TheCable

Biodun Oyebanji, governor of Ekiti state, says the economic hardship plaguing the country will soon be over.

Speaking during the monthly evening of praise and worship held at the Lady Jibowu hall, government house, Ado-Ekiti, Oyebanji said President Bola Tinubu is not the cause of the economic crises in the country.

He added that the president is implementing people-oriented programmes and policies to ease the hardship.

Oyebanji asked Nigerians to be patient and pray for the president.

“I just want to encourage us today as children of God to keep faith in God and to also amplify our prayers for Nigeria, for Ekiti state and for the President,” the governor said.

“I understand what we are going through, but the truth of the matter is that the president is not the cause of these crises but God has prepared him for a time like this. What he needs is our support, our prayers, our understanding and encouragement.

“I am just pleading with us that the president needs our help, he needs our prayers, we should not do anything to discourage him.

“We should thank God that we have a man of courage, a man God had prepared for a time like this, I believe in God that we will get out of this problem and when the time comes and the dividends of these reforms are unraveled, all of us will be alive.”

Oyebanji urged all Nigerians to take up farming and become productive in their small ways to contribute to the nation’s growth and development.

The governor noted that palliative measures would not end the food crisis permanently.

He assured Ekiti residents that the state would soon achieve food sufficiency and become the nation’s food basket.

“I thank Ekiti people for maintaining peace and I promise that we’ll continue to lessen these burdens, but the truth of the matter, which many people don’t want to listen to is that palliatives will not solve these problems, it can only be a temporary measure, when you give someone a bag of rice, in two weeks it would have finished,” he said.

“We have embarked on a programme that by next year, we will have food sufficiency in this state, because, if we don’t make haste now, I pray next year will not be worse than this.

“We must be able to grow ourselves out of hunger, which is what the president told us last week. 

“Government will do its own bit, but you have to go back to the farm. So, no matter how small, let’s start bit by bit, you have to grow what you will eat and at least be able to feed ourselves.”