Rights Coalition Names Oyebanji Governor of the Year

Yinka Oyebode writes that the human rights community in Nigeria has identified Governor Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State as a potential leader of the country while also naming him the best Governor of the Year 2024.

A coalition of human rights and community based organisations spread across Nigeria has named the Ekiti State Governor, AbiodunOyebanji as the Governor of the Year 2024

In a release signed after it’s General Congress meeting held in Lagos, the Nigerian Human Rights Community, (NIHRCO) said the process for the selection of the best Governor of the year 2024 began last year with various suggestions made by leaders of the coalition whose groups are spread across the country. 

The Governor, the group said will be presented with a Plaque on behalf of the 130 civil society and community based groups across the 36 states, with the hope that it would  encourage other state Governors to address the fears and aspirations of the people they govern.                                              The group said Ekiti remains the most politically stable and peaceful state all through 2024 adding that the Governor has been able to build bridges that unite all political factions and interests by defining the Lowest Common Factor that has sustained mutual co-existence in the state.

The coalition established in 2003, and made up of 130 civil society and community based groups across the 36 states said the Governor of Ekiti stood out in the year 2024 in the area of transparency, promotion of human dignity, civil rights, peace building and sustainable development.

The coalition said his special welfare provisions for People with Disability (PWD) inspires a paradigm shift from agelong state actors’ perception of vulnerable communities.

The coalition said Oyebanji supported the PWDs with over 200 assisting devices, including wheelchairs, white canes, among others  marking the 2024 International Day of People Living with Disabilities in a remarkable way the stirred the conscience of humanity.

It said it is significant that in the year 2024, Ekiti emerged as the best-performing state in the area of good governance, people-driven initiatives, transparency and accountability.

The State was singled out in excellent management and utilisation of public funds and excellent implementation of public policies as detailed in the Subnational Audit Efficacy (SAE) Index conducted by Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), a non-state actor known for its work on monitoring public accountability.

The SAE assesses the level of transparency and accountability operational in the management and utilisation of public funds and implementation of public policies across all 36 states of the federation through public audit and key in the year 2024, the World University Rankings by Times Higher Education listed Ekiti State University as one of the top 20 in Nigeria out of over 250 higher institutions bringing the state into National and global reckoning.

It noted that in the year 2024, Ekiti State won an Award of Excellence as the best performing state in Nigeria on Disease Surveillance at the 4th Annual Disease Surveillance Meeting of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) held in Abuja.

The Government has drastically reduced communicable diseases and infant mortality rate through aggressive primary health care.

It noted that the Government of Ekiti also spent N1.5 billion allocated for the expansion and rehabilitation of 177 primary healthcare centres to enhance healthcare delivery.

-Oyebode writes from Ado Ekiti.