Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has hailed the remarkable strides and progress the state has made 30 years after it was created by the administration of the late former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha.
Oyebanji, in a statewide broadcast to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the state, said although it had encountered many challenges and unpleasant experiences within the period, its people had reasons to celebrate the three-decade milestone because of the remarkable progress recorded across various indices of development.
The governor noted that despite being among the last set of states to be created in the country and receiving one of the lowest allocations from the Federation Account, “Ekiti leads its contemporaries and many before it, including far richer states, in critical matrices of human development.”
Ekiti State was created on 1 October 1996 by the late Gen. Abacha, during a broadcast to mark the nation’s 36th Independence anniversary, alongside Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara states, which took the number of states in Nigeria from 30 to 36.
The feat was achieved after years of an epic struggle by eminent citizens of the state, among whom were traditional rulers, legal luminaries, politicians, senior bureaucrats, captains of industry and community leaders under the aegis of a body known as the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State.
Speaking during the broadcast, Oyebanji pointed out that many people did not give Ekiti a chance of being created as a state as it stood against “more formidable contenders from the South-West geopolitical zone”, but the governor ascribed the glory to God for making the creation of the state possible against all odds.
According to him, the creation of the state 30 years ago, 120 years after the Kiriji War, completed an epic struggle for independence started by Ekiti forebears during the liberation war of 1877 to 1893.
He congratulated all Ekiti sons and daughters, as well as people from other parts of the world who had made Ekiti their home, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary.
The governor paid tribute to members of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State, led by its Chairman, Chief Oladeji Fasuan; legal icon, Aare Afe Babalola; the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe; and other monarchs whom he described as “incubators of the state creation struggle”. He also lauded the patriotic sacrifices of the heroes and heroines of the struggle who had joined their ancestors.
Oyebanji said it was heartwarming that, as the then Secretary of the Committee for Ekiti State Creation, through the grace of God and the benevolence of Ekiti people, he was now in the saddle as Governor of the state as it turned 30, describing the experience as “very humbling”.
He equally paid glowing tributes to all his predecessors in office: Col. Inua Bawa, Navy Capt. Atanda Yusuf, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Chief Ayo Fayose, Chief Segun Oni and Dr Kayode Fayemi, as well as leaders who served during interregnums, including Chief Friday Aderemi, Brig.-Gen. Tunji Olurin, Hon. Tope Ademiluyi and Hon. Tunji Odeyemi. He also acknowledged all former Deputy Governors and former heads of the legislature and judiciary.
Oyebanji restated the commitment of his administration to the ideals of the founding fathers that inspired the creation of the state, stressing that “the vision of the founding fathers was to have a state where Ekiti people can utilise their God-given natural and human resources in the most efficient, effective and inclusive manner, for the prosperity of our people”.
He pointed out that the state’s founding fathers envisioned “an industrialised Ekiti, where private-sector capital is at the centre of the economic nervous system of the state and where enterprise and productivity are the pillars of prosperity”.
While unveiling the theme of the anniversary, ‘Ekiti at 30: Celebrating the Past and Creating the Future’, the governor disclosed that his administration had decided to use the 30th anniversary as the launchpad for a 30-year Transformation Agenda.
The agenda, according to him, will make Ekiti a leading centre of agricultural production and agro-processing, innovation and technology development, quality and functional education, research and skills development, tourism, culture and creative economy, youth entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
To achieve the vision, the governor said a conversation with Ekiti youths on 7 October 2026 at the Obafemi Awolowo Civic and Convention Centre, Ado Ekiti, would be staged with the intention of achieving three important things: to remember with gratitude, to assess the present with honesty, and to approach the future with confidence and determination.
He said: “Our agenda is therefore to work aggressively to ensure that the socio-economic infrastructure we have built in these 30 years leads to real economic growth that produces quality employment, crystallises productivity, supports enterprise and enhances quality of life.
“For example, the ongoing multi-billion-naira Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ) project is a technological park and economic ecosystem to support the innovative and creative ingenuity of our young population.
“It is our dream that in another three decades, the tag of Ekiti as a ‘civil service’ state will have yielded to Ekiti as a ‘Tech Hub in Nigeria’ and a major commercial centre for international trade and commerce.
“This is our promise, and we are resolutely committed to it. The Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) will also take off soon. These two projects, upon completion, will transform the economic outlook of the state and drive our government’s Shared Prosperity Agenda.”
The governor urged the people of the state to troop out en masse during the 16 January 2027 presidential election and use their votes to re-elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in appreciation of the benevolence, support and favour Ekiti had enjoyed under his presidency since 2023.