BY ADEGBOYEGA ADEOYE
The number of aspirants for the coveted Office of the Governor of Ekiti State is increasing every day. The latest entrant is a top politician from the Ekiti southern bloc, Oluwole Oluyede. The government of incumbent, Governor Kayode Fayemi, constitutionally expires in October 2022.
Oluyede, participated in the race in 2018 and has used that opportunity to showcase the stuff he is made of, a development that has yielded scores of loyalists who see him as a politician with a unique touch, different from other traditional political leaders who come to the people to take at a time like this and later vanish into thin air of self-help, only to reappear again to dangle morsels at the famished electorate just to retain power.
Ekiti people see him as the right person to move his party, the All Progressives Congress, to victory in the coming governorship election and as such restore continuity in governance.
And soon as he departed Australia to join the race, Ekiti people across party lines are keeping bated eyes to meet this man they have heard so much about – first as a brilliant medical doctor with specialisation on emergency cases, astute businessman with huge investments in the hospitality and agricultural sector, then a selfless politician.
According to one of his close associates, based in America, Kehinde Orimolade, Oluyede never disappoints.
“If every politician is like Wole Oluyede, Nigeria and indeed, Ekiti, will be a few miles from economic haven. Though I’ve known him for more than three decades, he has remained a fighter at heart, a fighter for the people and the common good. That is an uncommon thing. I have seen this man fight for students’ welfare when I was a teenager and now firmly settled in my fifth decade, I still see him fighting for the people, this time the people of Ekiti. It’s a fight that flows through his veins and is part of his DNA” he stressed.
And as Ekiti State joins in the global Christmas mood and the euphoria is high, with political aspirants in the coming governorship election embroiled in a game of wit for relevance, Oluyede is calm and very steady.
Rather than play to the gallery, he is busy consulting and brainstorming with some of the best minds from the state who are at home and in the diaspora.
In Ekiti State of today, many of the aspirants are exploiting the ravaging poverty in the state to sell themselves to the electorates. Greek gifts have been coming in different forms from all manners of aspirants, all in an attempt to lure the visibly hungry people to support their cause.
But as the celebration is in the air, Oluyede is putting finishing touches into his plans to lift the state back to its pride of place.
According to him, “the situation we now found ourselves in Ekiti calls for all well-meaning sons and daughters of the state to don their thinking caps to proffer a way out of the present quagmire. We need to put our heads together and be ready to join hands to work so assiduously to ensure we rescue our state from the stranglehold of wicked oppressions and economic seizure by those who have cornered our collective destiny.”
The bid to reorganise and reposition his party, the APC, which he started long ago is already yielding desired fruits. Oluyede has also been talking to both the old and the young across the state on how to revive the state.
“It is a project that we have to pursue with vigour and unwavering joint effort. We have to sacrifice our today together for a better tomorrow,” has been his message everywhere he goes.
“What we are doing is to bring the expertise of all Ekiti, regardless of wherever they are based for our development, which is now in a parlous state. We have bright brains in every field, we are known for knowledge and we are saying we will bring that knowledge to bear in the lives of our people,” Oluyede stressed.
“In Ekiti State of today, many of the aspirants are exploiting the ravaging poverty in the state to sell themselves to the electorates. Greek gifts have been coming in different forms from all manners of aspirants, all in an attempt to lure the visibly hungry people to support their cause
“
And having spread the message in the diaspora with resounding success, support came from the Ekiti indigenes at home, who are now clamouring for his leadership under the aegis of Oluwole Oluyede Vanguard for 2022. They have reached out to him in the past months that he should partner with them in the bid to rescue Ekiti State.
Meanwhile, the popularity of the APC and that of Oluyede have been receiving tremendous boost since news filtered in that he had made up his mind to join the Ekiti governorship race.
The Ikere Ekiti home of the suave politician has turned to a Mecca, of his loyalists who always converge to deliberate as well as pray for the success of the bid. One such event on Monday last week transmuted to a carnival of sorts, as lovers of Oluyede, chanted solidarity songs in support of his bid to join the race.
Oluyede attracts popularity, having been in the struggle to liberate the state from oppressive and wasteful leadership in the past.
Given the chance, he would also break the record of being the first governor from the southern senatorial district of Ekiti State, since its creation on October 1, 1996.
The recent gathering in Ikere Ekiti provided the opportunity for indigenes to voice out their expectations in the coming polls.
According to Adelana Adeyanju, a medical practitioner in Ikere Ekiti, the support for Oluyede to run as an indigene is borne out of the love he has exhibited time and again, his dedication and painstaking approach on matters affecting the state.
“What is working for Oluyede today has to do with his past as a true son of the soil. He has paid his dues by always being available to rescue the state at any point occasion demands. He has selflessly and obediently served us and we know his worth. So, at this point we need someone like him on the saddle as it is very obvious that Ekiti currently has leadership issues,” he said
Jumoke Olufunke Adebulehin, a notable politician from Ido/Osi Local Government of the state, also lauded the past record of Oluyede, noting that the support he currently enjoys has less to do with his birthplace even as it is a fact that this would be the first time someone from the Southern Ekiti would be this favoured for the top job.
“The past works of Oluyede, his kind nature, his benevolence, are what sum up to speak for him from the Diaspora level down to his home state. We all know the part he played in the struggle to liberate our state and Nigeria through the formation of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA) and other efforts to ensure the sustainability of this democracy, particularly in Ekiti State. This is payback time. I believe it is time he should come down home so that our people can benefit from his vast experience.”
And Oluyede said: “I will urge you to be firm in your resolve and ensure you do all the needful in preparation for the elections ahead. The climate is clear and victory is sure. But we also need to do what we have to do. We should not by our actions fritter the chance we already have. We need to firm up this time to ensure we retain victory and ensure continuity in government, to the benefit of the generality of our people.”
