Oyebanji’s Uncommon Birthday Celebration And Massive Turnaround Of Ekiti Special Schools

ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji has proved time and again that he is an uncommon leader that has the interest of the masses at heart and will always be ready to alleviate their suffering, bring smiles to their faces and improve their standard of living.

One of the ways he does this is through his birthday celebration which falls on 21st December every year, having been born on that date in the year 1967. Since coming to power in October 2022, the Governor has celebrated his annual natal day in an usual manner.

Rather than throwing big parties and inviting the high and the mighty for sumptuous dinner and exotic champagne, the Governor takes his birthday celebration to the doorsteps of a group of people that are usually forgotten and neglected in the society.

 The Ekiti Governor celebrates with children with disabilities in the state’s special schools and inmates of rehabilitation homes across the state to give them a sense of belonging and donate food items, material gifts and handsome cash largesse and this has become a state policy in the last three years of his stewardship.

Before every December 21, Oyebanji would have reeled out some instructions on the way he wanted his birthday to be celebrated and the major ones are that there should be no paid adverts in the national dailies and monies being readied for such should be donated to any of the special schools in the state which have physically challenged students.

He usually instructs that monies meant for birthday adverts , gifts and parties should be paid into the accounts of any of the special schools (housing the students with disabilities) to give the inmates there a special treat and to also give a substance upgrade to the facilities in such schools, while he also doles out huge amount of money and food items to the schools.

 The Governor took last birthday celebration last month to a higher gear by gifting the schools with a total sum of N21 million and assorted food items which marked the highest humanitarian donation from him since the practice started in 2022. This gesture was outside other donations by his friends, well wishers, political associates and colleagues in government.

It is a common practice in Nigeria that millions of Naira are spent on paid adverts in newspapers, magazines and on radio and television stations anytime top political office holders in the executive and legislative arms at federal and state levels are celebrating their birthdays.

Such occasions are usually looked forward to by many people including political leaders, office holders, supporters, contractors, well wishes, event planners and managers because of the benefits they stand to reap from them and are usually held in venues that the downtrodden may find difficult to gain access to.

But Oyebanji in the last three years has changed the narrative and is showing example that birthday celebrations offer an opportunity to spare a thought for the downtrodden and forgotten segment of the population who needed a lift and the protection of the dignity of their human persons.

Apart from his instructions to donate to the special schools, Oyebanji also takes time off for personal visits to the special schools to spend time with the students there to feel their pulse, encourage them and their handlers and also use the opportunity to assess the facilities on ground.

Anytime the Governor was not physically present on his birthdays due to pressing state assignments and crucial engagements at the nation’s capital, Abuja, his wife, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, would represent him at the special schools with other government functionaries in tow and lavish the largesse on the students there.

Government officials, political associates, friends of the Governor, his classmates and schoolmates and other admirers have made celebrating their birthdays at the special schools a culture and the gestures have gone a long way in contributing to the welfare of the physically challenged students.

Oyebanji’s birthday has become a catalyst of transformation for all special schools in Ekiti State with the donations going a long way in positively changing the face of the schools through facilities and infrastructural upgrade which have served as motivation to the students and the officials teaching and taking care of them.

Ahead of his 58th birthday which was celebrated on December 21, 2025, the Governor again reiterated his call and appeal to friends, associates and the general public not to organise any birthday party or newspaper advertisement in his honour thereby prioritizing the welfare of students living with disabilities.

The benefiting special schools are: Government Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro-Ekiti; Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere-Ekiti; and Government Special School for Children with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities, Ido-Ekiti, as well as the State Relief and Rehabilitation Centre for the Mentally Challenged in Ado-Ekiti and Government Therapy Centre for Children with Disabilities, Ado-Ekiti.

 The breakdown of this year’s donation showed that the State Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro Ekiti; State Special school for the Blind, Ikere Ekiti; and Special School for children with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities, Ido Ekiti, got N5 million naira each in addition to assorted food items and drinks. The State Relief and Rehabilitation Centre , Ado Ekiti got N5 million naira also while the State Therapy Centre for Children with Disabilities received one million naira.

 Before his 58th birthday last December, the donations made to commemorate Oyebanji’s 56th and 57th birthday made a great impact in the special schools, making them to wear new looks with ultramodern facilities procured from such financial donations totalling N28 million (before the N21 million donation by the governor this year).

According to a report on the donation made available by the Special Adviser on Special Education and Social Inclusion, Princess Adetoun Agboola, the benefiting special schools are: Government Special School for Children with Intellectual and Physical Disabilities, Ido- Ekiti, which got total cash donation of N5.4 million; Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere Ekiti, which was boosted with total cash of N7.8 million; and Government Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro-Ekiti, which got a total cash donation of N7 million.

 Others are Government Therapy Centre for Children With Disabilities, Ado Ekiti, which was gifted a total cash donation of N1 million and Ekiti State Relief and Rehabilitation Center, Ado-Ekiti, which got N6.8 million, amounting to a total sum of over N28 million from the donors to the schools and centers.

Projects executed with the cash donations include purchase of 30 iron beds, installation of 2.5 KVA solar inverter energy systems and renovation and installation of 43- inch plasma television at the Ekiti State Relief and Rehabilitation Centre, Ado Ekiti.

 At Government Special School for Children with Intellectual and Physical Disabilities, Ido Ekiti, 50 new iron beds were provided due to the massive increase in students’ enrolment.

Facilities provided with the donations at Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere Ekiti include provision of two rooms, purchase of storage equipment (two deep freezers of 160 litres each), a 5.5KVA generator and a 2KVA stabilizer to ensure reliable power supply.

The facilities provided with the donations at Government Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro Ekiti include solar inverter installation, dormitory bathroom construction, renovation of four toilet rooms in the boys’ hostel and successful execution of water reticulation to both bathrooms to ensure regular water supply.

Princess Agboola noted that the special schools have benefitted immensely from the donations received from the Governor and his admirers who were acting under his instructions to donate to the schools, noting that the gesture has boosted facilities in the schools.

Princess Agboola said in the report: “Every year, you have magnanimously encouraged your family, friends, and political associates to donate to the Special Schools and Centers instead of giving you birthday gifts. This generous gesture has greatly supported the development of these facilities and fostered a sense of inclusion among the children in our society.

“On behalf of the three special schools and two centers, we express our heartfelt gratitude and pray for God’s blessings upon you and your households. I am pleased to share how each facility utilized the 2024 birthday donations.

“The successful execution of these projects underscores the significant impact of Your Excellency’s commitment to the Community of Persons with Disabilities.

” The gesture of the Ekiti Governor in using the annual occasion of his birthday is another way of allowing students living with disabilities to benefit from his milk of human kindness and making the special schools in the state centres of excellence in turning disabilities to abilities.

The installation of ultramodern facilities has boosted enrollment in the schools and encouraged their parents and guardians that such children are very important and should be given a sense of belonging to unleash their potentials to make them useful to themselves, the state and the nation at large.

*Ogunmola is Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Print Media