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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti.
The Senate Majority Leader and the Senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has
disclosed that a total of four billion naira has been earmarked for various road projects in Ekiti State in the amended 2022 supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly.
Senator Bamiidele made the disclosure in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state at the weekend, after a thanksgiving service held at the First Baptist Church marking the 90th birthday celebration of the father of the governor, Pa Ezekiel Oyebanji, who is a retired school principal.
Shedding more light, Senator Bamiidele explained that Ekiti would benefit immensely from the federal budget passed.
“Some of the new projects that were approved, I believe will be in overall best interest of Ekiti people.
“One of them was the sum of N2 billion that was approved for the construction of Iyin-Ilawe Ekiti road which is something that we believe will connect, not only the two communities, but will connect Ekiti Central Senatorial District with Ekiti South Senatorial District.
“Recently, Federal College of Education was approved for Ilawe Ekiti, the road will also serve the purpose of trying to open up the community to make life easier even for that campus. And then of course, the other project approved in the budget was also the sum of N1 billion for the construction of inner roads in Ado-Ekiti and another N1 billion for the construction of inner roads in Ijero-Ekiti .
“I want to say that these are all parts of the extension of the infrastructural development drives of His Excellency, Governor Biodun Oyebanji. He met with all of us and he gave us list of projects that were of utmost concern for him”.
The federal lawmaker added that the supplementary budget was passed and approved for President Bola Tinubu to be able to provide palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal and address other nation’s economic challenges.
Speaking about the celebrant, the governor appreciated God for Pa Oyebanj’s life describing him as a father who places great value on honesty, integrity, humility, hardwork and self -discipline, virtues which, according to him, have helped in shaping his own personality.
Speaking on his simplicity and humble approach to life, Oyebanji stated that his father contributed immensely to his spiritual growth, which had buoyed his faith in God, as the only one with the capacity to provide solution to all life’s challenges.
Giving reasons for the decision of the family to have a low key celebration devoid of any formal invitation to anyone, Governor Oyebanji said it was in line with the family’s modest manner of doing things, coupled with the fact he, as the Governor of the state, has to live by example.
The Governor said: “I would have loved to make the birthday elaborate, but I have to make it a low key for the fact that Ekiti people are currently my employer, so, I have to behave responsibly. I have to be cautious and circumspect in whatever I do.
” If I wasn’t a governor, I would have celebrated him more than this. We deliberately did not send out invitation card to anyone so that Baba can have a modest celebration with his friends and family members. But somehow people heard and turned up to honour our father”.
Speaking regarding his father’s virtuous life, Oyebanji stated: “Those who are saying I am humble should blame my father for it. He is the one who thought me to be humble. I have no apologies about that. If I have misbehaved as a Governor, my father would have called to caution me. He is such a disciplinarian and would waste no time in correcting me even as a sitting Governor”.
In his remarks at the thanksgiving service, the celebrant, Pa Oyebanji, said his strong belief in scholarship as a weapon to overcome poverty, propelled him to acquire western education through hard work and resoluteness.
Pa Oyebanji appreciated God for being alive to celebrate 90, and still standing tall in good health to contribute to the growth of education in his community, state and the country at large.
“When I finished my Primary six, my father loved all his children, but he didn’t have money to send us to school. I was farming with him, but I loved education and I was determined to acquire it at all costs, which I later did.
“What I know is that whoever that is not focused and hardworking can’t succeed in life. It was this principle that led me to study for my GCE as a private candidate. It was this that gave me admission into the university. Our youths must know that those who made it to the top struggled in life to get there. So, they must work hard to rise and succeed”.
The nonagenarian father of the Governor also charged parents to invest hugely in their children’s education to make their future brighter, more rewarding and glowingly remarkable.
“That was what I did that paid off today. I took the upkeep of my children with passion. I didn’t joke with it. Our parents should also imbibe same because whatever you sow, you shall reap,” Pa Oyebanji said.
On his part, the Senate Leader, who expressed joy that Pa Oyebanji was being celebrated while alive, noted that it was the grace of God that has brought him thus far to join the league of nonagenarians amid the situations in the country.
“To be alive at 90 even with the circumstances under which we live in Nigeria and all over Africa, it is a huge achievement that only God can make possible. The man is not just alive, he is the father of a sitting governor and the number one citizen of Ekiti state, for me, that also calls for celebration”.
In his sermon titled: ‘Teach us how to count our days’, the Pastor in charge of Gateway Baptist Church, Ado Ekiti, Reverend Michael Otun, dismissed the insinuation that birthday celebration is a signal of imminent death as being thought in some quarters, instead, he said birthday celebration is as an opportunity to think more about heaven.
Showering encomiums on the celebrant for his discipline, humility, prudency, honesty, the Cleric urged Nigerians to always do things right for the nation to experience radical development in all facets.
