BEING THE SECOND INAUGURATION SPEECH OF
HIS EXCELLENCY, THE GOVERNOR OF OYO
STATE, SEN. ABIOLA AJIMOBI, AT THE OBAFEMI
AWOLOWO STADIUM, ON MAY 29TH, 2015
I stand before you today, acutely aware that I am
standing at the threshold of history. I stand
before you, humbled by that same history, the
history of our 39-year-old State and the
evergreen story of the labour of our heroes past in
the old Western Region. I stand before you,
humbled by your resilient patriotism and abiding
faith in me in the April 11 election.
2. I am eternally grateful that you rose above the
massive hate and smear campaigns designed to
demonize our huge sacrifices and achievements
of the past four years. You cared not for the tale
that no governor was ever re-elected in our state.
You would not allow that past history to
determine your approaching future. You chose not
to succumb to fear or fable. You voted as your
conscience and beliefs led you. You used your
votes to break the alleged jinx that hovered over
our politics. We clearly heard you when you said
that, like every human being created by the Most
High God, our human limitations as individuals
and as an administration were inconsequential,
placed side by side our monumental commitment
and passion to make a difference in Oyo State.
We heard you clearly.
3. Since 1976 when our state was created, seven
of us have stood before you to take the
gubernatorial oath; 26 in all have administered
our state, either as the defunct Western Region or
its eventual reincarnation as Oyo State. The
Almighty, in His wondrous ways, ably assisted by
the audacity of your votes, has made me the only
of those numerous men to take the gubernatorial
oath a second time.
4. I want to pay my respect to those great
present and departed patriots who incubated the
treasure that we today hold delicately on our
palm. I am mindful of the sacrifices borne by
those 26 living and departed ancestors of our
State; men upon whose shoulders, at various
moments of our development, history had thrust
the administration of Oyo State. To the many of
them who have substituted mortality for
immortality, I pay my due respect to your
nostalgic memory. To the ones who are alive,
some of whom are sitting resplendently here
today, I salute your trail-blazing credentials,
dogged patriotism and love of country.
5. Let me specifically single out the sage, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, for mention. Today, our State
still enjoys the superstructure of vision, good
governance and commitment to a glorious
tomorrow which fired the governmental zeal of
the man I have chosen to refer to as a recent
ancestor of the Yoruba race. His resilient vision
was followed in tow, either by civilian
administrators in flowing agbada or military
officers in shining epaulettes, but who etched
indelible landmarks on the sands and annals of
our great State.
6. Four years ago when I stood before you like
this, I literally took you on a journey into our
world of a New Oyo State. I spoke glowingly
about what looked like an Eldorado – a State that
was a departure from the chaos of violence,
brigandage and socio-political violence that
seized the state like an unending affliction. I took
you on a voyage to a state that would be the
envy of all for its eye-popping infrastructure, a
destination for all in its aesthetics and stubborn
allegiance to the sanctity of the hallmark of good
governance, among others.
7. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Good
People of Oyo State, let me confess to you that
the road to development has been unimaginably
rough and coarse, threatening to inflict blisters on
the soles of our naked feet. In the midst of this,
our resilience and abiding faith kept us going. We
fought battles against principalities sworn to the
status-quo of our decadent past and forces, for
whom politics, rather than love of our dear State,
dictated their resilient battle to abort a flight of
destiny.
8. May I state here, great people of Oyo State
that, in spite of the machinations of dwindling
cash from federal purse and developmental
challenges, we have rewritten the environmental
history of our State. Gone are those ignoble
epithets appended on our state as the capital of
dirt in Nigeria and headquarters of sectarian and
political violence.
9. From the outset, we understood the bulwarks
that an unclean environment constituted against
development. Our major challenge was the
psychology of a great people long left to fallow by
a leadership that cared less about the nexus
between development and environment.
10. Today, no matter the temporary setback in
the economy, we have deposited a can-do
environmental cleanliness spirit in our people,
ingested a passionate disgust for filth into them
and succeeded in making thousands of our people
marines of our vision of a clean and sustainable
environment. This success aptly mirrors the
imperishable words of Rosalynn Carter who
stated that a leadership must possess a
recalcitrant will, powerful and dogged enough to
penetrate a stony rock. To her, a leader takes
people where they want to go; a great leader
takes people where they don’t necessarily want to
go, but ought to be. It is the foundation of
visionary leadership.
11. The peace our state won was a war, war
against the same principalities and power who
perpetuated the status quo of disorder and
violence. Our pedigree of peace and awareness
that peace is a sine qua non of good governance
performed the magic. We literally matched to the
grooves of the warlords of violence in Oyo State
and smoked them out with all our governmental
might, vowing that we would haunt down
remnants of troops of violence with the full wrath
of the law.
12. In my 2011 inaugural speech, I promised to
institute an infrastructural regime that would be
the envy of all, especially in addressing the
challenges of the state capital. I thank God for
His abiding faith that has assisted us to keep
faith with this promise to the great people of Oyo
State. In four years, we literally showed our
people the texture of road infrastructure of great
quality, alien to Oyo State in decades,
foreshadowing within it a promise that we could
do more if our people gave the go-ahead with the
power of their votes. We dualized all entry points
into the zones and won the accolades of millions
of residents and those who daily come to our
state for businesses transactions.
What 2015-2019 has in store for us
13. The policy thrust of the government from
2015-2019 shall be guided by the manifesto of
our great party, the All Progressives Congress
(APC), as well as our personal desire to leave
imperishable legacies that will carve out
immortality for us as individuals and government.
We will productively utilize our learning curves of
the first four years to transform Oyo State into a
place of pride. The cardinal thrust of our
administration from today till May 29, 2019 shall
be:
- Consolidation of peace and security in the state
- Deepening inclusive and transparent governance
- Widening the scope of infrastructure
development and upgrade of the 2015 Urban
Renewal Initiatives
- Human Capital Development founded on quality
education, skill acquisition and healthcare delivery
- Re-engineering of our socio-economic
infrastructure for economic emancipation and
progress, with a goal to repositioning the finance
of the state
- Revitalization and development of agriculture
and agro-allied industry for value addition
14. In a bid to achieve these, we will make human
capital development the cornerstone of our
policies. Indeed, every of our cardinal programmes
shall be founded on a solid superstructure that is
fixated on human capital. Thus, none of the
programmes shall be executed without firmly
prefixing within them the quest to better the lives
of our people.
15. We will take seriously the upgrade of schools
to functional, modern models of learning. Their
physical infrastructure will be ensured and our
commitment to the mental development of our
children, as well as upgrade of their teachers, will
be irrevocable. We will rededicate ourselves to a
healthcare programme that is premised on
qualitative health for a greater number of people.
16. Our urban renewal initiative will be
consciously primed on the need to create
employment opportunities for the teeming
unemployed people in the state, as well as
capitalize on the need to ensure a surging traffic
of investors keen on platforming on the
transformation of the state into an urban
metropolis. Our urban renewal programme will be
founded on a waste-to-wealth initiative that will
utilize waste for generation of electricity and
exploit its urea by-product.
Financing development
17. With the realization of the paucity of funds
from the federal purse, we will re-engineer our
finances and economy towards the financing of
our lofty milestone projects. We will in this wise
restructure our finance to improve the economic
viability of the state and reduce our dependence
on federal allocation without which we, at
present, cannot meet our financial obligations,
not in the least payment of salaries and wages.
18. In all these, the widely tested and effective
Public Private Partnership will be explored in
bringing development to our people. We will
utilize the effectiveness of the tripod of purposeful
political leadership, unalloyed commitment to a
peaceful Oyo State and exploration of the God-
endowed arable lands at our disposal for the
realization of our goals.
Conclusion
19. Let me restate that I am indeed humbled by
your abiding faith in me as an individual and the
administration which it has pleased God to put
me at the helm of its affairs. I am not unaware of
the privations you went through in voting for me
and our party. Inside the scorching sun, beaten
by recalcitrant showers of an audacious rain, your
abiding faith in my candidature was as sweeping
as a talisman. Many endured unprovoked attacks
and searing hostilities to get us to where we are
today. To you all, I am profoundly grateful.
20. I also acknowledge the persistent and
consistent determination of those who, exploiting
their inalienable democratic right of choice,
diametrically opposed our candidature. Their
doggedness fired our zeal and determination to
break a jinx which though was mythical, held
everyone spellbound by a pervasive belief in its
efficacy.
21. I seize this opportunity to congratulate my
opponents in the April 2015 elections for running
a competitive race and giving our people a
genuine opportunity for choice. I extend my hand
of fellowship to them. Their spirited challenge
broadened the space for responsible self-
governance, deepened our understanding of civic
duty and the healthy practice of democracy. The
result is that we have effectively banished the era
of amala politics which impoverished the public
space and neglected the crying needs of the vast
majority of our people by servicing the personal
interests of a tiny few. On this day, let me openly
proclaim an end to petty political grievances,
unfounded recriminations and fastidious
fascinations with political dogmas of the past
which have only strangled our politics and
deadened our collective drive to move forward as
a movement of dedicated people desirous of a
New and Modern Oyo State.
22. One thing I assure you all is that, I will be the
governor of all; the governor of my friends and
foes. I will offer all my shoulders to lean on in
time of your sorrow and my palm for a ‘high-five’
in your moments of exciting happiness. I will care
for the vulnerable in our state, protect those
afflicted by existential hazards and misfortune
and bring smiles to the faces of those hit by the
harsh sun of the time.
23. Our victory at the polls was not the fruit of
any human wisdom. It was not a victory that any
single man can lay claim to being its architect. It
was one which only the Almighty has sole claim
of being its patent. In His quest to break the
frontiers and contours of the myth of a Second
Term of office in Oyo State, God used the clergy,
clerics and all those who made countless
supplications to Him on our behalf in churches
and mosques. To these known and unknown
supplicants, I profoundly appreciate your spiritual
and intercessory dialogue with God on our behalf.
24. My appreciation also goes to the top echelon
of our great party, the All Progressives Congress
(APC) for its abiding faith in us. Let me first pay
homage to the brand new President of the Federal
Republic, Muhammadu Buhari, for the refreshing
hope he holds for our country and the vision of
our party to be the governmental game-changer
that this nation desires. I am convinced that the
President will bring on board a fabled personal
discipline to a Nigeria that is yearning for
salvation from decades of leadership challenges.
Permit me to also single out our National Leader,
a symbol of resilience and the innate power in
man to break the frontiers of limitations, Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria owes this enigma a
great appreciation for his selfless sacrifice for our
quest to swim ashore from the stagnating ocean
of hopelessness and collapse, for which a brighter
hope abounds today.
25. I similarly pay homage to our National
Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, for his
unshakeable belief in us and our mandate. This
vortex of appreciation to the leadership of our
party would be half-filled without an
acknowledgment of our own Baba Omo Kekeeke
and former Acting National Chairman of our party,
Chief Bisi Akande. His fatherly contributions and
sleepless nights of guidance on the right path of
sustainable leadership are stories that will occupy
copious portions of the story of our success. Let
me use this opportunity to also appreciate my
deputy, Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, whom I have
variously described as the most loyal deputy in
the world. He stood by our mandate through thick
and thin. So also do I appreciate our State
Chairman, Chief Akin Oke, for his unshakeable
commitment and belief in our dream. Same goes
to all our party leaders and members for their
unwavering commitment.
26. Let me appreciate my wife, Florence, a woman
I find convenient to call my Masterpiece of
Nature. When the artillery fire of our political
opponents got to its unbearable crescendo, this
woman offered the soothing balm that massaged
my aching and sagging will. At moments when
the political heat was oven-hot outside, she
cooled the fire with her God-endowed wisdom-
laced words and pieces of wonder-working
advice. She has proven to be my Number One
friend, critic, partner and confidant. So also are
my children, with whom I share the challenges of
office.
27. For me, this victory is a call to rededicate
myself to the people of Oyo State who waddled
through the unpleasant puddle of our political
opposition’s bitter politics. It is a victory of our
total trust in God in the face of talismanic powers
of marabouts.
28. It is time to repay those faithful voters who
thumb-printed us back to Agodi Government
House with a society that they and their
children’s children can be proud to call their own.
Neither I, nor this government, can single-
handedly navigate Oyo State from economic
doldrums. We have to collectively do it. None
among us should fall for the fiction that our
economic stagnation and the ills that plague our
polity can be cured by government and its runners
alone. Never again must political affiliations
dictate our loyalty to Oyo State. Let us learn a
lesson from the sunbird and canary who, early in
the morning, collectively begin the proclamation
of the gospel of a sweet future ahead, through
their sweet songs on the tree top. Let us pick
ourselves up, as that song-star counseled, dust
ourselves off, and start all over the work of
forging a New Modern Oyo State. The hills that
stand as barrier against us are not as high as
the joy that awaits us.
29. Ours will not be a government of solely the
rich or solely the poor but a government of the
lowly and high people of our state. We will
demonstrate abiding commitment to the common
will and initiate policies that frown at the tyranny
of a privileged few. We will exhibit governmental
fidelity and open the drawers of Oyo State money
for all to see.
30. Let me say categorically that the power we
sought and which you freely gave us through this
feat of a Second Term in office is the power to do
good. Our government must match this feat of
yours by governing you even better now than we
did during the first term. Each day in this next
four years, our administration will turn a new
page of this new chapter in the governance of our
State, bearing in mind not just the promises
made, but the dedication needed to fulfill the
pledge given. Our resolve is stronger, our
commitment firmer and our purpose clearer as we
strive to meet the needs of our people.
31. To the people of Oyo State in general, I say
the CHANGE and the TOMORROW you yearned for
are here. Let us all join hands to make that
change touch and benefit the lives of every citizen
of Oyo State.
32. Long live Oyo State
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I thank you all for listening.

lovely. Epic

Buhari speech no even long like this.. I will congratulate you only when the tribunal declares you victorious. Till then keep representing.

Kini? kilanbaka? Buhari own gan kotobayi? Kiwa ni karamo? Af ajimobi na

God bless you my amiable governor