The Onimesi of Imesi Ekiti, His Royal Majesty, Oba Olatunji Olatunde, has showered encomiums on the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji for restoring electricity to the entire Gbonyin and Ayekire Local Governments after over 13 years of consistent power outage.
The monarch, who is a former Commissioner for Works in Ekiti State, said Governor Oyebanji, had etched his name in gold for rescuing the councils from seemingly unresolvable power outage that crippled the economic activities of the citizens and brought a spike to insecurity level.
Governor Oyebanji, had last week restored electricity to all the towns in Gbonyin and Ayekire local governments, after being removed from the national grid for over a decade.
In a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Imesi Ekiti, on Saturday, Oba Olatunde, said the government’s swift and deft action would help in resolving the knotty and exponential increase in insecurity level in that axis, where scores had been kidnapped by bandits under the cover of darkness.
The monarch lamented that being plunged into darkness for 13 years, had crippled the economic viability of his subjects, boasting that such sordid scenario will be rectified in a short while, with regular power supply that will make the residents economically solid and relevant.
Oba Olatunde said: ” Let me on behalf of my community appreciates your Excellency, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji for deeming it fit and appropriate to reconnect my town and the entire Gbonyin and Ayekire local governments back to the national grid after a period of economic lull and irrelevance.
“This was a demonstration of your commitment to the welfare of the people. With this, you have been able to change the paranoid and fixated mindsets of our people that all politicians are liars.
“While campaigning, you did promise to reconnect light to Ayekire council and the adjoining Gbonyin LCDA within a year of your administration. The promise looked like an unattainable and uphill task. Our people had even resigned to fate, but you surprised us by living up to the high expectations of your constituents and kept to this promise.
“Within these years of lull, economic survival of our people was crippled. Insecurity, in the facets of banditry, kidnappings and killings that were once alien to us reared their ugly heads because the evil doers saw the opportunity in the perpetual darkness to unleash their venoms on us.
“Your Excellency, I know that this singular action will resolve some of these challenges and we are indeed grateful for this show of love to our people.
“My community, Imesi Ekiti, is the most grateful for your manifold generosity, especially giving us electricity after 13 years of darkness. God will lighten your darkness and provide you with more resources to fulfil your electoral promises to Ekiti citizens”.
Inntgecsane fashion, Oba Olatunde, appealed to Governor Oyebanji to pile pressure on the federal government for speedy completion of rehabilitation works on the deplorable Ikare-Imesi-Ado road.
“I am happy that his excellency’s intervention has started yielding results. Last week, the federal government mobilised the contractor to site. Their equipment had started arriving. But we still need him to help us pile some pressure, so that faster action can be taken. My town has been cut off from the entire Ayekire LG because of the high level of deplorability of that road.
“Most pathetic was that, apart from the fact that motorists could not ply the Imesi portion of the road, rate of kidnapping had increased along that route, which poses serious threat to my subjects”.