Visionary leaders, my fellow young people of Ekiti, traditional rulers, elders, and every soul who still believes that destiny can be rewritten.
Thirty years ago, a 27-year-old young man sat as Secretary to the committee that fought, organised, and lobbied for the creation of Ekiti State. He had no governor’s mansion, no convoy, no title. He had only a burning conviction that his people deserved a place on the map of Nigeria.
Today, that same young man—His Excellency, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji—stands as the Executive Governor of the very state he helped midwife into existence.
From the back rooms of advocacy to the front seat of power. From drafting memoranda to signing transformative laws. From demanding a seat at the table to becoming the one who expands the table for every generation that follows.
This is not just history. This is prophecy fulfilled. And it is living proof that the destination is inclusion
But before we celebrate the present, we must honour the foundations.
We remember with deep gratitude the traditional rulers—our royal fathers—who stood as the moral backbone and spiritual force of the struggle. Their voices, their counsel, and their unwavering support gave legitimacy and strength to the demand for a separate state.
Most especially, we pay glowing tribute to the legendary Pa. Oladeji Fasuan (Chief Deji Fasuan), the distinguished Chairman of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State. Under his wise and patriotic leadership, the committee laboured tirelessly, uniting the people and presenting an irrefutable case. Pa. Fasuan’s courage, perseverance, and statesmanship remain an enduring inspiration to every generation of Ekiti sons and daughters.
We also stand in profound appreciation of the then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who listened to the cries and legitimate aspirations of our people. When others might have turned a deaf ear, he heard our plight, recognised the justice of our request, and on the 1st of October 1996, granted us Ekiti State—carved out of the old Ondo State. That singular act of leadership forever altered the destiny of our people, and we remain eternally grateful.
When democracy returned in 1999, the first elected civilian Governor of Ekiti State, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, stepped forward to begin the journey of democratic governance. He was followed by other civilian leaders—Chief Ayo Fayose, Engineer Segun Oni, Dr. Kayode Fayemi—and now, in this defining season, by the very young man who once served as Secretary of the creation committee, His Excellency Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.
The circle is complete. The dream has come full circle.
Mahatma Gandhi once declared:
“The future depends on what you do today.”
Not what the privileged do.
Not what the comfortable do.
What you—the youth of Ekiti—do, starting right now.
Look at the man who once sat where many of you sit today. Under his leadership, Ekiti has become a living classroom of what purposeful, people-centred governance looks like.
In infrastructure, he has rewritten the landscape—hundreds of kilometres of roads completed and ongoing, the Ado-Ekiti Ring Road, inter-city and rural arteries that now connect farmers to markets and children to schools, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Flyover rising as a symbol of ambition, and the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport now open for commercial flights, turning our state into a gateway for agribusiness and trade.
In education—the very soul of Ekiti—classrooms have been renovated, ICT laboratories installed, thousands of teachers recruited and trained, WAEC fees paid, bursaries and scholarships expanded, and the World Bank-supported AGILE programme pouring over ₦14 billion into making our secondary schools centres of digital excellence. Ekiti is no longer just the “Fountain of Knowledge”; it is becoming the engine room of functional, future-ready education.
In healthcare, every general hospital has been rehabilitated and re-equipped. Primary healthcare centres across all 177 wards have been upgraded. The Ulerawa Free Health Scheme has already delivered hundreds of thousands of free services—safe deliveries, immunisations, malaria treatment—reaching ordinary families who once feared the cost of staying alive.
In agriculture, the Youth-in-Agriculture programme has drawn more than 5,000 young people into commercial farming. Thousands of hectares cleared, farm settlements built with security and accommodation, and Ekiti proudly recording the lowest food inflation rate in Nigeria. Our young people are not just planting crops; they are planting prosperity.
In fiscal transparency and social justice, Ekiti has topped national rankings quarter after quarter. Pensions and gratuities running into tens of billions of naira have been paid. The minimum wage has been implemented. Debt has been reduced. Internally generated revenue has grown. And the most secure state in Nigeria continues to prove that peace is the foundation of every other achievement.
This is the leadership that created the Office of Youth Inclusion—because Governor Oyebanji understands that no state can claim progress while its largest demographic remains spectators.
That is why we launched the “I’M IN” Campaign
“I’M IN” is not a slogan. It is a movement.
It is a call for greater youth IN terest in the affairs of our state.
It is a demand for deeper youth IN volvement in decision-making.
It is a commitment to genuine youth IN clusion—from the grassroots to the highest levels of government.
Through this campaign, we are saying to every young Ekiti son and daughter: You no longer need to wait outside the gate. The door is open. Walk in. Speak up. Build. Lead.
And now we look ahead—to the next 30 years.
The first 30 years of Ekiti State were about existence, survival, and laying foundations. The next 30 years must be about transformation, ownership, and generational legacy. And that future will be framed—not by those who will soon exit the stage—but by the passionate, driven, restless, brilliant, and unyielding youth of Ekiti who are witnesses of today’s event and across our 16 local government areas.
When passionate and driven Ekiti youth anchor the programmes of this state, several powerful advantages emerge:
First, energy meets vision. Young people bring the fire, the digital fluency, the creative courage that turns policy documents into living realities.
Second, ownership replaces entitlement. When youth design and drive the programmes, they protect them, expand them, and refuse to let them die.
Third, innovation becomes culture. From tech hubs to agro-processing, from creative industries to climate-smart solutions, the next generation will not recycle old ideas—they will invent the new Ekiti.
Fourth, trust is rebuilt. When young people see their peers leading, they believe again that government can work for them.
Fifth, continuity is guaranteed. The same way a 27-year-old secretary helped birth this state, today’s youth—properly included—will ensure that the Shared Prosperity Agenda does not end with one administration, but becomes the permanent character of Ekiti.
So I stand here tonight and declare:
The destination is inclusion.
The vehicle is the “I’M IN” Campaign.
The drivers must be the passionate and driven youth of Ekiti.
And the destination we seek is an Ekiti that, in another 30 years, the world will point to and say: “That is what happens when a generation refuses to be left behind.”
Do not wait to be invited.
Declare: I’M IN
Do not wait for permission to dream.
Declare: I’M IN
Do not wait for the perfect conditions.
Declare: I’M IN —today, tomorrow, and for the next 30 years.
Because the future of Ekiti is not coming.
It is already here—
And it is wearing the face of the young people among us .
Thank you.
God bless the youth of Ekiti.
God bless our Governor.
God bless the traditional institutions and the founding fathers.
God bless the next 30 years we are about to write together.
Ayò Òjó
Technical Advisor to the Governor on Youth Inclusion
