When Power Doesn’t Touch Home: Ekiti is Fortunate Yet Unfortunates
Ekiti-State is unfortunately fortunate in the government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At first glance, it looks like a moment of glory. Ekiti indigenes are holding some of the most strategic and powerful positions in Nigeria under President Tinubu.
From the Minister of Mineral Resources to the Chairman of the EFCC, from the head of the Federal Housing Authority to the Chief of Army Staff, from the Senate Leader to the Chairman of the South West Development Commission – these are not minor roles.
They are prime, influential, and capable of making a difference. It should have been the golden era for Ekiti people. It should have opened a new chapter of empowerment, development, and transformation for the land of honour.
But sadly, this fortune has come with misfortune.In a rational political setup, when people from a state occupy such high-level positions, the ripple effects are often visible across the grassroots. The power and access they enjoy at the centre should naturally translate to jobs, appointments, contracts, foreign opportunities, and economic advancement for people back home.
This has happened before. During the days of Professor Tunde Adeniran and Prof. Borisade as Ministers, you could count numerous Ekiti indigenes who were lifted through one form of patronage or the other. Some got appointments into sensitive government positions.
Others were gainfully employed in roles that turned their lives around completely. A good number of them got international placements and traveled abroad for studies or business. Some even received contracts that elevated them into a new class of influence. One such individual who got a cleaning contract at the airport during Professor Borisade’s time later returned home to contest for the office of Governor.
That is the kind of transformation that comes with power when it is used with love for one’s people.But today, that is no longer the story. Despite the fact that Ekiti people are scattered across top offices in the Tinubu administration, their presence is not felt in the land. There are no traces of mass employment. No trail of strategic appointments. No echo of large-scale empowerment. It is as if they are in power, but not for Ekiti. It is almost like a shadow representation.
The people back home are asking: where is the impact? What have we gained? Who among us has been transformed?Instead of surrounding themselves with fellow Ekiti indigenes, these powerful appointees often move with aides, associates, and close allies from other states. They bring along their network of cronies, schoolmates, personal assistants, lawyers, doctors, and even barbers from other parts of the country. Their children’s schools are outside Ekiti. Their family hospitals are outside Ekiti. Their tailors, their dry cleaners, their cooks, and their churches are all outside Ekiti. This singular lifestyle choice is causing huge capital flight from the state.
Resources that could have circulated within Ekiti economy are now enriching other states. Rather than Ekiti growing in influence and wealth, the fortune is slipping away and settling elsewhere.You would expect that with the position of Minister of Power, there would be deliberate infrastructural investments in Ekiti.
You would imagine that the Chief of Army Staff would absorb people from the street or influence special training institutions to the state. You would hope that the Chairman of the EFCC, being from Ekiti, would influence employment back home. Even if not through government, they could do it personally. But sadly, this is not the case.Some would argue that some of these leaders were once elected through a democratic process. But that is only partly true. Many of them emerged through heavy political influence. They used their connections with the power that be to get party tickets. They didn’t rely on grassroots support or local popularity. When it was time to vote, the people voted for the party, not necessarily for the individuals. And once they secured their positions, they returned to their circle of long-standing friends, many of whom have no ties to Ekiti.This is why there is no widespread impact of their positions on the lives of ordinary Ekiti people. Apart from occasional ritual of empowerment programs where motorcycles, clippers, sewing machines, hair dryers, and generators are shared, there is nothing much to show. These crumbs are not what people expect from such high-ranking officers. These are not the benefits that change lives or shift destinies. The people of Ekiti deserve more.Politics, at its core, is about who gets what, where, and when. It is not just about occupying positions. It is about using those positions to uplift others, especially one’s own people. It is about opening doors, clearing paths, and planting seeds for the next generation. It is about being deliberate in transforming one’s homeland.But look around Ekiti today, and you will see a land that has not benefited from this season of federal influence. The human capital development of our people is very low, if not non-existent. Young graduates roam the streets without jobs. Skilled individuals are unable to break into the federal system. Hope is drying up. Dreams are suspended. The elders are lamenting, and the youths are growing bitter.It would be different if these appointees were only starting out. But they have power now. They have voice. They have budget. They have access. And yet, nothing is trickling down. The cycle of poverty continues. The circle of frustration is expanding. The promise of change is fading.Yes, it is true that the Senate Leader influenced the location of a Federal University in Ekiti. That is commendable. But what is the use of a university if the graduates it produces still return to the street with empty hands? What is the point of infrastructure if there is no human capital development? The real measure of impact is in how many lives have been changed, not just in how many projects have been flagged off.This is why Ekiti-State is unfortunately fortunate. We have the fortune of strategic appointments, yet the misfortune of negligible impact. We are present at the table of power, but absent in the sharing of benefits. We are counted among the influential, but not among the transformed. That is the tragedy.Let this article be a wake-up call. Let it open the eyes of the people. Let it challenge our leaders. Let it stir the conscience of those in power. Because history will not remember the number of positions held. It will remember what was done with those positions. It will remember how many were lifted. It will remember the legacy left behind.And for every leader from Ekiti currently holding office, this is not an attack. It is a reminder. A reminder that your people are watching. A reminder that power is temporary, but legacy is eternal. A reminder that you owe your land more than just a title.In the end, the pain is not just in the silence of development. It is in the betrayal of expectations. It is in the faces of jobless youths who know someone from their village is a top official, but can’t even get a recommendation letter. It is in the tears of mothers who hoped their children would find a better life through these new leaders. It is in the heartbreak of a land that has been positioned for greatness but denied its reward.So yes, Ekiti-State is unfortunately fortunate. But it doesn’t have to remain that way.Idowu Ephraim Faleye writes from Ado-Ekiti: 08132100608
