”
This writer is not sure whether Bishop Bada had met Governor Oyebanji in person. But good character, purposeful leadership and good governance cannot be restricted by natural or artificial boundaries. The news of the good works of the Ekiti helmsman travels far and wide and the bishop might have been following developments in Ekiti unknown to the governor himself.
It was good and fulfilling that a strong delegation from Ekiti State including the Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye; the First Lady, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji; the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Habibat Adubiaro; the Chief of Staff, Mr Oyeniyi Adebayo and National Assembly members led by Senator Yemi Adaramodu and other guests witnessed the episcopal endorsement received on Friday by Governor Oyebanji.
The public show of admiration of Governor Oyebanji by Bishop Bada in Arigidi Akoko should not be lost on the electorate who will file out in Ekiti to vote in the fast-approaching governorship election. The election provides them with a golden opportunity to vote continuity and consolidate the good governance already being witnessed in the state.
Ogunmola serves as Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media (Print Media).