...Calls on Youth to Reinvent Ekiti, Reject Get-Rich-Quick Culture
The Governor of Ekiti State, His Excellency Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, yesterday welcomed eminent Nigerians, traditional rulers, development partners, members of the private sector and young people to Ado-Ekiti as Ekiti State marks the 30th Anniversary of its creation with a theme: “Ekiti at 30: Celebrating the Past, Creating the Future.”
In his keynote address delivered at the commemorative event, Governor Oyebanji said Ekiti at 30 has come of age, old enough to look back with understanding, yet young enough to look forward with courage, where excuses must give way to responsibility and potential to measurable achievement.
Governor Oyebanji noted that the story of Ekiti did not begin on October 1, 1996, when the state was formally created, but centuries earlier as a people with distinct history, culture and worldview known as a Land of Honour, courage and intellectual distinction.
He paid eternal tribute to the founding fathers and mothers of Ekiti State, traditional rulers, community leaders, professionals, civil servants, academics, political actors, journalists, women’s organisations and youth groups whose sacrifices made state creation possible, and to General Sanni Abacha under whose administration the state was created.
▪︎ Governor Biodun Oyebanji with the Panelists and Moderator
According to him, in only thirty years, Ekiti has produced distinguished scholars, judgores, writers, entrepreneurs, artists, public servants and leaders occupying positions of responsibility across Nigeria and the world, while building institutions, expanding access to education and healthcare, and consolidating democratic governance.
“Their example remains relevant today. They remind us that a people make meaningful progress when the things that unite them are greater than the interests that divide them,” the Governor stated.
Governor Oyebanji said Ekiti remains rightly proud of its reputation as the Fountain of Knowledge, but the world has changed and knowledge must now produce solutions.
“We must move from being known only as the Fountain of Knowledge to becoming a fountain of innovation, productivity and prosperity,” he declared.
He humorously noted that Ekiti people are very good at analysis, “sometimes, before one Ekiti person finishes analysing a problem, another has already obtained a higher degree in analysing the analysis,” but stressed that the future will not be built by arguments alone, but by men and women who turn ideas into products, knowledge into value, and opportunities into employment.
The administration, he said, remains committed to good governance, human-capital development, agricultural transformation, infrastructure, industrial growth, youth development, job creation, arts, culture and tourism under its vision of shared prosperity.
He acknowledged challenges of youth unemployment, farmers needing access to finance and modern inputs, and an educational system that must respond more effectively to modern economy, saying recognising challenges gives direction and urgency.
The Governor said the future of Ekiti will not arrive fully formed but must be created through deliberate policies, sustained investment, political stability and active participation.
He outlined his vision for the next thirty years:
* Agriculture as modern enterprise: An entire value chain from production to export where young people own processing plants, build agricultural brands and develop agritech applications.
* Knowledge Economy: Transforming intellectual capital into economic capital through the Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ), where a youth can live in Ikere, Ijero, Omuo, Ikole or Ado-Ekiti and provide services to clients in Lagos, London, Toronto or Singapore.
* Skills over certificates: Schools that teach thinking, creating and problem-solving, and ending the unhealthy distinction between work of the brain and work of the hands.
* Tourism and Creative Economy: Unlocking mountains, waterfalls, warm springs, historic sites, festivals and cuisine as economic assets that create jobs for farmers, hoteliers, performers, artisans and vendors.
* Investment-friendly State: A peaceful, secure and well-governed Ekiti where private sector, cooperatives and diaspora become active partners, because government cannot be sole employer.
In a passionate charge to youths who formed majority of the audience, Governor Oyebanji said ownership of the future comes with responsibility.
“Do not wait endlessly for government employment. Prepare yourselves to create value. There is no shame in beginning with little. Do not allow pressure for instant success to lead you into fraud, crime or destructive shortcuts. Wealth without character ultimately becomes a burden,” he warned.
He urged Ekiti youths to resist the belief that progress can only be made elsewhere and to build a state to which talent will be proud to return.
“We do not ask you simply to inherit Ekiti. We ask you to reinvent it.”
Governor Oyebanji called on traditional rulers, educational institutions, religious leaders, business community, diaspora and political class to place long-term interests of Ekiti above personal or partisan considerations.
“Projects that benefit the people should not be abandoned simply because administrations change. Development is a relay race: one government carries the baton for a period and passes it to the next. Elections will come and go, but Ekiti will remain.”
Looking ahead to Ekiti at 60 in 2056, when many of today’s youth will be elders and leaders, he asked: Will they say our generation merely celebrated the past, or planted seeds of a new era?
The Governor added that: “We have inherited a proud past. We are responsible for the present. And together, we must create the future. May the labour of our heroes past never be in vain.”
The event which was robustly attended featured a keynote speaker in the person of Dr. Tunji Olowolafe and a panel of notable academics, business men and industrialists: Otunba Olawanle Akinboboye, Founder, La Campagne Tropicana Global Brand; Dr. Muyiwa Igbalajobi, an education transformation advocate; Template Ogunniyi (TEMI), an international senior logistics and maritime professional; Engr. Michael Oluwagbemi, an engineer, investor and development strategist.
Each speaker drew ovations at different point with their didactic reasoning on way forward for development in Ekiti State after 30 good years of steady growth.
Innovative also was the idea of Okiti Hills Tourism Development as sprung up and moved by Tourism Icon, Otunba Dr. Chief Olawanle Akinboboye, the re-hauling and connecting hills with cable cars, taking the advantages of the state and turning them around into majo r global attractions. An idea that settled well with the audience at the event. The Tourism Icon went on to share his experiences of turning nature's endowment into great tourism successes in Lagos, a marriage of a resort with the forest, Atlantic ocean and the Lagoon, a similar marriage of forest, hills and cave in Ondo State, the marriage of agricultural land, forest, hills and river in Taraba State, same ongoing in Kogi State, the Carribean and most recent in Ethiopia, east of Africa.
Ekiti @30 Future Summit was a success. A celebration of the past, creating the future and the opening of a continuous conversation among. amongst he people.
One of the major highlights in the Governor’s speech was the acknowledgement and commendation of Late General Sani Abacha, former Nigeria’s Head of State in the actualization of Ekiti State, which also drew applause from the audience.
Ekiti @30 Future Summit brought out the best of the people of Ekiti State, showing their passion for the state. The speakers and those who responded from the audience could not hide their passon for a better future for the state.
The same passion which led the wife of the Ekiti State governor Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, the First Lady of Ekiti State, to spontaneously call for the microphone to showcase and commend so e of the great people in Ekiti State today, whare doing great things for the state and also showcase some of the supportive things she's doing herself through many groupings and contributions to many ongoing initiatives in the state.
Professor Bolaji Aluko, a notable son of the state, best captured the summary of the great highlights of the day as he drew a close to event, after Governor Oyebanji gave monetary awards that ran into ,millions of naira, om the prompting of Senator Bain bafemi Ojudu, to winners of a writing competition, held to celebrate the state at 30.
The Ekiti at 30 planning committee members included: Chairman Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi; Co-Chairman, Senator Babafemi Ojudu; Mr Akintunde Oyebode; Mr Taju Adeyemo; and Mr Boluwaji Oluwaropo as members.
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