By Idowu Ephraim Faleye
The sociology of envy and short memory in Ekiti politics explains why some politicians prefer Engr. Kayode Ojo as governor, even when history has shown the dangers of supporting leaders who didn’t grow up among them, while short memory makes them forget the pains of being ruled by leaders who were strangers to the state. That is why today, instead of rallying behind a homegrown governor like Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, many are now shouting for a man who has barely lived in Ekiti, simply because the grass is always greener on the other side.
There is a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side. It means that people often believe that a change is better than what they have, even when their own situation is not as bad as they think. This saying fits perfectly into the political behavior of Ekiti people and the drama that surrounds the coming governorship election.
Over the years, Ekiti has suffered because we have allowed ourselves to be carried away by this mindset. We keep thinking an outsider will do better than our own. We forget the painful lessons of the past and we find ourselves falling into the same trap again and again. Today, some people who once cried for a homegrown governor, someone who understands us, eats with us, walks our dusty roads, and feels our pains, are now shouting for another stranger, someone who only comes home when election is near.
When we look back at our history, we will see how this habit has cost us dearly. Many of those who became governors of Ekiti were not truly familiar with the land. Yes, they were indigenes by origin, but they had lived most of their lives outside. Their close friends were outside. Their trusted aides were outside. Their families were outside. Their children schooled outside. Their wives and relatives stayed outside. And whenever they wanted to relax, they traveled outside.
Because of this, their circle of trust was never in Ekiti. When they became governors, they naturally appointed their outside friends and associates into key political and economic positions. These people may have carried Ekiti blood in their veins, but their hearts and pockets were tied elsewhere. The result was capital flight. Money that should have circulated in Ado, Ikere, Ikole, Oye, and Ijero ended up flowing to Lagos, Abuja, or even abroad. School fees were paid outside. Houses were built outside. Workers were hired outside. Mechanics, tailors, bricklayers, carpenters, and other artisans in Ekiti lost patronage because the leaders we elected preferred their trusted contacts elsewhere.
We cannot even blame those governors completely. Human beings trust those they know best, and since they had built their lives elsewhere, it was natural for them to fall back on those people. Even their campaign funds were raised mainly from their external circles. Those friends who brought out millions of naira during elections had to be compensated later, and the only way was to use Ekiti’s resources. In the end, Ekiti lost because our money was used to pay debts we did not owe.
This is the bitter cycle we cried against for many years. We said enough is enough. We said we wanted a son of the soil who was not just Ekiti by birth but by life. We wanted someone who had studied in our schools, taught in our classrooms, worked in our system, and shared our struggles. Someone who was not just familiar with the terrain but part of the terrain. That dream came true when Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, BAO, became governor.
Oyebanji’s story is different. He grew up here. He studied here. He worked here. He built his political journey here. His friends are here, his circle is here, and his trust is here. He does not need to import people to tell him what Ekiti needs. He has lived the Ekiti experience all his life. Unlike those before him, he does not see Ekiti as a political playground but as home. For the first time in a long while, we have a governor whose roots and branches are within us.
Yet, in a strange twist of irony, many of the same people who once demanded such a governor are now shouting against him. Instead of celebrating that their long cry has been answered, they are now crying crucify him, give us Kayode Ojo. This is where the saying that the grass is always greener on the other side comes in.
Kayode Ojo has not lived in Ekiti. He has never spent two straight months in the state at once since birth. His visits are always tied to politics. He does not know the pulse of the land. He does not share the daily burdens of the people. He has not experienced the challenges of running a business in Ekiti without electricity, bad roads, and limited markets. His social and business world is outside. But because he has been spending money during political seasons, many now believe he is the better option.
What is even more interesting is that Ojo is strongly supported by a minister who is more Lagosian than Ekiti. Yes, he represents Ekiti at the federal level, but his life and social ties are not in Ekiti. He is part of that same circle of leaders who live outside but remember home only during politics. Now, together, they are packaging Ojo as the new hope for Ekiti, and our people are falling for it again.
But let us pause and ask ourselves: when someone spends money that was not made here, where will the repayment come from? When a man gathers his rich friends outside Ekiti to bankroll his campaign, will he not use Ekiti’s treasury to pay them back when he enters office? When those friends who sacrificed their millions come calling, will he tell them no because he wants to fix roads in Ilawe or build schools in Ifaki? History has shown us the answer before, and it is always the same. Ekiti’s money will again flow out, leaving us with little to show.
When the political class in Ekiti once again sells the people’s mandate to a stranger, the same cycle will repeat. The stranger who bought support with money borrowed from his wealthy friends outside will naturally have to repay them from Ekiti’s commonwealth. And when the time comes to share the largess, those who already collected their dues during the campaign will still expect more benefits, wanting to eat their cake and have it at the same time, forgetting that the real cost is borne by the masses who never saw a kobo of the bargain.
It is easy to be carried away by the glamour of money during campaigns. It is easy to shout for the man who shares the biggest rice bags and sprays the loudest cash. But we must remember that those are only baits. They are seeds planted to harvest our future. Once the election is over, the real price comes, and it is always paid with Ekiti’s development. This is what has kept us backward for years.
But the matter does not end there. Another reason many are ganging up against Oyebanji is envy. Ekiti has a strange habit of pulling down those who rise among us. Instead of celebrating our own, we prefer to poke holes and drag them down. We do not like to see one of us succeed too much. When a neighbour is climbing, we remind ourselves of his childhood flaws, his youthful mistakes, or his family weakness. We say things like, who does he think he is? Why should it be him and not me? In politics, this spirit is even stronger.
Some people are uncomfortable with Oyebanji’s rising profile because it threatens their own ambitions. They do not want him to break the jinx of second term failure in Ekiti. Since the creation of the state, no governor has enjoyed two straight terms in office without interruption. For many, it has become a point of pride to say no one can. They believe Oyebanji should not be allowed to change that record. They prefer to keep Ekiti trapped in that cycle of instability instead of supporting continuity.
This is why the gang up is not about performance. It is not about whether Oyebanji has failed or succeeded. It is about the fear of his success. If he wins a second term and performs better, it will prove that homegrown leadership works. It will show that Ekiti does not need outsiders to progress. It will bury the argument that only those with external links can make us proud. And that is what his opponents do not want to see.
The danger for Ekiti is clear. If we allow ourselves to be deceived again, we will once more hand our future to leaders whose loyalty is not to us but to their external sponsors. We will repeat the cycle of capital flight, of lost opportunities, of broken promises. We will regret again, and as usual, it will be too late.
Ekiti must rise above the illusion that the grass is greener on the other side. We must value what we have, not always chase after shadows. We must support the man who has lived with us, grown with us, and stood with us. We must learn from history and not be victims of short memory. We must not sell Ekiti future for a token today.
The truth is simple. Oyebanji represents a new path for Ekiti, a path where leadership is rooted in home, where money circulates here, where development touches real lives here. Kayode Ojo represents the old pattern, the stranger politics, the capital flight politics, the politics of friends from outside. The choice is between repeating the pain of yesterday or building on the promise of today.
Ekiti cannot afford to keep believing the grass is greener on the other side. It is time to water our own grass. It is time to stand by our own. It is time to say no to deception, no to envy, and no to the cycle of failure. Only then will we truly break free and move forward as a people.
*Idowu Ephraim Faleye writes from Ado-Ekiti +2348132100608*