Ekiti Governor’s Wife To Assembly Members: Tolerate Yourselves, Avoid Conflicts 

… Hail Wives Of Assembly Members, Speaker, Others For Replicating Back To School Programme

By Emmanuel Adeoye

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The Wife of the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Mrs. Olayemi Oyebanji has charged the Honourable Members of the 7th Ekiti State House of Assembly to tolerate themselves and avoid conflicts.

She hailed the wives of Assembly members, the Speaker and others for replicating the “Back To School Programme” at the Assembly Complex.

The Governor’s Wife, Dr. Mrs. Olayemi Oyebanji gave the charge at the office of the Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt Honourable Adeoye Aribasoye when she paid him a visit after flagging off the distribution of school bags in a programme tagged “Back To School Initiative” and organized by the Wives of the Honourable members for a total of 260 indigent pupils of the State at the Hallowed Chamber of the Ekiti State Assembly Complex in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday. 

While sharing her thoughts with the Rt. Honourable Adeoye Aribasoye and other Honourable Members of the House, Her Excellency, the Wife of the Governor, Dr. Mrs Olayemi Oyebanji, “called on the members of the 7th Ekiti State House of Assembly to put an end to the practice of projecting negativity from the Assembly to the public and Nigerians at large. No doubt, the Ekiti Assembly has been involved in turbulent period in the time past, hence the reason why so many arrays of leaders have emerged from the House.

“You as Honourable Members of the House has to be tolerant with yourselves to avoid unnecessary crisis. Nobody is perfect. The Speaker is not perfect. Mr. Governor also is not perfect. He is your brother. The desire of Mr. Governor is to supercede the achievements of hiprecedessor in office so that he will continue to be in his good book. 

“If the people did not vote for us, we won’t be here. Let us maintain a cordial relationships. We are in this position because of our people. Why the logger heads? Why the disagreement? Even if you disagree, you have to resolve things maturely. Your Governor is a governor that is accessible. You can always talk out your differences over.

“Let’s manage the Assembly very well so that there won’t be any issues. Let’s resolve our differences amicably. Both the House of Assembly and the Executives should be on the same page for the progress of the State”. 

Earlier, the Wife of the Governor, Dr. Mrs. Olayemi Oyebanji while addressing the wives of the Honourable members, their husbands and the pupils, commended the organisers of the repeat of the “Back To School Initiative” which took place at the Hallowed Chamber of the Assembly.

She noted that lifting the less kids with the gifts was a symbolic gesture as they represent a group that would not have the benefit of shopping for the goods needed ahead of a new academic session unlike children of the privileged ones.

Dr. Oyebanji who said life was about making impact said everything possible must be done to lift the vulnerable segment of the population and relieve them of their burden for them to contribute meaningfully to the state and enjoy self-fulfillment.

She said: “This initiative was borne out of a profound sense of empathy, aimed at transforming the lives of vulnerable children through education. By providing them with educational materials and support, we aim to  give  them a good start up in the  coming new academic season. 

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Rt. Hon. Aribasoye said adding value to the lives of the vulnerable people should be a paramount agenda for privileged people noting that poverty or lack should not be allowed to rob children the opportunity to have access to education.

 He said: “We have resolved to support our spouses to ensure that what we are doing today becomes a reality. We must be ready to assist our constituents and one of the ways we can do that is to support the education of school children in our constituency.

“Whatever we are, we must be ready to give back to our people for us to have shared prosperity in line with the vision of Mr. Governor. Those of us who came from very humble background will understand the importance of what we are doing today.

“We have some people who rose from the rock and we have some other who rose from the mire, which is even more difficult because as you are trying to pull out one foot from the mire, the other one sinks down the mire and that is what indigent people pass through.

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The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Bolaji Olagbaju, said the initiative would complement a similar one carried out by the First Lady noting that it would boost the self esteem of the kids when they resume back to their schools.

Rt. Hon. Olagbaju showered encomiums on Dr. Oyebanji for honouring the Assembly with her presence noting that the legislators and the spouses expected nothing less from the First Lady whom she described as a noble princess and a renowned scholar.

In her welcome address, wife of the Speaker, Mrs. Aribasoye, hailed the spouses of Assembly members for their sacrifices in pooling resources together to procure the materials for distribution to the beneficiaries.

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The Speaker’s wife explained that she and her colleagues had worked together with their spouses to contribute to the advancement of the educational system in the state by providing the materials to the pupils ahead of resumption of the new school session.

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