Sunday Ehigiator
The Resolute Forum, a socio-cultural organisation in Oke Ako, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, has charged Governor Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, to deepen development across the state and revive its educational sector following his re-election.
The group, which supported Oyebanji during the governorship campaign, said his victory in the June 20 election should be seen as a fresh mandate and a call to consolidate on the achievements recorded by his administration in its first term.
In a statement yesterday signed by its President and General Secretary, Deacons Olaiya Kehinde and Abayomi Adeleye, respectively, the forum urged the governor to consider all parts of the state and people across political and other affiliations as equal stakeholders in the development of Ekiti.
The organisation said Oyebanji’s overwhelming victory demonstrated the confidence of the people in his leadership and reflected their expectation that his administration would do more in its second term.
“The governor’s victory in the June 20 election was not an accident. It simply means that the governor has been leading the state in the right direction.
“It means therefore that the people of the state expect significant consolidation on the programmes the state government embarked upon since the administration mounted the saddle of governance over three years ago,” the group said.
The Resolute Forum called for massive investment in agriculture and the agricultural value chain, small-scale businesses and industrialisation, saying such investments would create employment opportunities and boost economic prosperity across the state.
It also urged the governor to prioritise education and take deliberate steps to restore Ekiti’s status as a leading educational state in Nigeria.
The group lamented that Ekiti had lost its position as a pacesetter among educationally advanced states, stressing the need for the government to urgently reverse the trend through sustained investment and strategic interventions in the sector.
The forum also commended Oyebanji for approving and installing the Owa of Oke Ako after a 25-year interregnum caused by prolonged court cases.
It described the development as a significant intervention that had resolved an issue that had lingered for more than two decades.
“Oyebanji has done for Oke Ako what other administrations in the state had ignored for over two decades. During this time, the community has lost so many projects that should have been located in the community.
“It is our prayer that your administration will be magnanimous to remember Oke Ako in the location of more developmental projects,” it said.
The organisation specifically appealed to the governor to establish a College of Agriculture in Oke Ako, arguing that the community was strategically located within the food-producing belt of Ekiti State.
According to the forum, the institution would promote agricultural education and skills development while providing a foundation for agro-based industries and strengthening the state’s agricultural value chain.
It added that locating the college in Oke Ako would also stimulate economic activities and create employment opportunities for residents, while supporting the government’s efforts to expand agricultural production and achieve broader economic development.