On Thursday, Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji appealed to Nigerians to stop making negative comments and confessions about the country.
The governor also enjoined the people to support President Bola Tinubu in his determination to achieve a positive turnaround in Nigeria’s fortunes and ensure that its people enjoy a better standard of living.
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At the 2025 interfaith Thanksgiving service held at the Obafemi Awolowo Civic and Convention Centre, Ado Ekiti, the governor made these remarks.
He said Nigerians should be grateful to God for giving them a courageous leader like President Tinubu, who is not afraid to make decisions that are in the overall interest of the masses.
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Mr Tinubu, according to him, means well for Nigerians with his reforms, which he said are beginning to yield the expected dividends.
The governor also used the opportunity of the interfaith service to restate his commitment to work harder for the development and prosperity of Ekiti State.
Acknowledging the commendation of clerics at the interfaith thanksgiving service for the way he has been handling the affairs of the state, Governor Oyebanji said he has no excuse not to live up to the expectations of the people, noting that God had prepared him well for the top job with the experience he had garnered in governance over the years.
The Governor hailed the people of the state for investing their goodwill in the All Progressives Congress (APC) through their votes, which gave him the privilege to become their chief servant, who leads other dedicated men and women to make sacrifices for the growth and development of the Land of Honour.
“As the chief servant of the people, I make a promise again before God and before all of you that are here today that I will serve you with every fibre, every energy. I will serve you in truth, and I will serve you with a fear of God, and 2025 will be our year of accelerated growth and development for us as a state and individually,” he said.
Mr Oyebanji attributed the recent increase in allocation to the state, which has reflected in increased salaries for civil servants, other welfare packages for citizens who are not on the government payroll, and ongoing and completed projects, to the magnanimity of Tinubu, who approved an increment in allocation to states after the fuel subsidy removal.
READ ALSO: Expect more dividends from Oyebanji in 2025, Afuye assures Ekiti citizens
He expressed gratitude to Tinubu “for showing immense grace to him and the Ekiti people,” saying, “After God, whatever we might have achieved is through the President because when you find favour in the presence of the President, it translates to good things for our people.”
The governor noted that Tinubu’s policy shift is now being appreciated in some quarters that had earlier misunderstood him, citing the example of the decision of the management of THISDAY Newspaper to give the President the Man of the Year award in recognition of his courageous decisions in the overriding public interest.
Mr Oyebanji added, “Please, let us continue to support our president because it is in our own interest to do so. We must thank God that God made him president for a time like this. One of my happiest moments was yesterday (Wednesday) when I woke up and saw THISDAY Newspaper. They said Mr President is their Man of the Year, and you know that THISDAY and ARISE TV are highly critical of the president.
“They said that Mr President is courageous and that he is a strong-willed person. So, if that is coming from opposition elements, that means we owe it a duty to support the president. The president is human; if we continue to support him, I know that he will do more, and we are already seeing positive developments arising from what he is doing.
“We are able to do what we are doing in Ekiti State because we had an increase in allocations at all levels. These allocations wouldn’t have been possible if the president had not removed fuel subsidy. These are painful decisions, but no country eats its yam sets and does not pay for them. What President Tinubu is telling us is that we should not eat our yam sets, that we should invest them.”
Mr Oyebanji said, “As we enter 2025, our confessions about Nigeria should be positive. Most of us make negative comments about our nation, and there is power in our tongues. Let us speak positively to our own Jerusalem because that is what Nigeria is to us, so that all of us will find peace.”
He urged well-endowed Ekiti sons and fathers at home and in the Diaspora to emulate the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola, and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Wole Olanipekun (SAN), in mobilising support for the state government, leveraging their influence, resources, and goodwill.
He said the two frontline citizens have consistently supported the state, adding that the state would appreciate more of such support from other well-endowed Ekiti indigenes.
The service featured songs of praise, readings from the Bible and the Qur’an, and sermons and prayers by Muslim and Christian clerics.
