Oyebanji empowers 150 indigent Ekiti citizens

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has empowered over 150 indigent residents of the state to establish themselves in businesses to make them self-reliant.

The governor, under the aegis of his transformative Ojuse Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji Initiative, reiterated his commitment to uplifting the lives of Ekiti people to fight poverty among them and strengthen a more inclusive and equitable society.

Oyebanji, represented by his Senior Special Assistant, Mrs Sola Abe, spoke in Ado Ekiti on Friday, during the first anniversary of the Ojuse BAO Initiative where 56 indigent residents were empowered with requirements to transform their lives.

Under the monthly empowerment initiative, the indigent and needy across the 16 local government areas are encouraged to write to the governor specifying their areas of need which Oyebanji, through the necessary machinery, would interrogate to ascertain the genuineness.

Abe said, “We have over 150 beneficiaries so far. But for this month, we have 56 persons that benefitted. We have students who benefitted, we have start-ups, those who intend to start their businesses and we have also those who requested tools to trade with who benefitted from this programme.

The governor’s aide, who said that requests for December 2023 and January 2024 would be attended to in next month’s edition, urged would-be beneficiaries to exercise patience, saying, “The requests before us are enormous and we are attending to them with due diligence.

“Governor Oyebanji has ensured that he reduced the level of poverty in the land. He is willing to transform more lives. Aside from other palliatives being given by different sectors of government in the state, this is his initiative and it has been going on for a year,” Abe said.

Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun, who advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the tools and equipment received, lauded Governor Oyebanji’s steadfast commitment to assisting the vulnerable members of society through the monthly empowerment programme.

The commissioner said that the initiative served as “a testament to Governor Oyebanji’s unwavering dedication to uplifting the lives of the less privileged and building a brighter future for all residents of Ekiti State”.

The Director General, Community Communications, Mrs Mary Oso-Omotoso, who told the beneficiaries that it was not a national cake, said, “Rather it is an opportunity to develop. This initiative is financed from the governor’s salary”.

The 56 beneficiaries for the March edition including indigent students who could not pay their school fees, artisans who intend to start their trades and businesses and those who needed equipment for their businesses had written to the governor about their plight, which was redressed under the initiative.

Recall that in December last year, the Ojuse BAO Initiative disbursed N20m in cash and working equipment including sewing machines, salon gadgets and refrigerators to 48 beneficiaries to provide them with sustainable livelihoods.

The monthly Ojuse BAO Initiative had among others, in April last year donated a cassava grinding machine to Mr Owolabi Babatunde to revitalize his business and as well elevate the livelihoods of his employees just as testimonies from beneficiaries over the months show that the initiative was making impacts in the people’s lives.