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NigerianNews

Dare Babarinsa.

 Former
Executive Director, Tell Magazine

 Ti Oluwa Ni Ile Lodge
Okemesi-Ekiti
 08022904926
babalekeleke@yahoo.com
Gubernatorial aspirant for Alliance for Democracy, Ekiti State

 Curriculum Vitae

The Debt We owe

Come and Let Us Build

AN AMBASSADOR OF THE NIGERIAN PRESS

FRIENDS, BROTHERS, COUNTRYMEN


The Debt We owe
 by Dare Babarinsa

Ekiti is one of the oldest political units in Nigeria and the first confederation in Yorubaland.  It was formed as a political entity during the great struggles of the 19th Century when Yorubaland was convulsed in a civil war following the collapse of old Oyo Empire.  Though the great Ekiti alliance, led by Prince Isola Fabunmi, floundered after the end of the 16 years civil war, the sense of identity among the Ekiti people has never disappeared nor dissipated.  This sense of oneness led us through the years of colonial rule and the turbulence of the post-independent era.  It was therefore not surprising when Ekitiland became a state within the Nigerian federation in 1995.

Despite the euphoria that attended the creation of the state, it has not met the aspirations of our people.  Because of Ekiti’s reputation as the intellectual powerhouse of the Yoruba Nation, it was nicknamed the Fountain of Knowledge.  Even in that primary area of knowledge pursuit, it has performed poorly.  Its government, despite its relatively lean resources, could have performed better in meeting the expectations of our people.  There is no need crying over spilled milk.  The past is cast in stone, but the future is still molten clay ready for the potter’s hands.

There are three main challenges that we have to confront in Ekiti State.  These have to do with leadership, education and the economy.

  The Challenge of Leadership

The crisis of development in Ekiti State is hung on poor leadership.  Those who represent the state, especially since 2003, are not the best that could be expected to lead the people to the land of prosperity and progress.  We have had poor representations at the local, state and federal levels.  These poor representations have had serious negative impact on the development of our state.  We found ourselves being represented at all levels by people who could not be satisfactorily described as correct ambassadors of a great people who have a universal reputation for academic excellence, moral stamina and industry.

If we can solve the problem of leadership, then the other problems of education and the economy can be tackled.  This is why I am offering myself for the leadership of our beloved state come 2007.  I have the education, the experience, the resilience and the moral stamina to meet the yearnings of our people for purposeful leadership based on integrity, competence and probity.  I know the problems of Ekiti State.  I was born in Ekiti, bread in Ekiti and have lived in Ekiti.  I completed my country home, Ti Oluwa N’ile Lodge, at Okemesi in 1998. 

I was at the forefront during the battle against military dictatorship, especially between 1991 and 1999.  I contributed from my strategic position as an executive director of TELL, Nigeria’s foremost newsmagazine, and also played active roles as a resourceful member of the Yoruba leadership.  As the founder and first chairman of Idile Odua, I am the first Ekiti person to lead a pan-Yoruba political organisation.  Idile Odua was founded in 1994 during the struggle against the annulment of the victory of Chief Moshood Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election.  From this vantage point also I was elected the first chairman of Alajobi, a coalition of many Yoruba political groups including Idile, New Action Group, Oodua Youths Movement, Oodua Liberation Movement, Gateway Front, Okun Peoples Front, NG, The Group and Heritage.

Having served the Yoruba Nation on a global scale, it is now time to serve my people.  I owe a lot to Ekiti.  It is time now to pay back.  I will not only execute the programmes of our glorious party, the Alliance for Democracy, to institute progressive policies in education, health, rural development and employment, I will establish integrity as the bedrock of governance.  I will build a regime of competence that will make our people proud.

I am appealing to all patriotic Ekiti citizens all over the world to rise up to the challenge facing our people at these difficult times.  It would be an act of great disserve if we choose to sit on the fence or hide behind the façade of neutrality.  We need to show our people that good government is not only necessary, it is possible.  I am asking you to join hands with me, and let us translate our hope into certainty.  We owe our people the debt of gratitude for making us what we are.  No matter how mighty a tree may become it owe everything to its roots.  We need to pay back by investing in good and purposeful leadership that would lift our people from the backwater of Nigerian socio-economic development. 

It is time we institute in Ekiti State the aristocracy of intelligence.  We need to build a government that would understand that in the modern world, knowledge is the bedrock of development.  We need to empower our people and restore hope in the youths and confidence in the old.  We owe our people the debt of standing by them at this hour of darkness and confusion.  The future is bright if we do our duty.  Like Fabunmi of old and legendary compatriots, our Fatherland is calling us and we need to obey.  Today, history beckons again at the children of Ekiti.

Let us stand firm by our people behind the glorious banner of the AD so that the dawn can come quickly.  This is the debt we owe our people.  It is time to pay that debt.

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"Despite the euphoria that attended the creation of the state, it has not met the aspirations of our people.  Because of Ekiti’s reputation as the intellectual powerhouse of the Yoruba Nation, it was nicknamed the Fountain of Knowledge.  Even in that primary area of knowledge pursuit, it has performed poorly."