On Thursday, December 21, the 56-year-old governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji, issued a warning to friends, family, well-wishers, and the public, instructing them not to plan a birthday celebration, send a gift, or place an advertisement in the newspaper in honor of him.
He requested that those who wished to honor him donate money or other materials to the state’s underprivileged children in lieu of advertisements, presents, or social events.
The governor asked that gifts and money be sent to the State Relief and Rehabilitation Center for the Mentally Challenged in Ado-Ekiti, as well as the three Government Special Schools in the state’s three senatorial districts: Government Special School for the Deaf, Ikoro-Ekiti; Government Special School for the Blind, Ikere-Ekiti; and Government Special School for the Mentally and Physically Challenged, Ido-Ekiti.
In a statement, Yinka Oyebode, the governor’s special adviser on media, suggested that his friends and well-wishers send material and monetary gifts to the schools.
He added that the nation has reached a point where people should make conscious efforts to reach out to the less fortunate in society, saying that would be of greater value and a more meaningful birthday celebration for him.
The Governor expressed his happiness at the amount of friends, family, and coworkers who gave gifts to the three special schools on his birthday the previous year, as well as the happiness the gifts made the students smile.
Governor Oyebanji stated that he was pleased to learn that all of the schools had improved certain facilities and improved student welfare by making better use of the material and financial gifts they had received from him and his friends.
The governor expressed his happiness that friends and well-wishers would fulfill his wishes once more this year by helping him to put smiles on the faces of the students with disabilities rather than any gifts or celebrations they may have planned.
On December 21, 2023, Oyebanji, an Ikogosi, Ekiti native and former university lecturer who is now a politician, will turn 56 years old.
