A socio-cultural organisation in Oke Ako Ekiti, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Resolute Forum, has urged the governor, Abiodun Oyebanji, to see his re-election as a call by the people to consolidate on his sterling performance in his first term of office.
To accomplish this, the group, which backed Oyebanji’s re-election during the campaign, said the governor needs to see the whole state and all shades of affiliations as equal stakeholders in the project to move Ekiti State forward.
In a statement by the President and General Secretary of the Resolute Forum, Deacons Olaiya Kehinde and Abayomi Adeleye, respectively, on Wednesday, the group stated that Oyebanji’s overwhelming victory in the June 20 governorship poll meant the support of the residents for the governor to continue to lead the state in the right direction.
It added, “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 urged the state government to invest massively in agriculture and agricultural value chain, small scale businesses as well as industrialisation to promote employment and boost economic prosperity in the state.
It called on Oyebanji to ensure that the state regains its pre-eminent position in education, lamenting that the state had lost its place as a pacesetter in the comity of educationally advanced state in the country.
The Resolute Forum commended the governor for approving and installing the king of the town, Owa of Oke Ako, after 25-year interregnum due to lengthy court cases.
It said, “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.”
Resolute Forum specifically requested that a college of agriculture be located in Oke Ako to boost agro-based training and industries in the state, saying the area was central to the food basket of Ekiti State.
