Ekiti representation concerns grow as editorial questions balance between national duties and local impact of federal leadership

By Bolanle BOLAWOLE

A few days ago, I came across the piece you will soon read here now and was attracted to it by the message; the medium of the message; and the personality the message was addressed to.

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The message is of public interest. The medium of the message – Treasure newspaper.com – and its publisher, Adeniran Emmanuel, are well known to me. The “big man” to whom the message was directed is my professional colleague and contemporary.

“Delistic” is how I hail him! “Boly-Boly”, he would respond. My wife and, indeed, all her mates, have fond memories of Dele’s father, who was their principal at the Lagos Baptist Secondary School, Oke-Odo, Agege, Lagos state. Pa Michael Ojo Alake aka Baba was a disciplinarian and a role model that his former students still have fond memories of up to this day.

He is reputed as the inspiration for the Old Students’ association they later formed, and which has attracted wide recognition, winning many laurels from the Lagos state government. Baba Alake, from Ikoro-Ekiti, died in 1984.

Treasure newspaper.com, an online publication, wrote a massive editorial titled “The Dele Alake Question: Results in Abuja, but what about Ekiti?”; the editorial was delectable. Maybe I should let you read it first. When we return, I will pass comments:

“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Henry Dele Alake as Minister of Solid Minerals Development in August 2023, Ekiti State celebrated. Gov. Biodun Oyebanji called him ‘very experienced, hardworking and capable’ and thanked the President for giving Ekiti ‘an illustrious citizen’ at the federal table.

“Thirty-two months later, a different conversation dominates Ekiti’s markets and WhatsApp groups. It was captured in a single Facebook post last week: ‘Who is the minister representing Ekiti at the federal capital, Abuja? It is as good as having no representative!’ The frustration is not about Alake’s competence. It is about presence.

“The case for the minister: No fair observer can deny that Dr. Alake has worked. Under his watch, solid minerals revenue leapt from N16 billion in 2023 to over N70 billion in 2025. He presented gold bars to the President, shoring up $5 million for our reserves.

Continentally, his peers re-elected him chairman of the Africa Minerals Strategic Group in Riyadh this year – a vote of confidence Tinubu himself praised.

“He has not ignored Ekiti entirely. When the Presidency released palliatives, Alake channeled 1,200 bags of rice to elderly citizens in the state, promising that widows, orphans and students would be next.

His media office insists that he ‘supports the current administration of Gov. Biodun Oyebanji (and) will continue to contribute to the growth and progress of Ekiti State.’

“His team also argues, with merit, that a minister serves the federation, not a senatorial district. His brief – to ‘make the solid minerals sector a major revenue earner (and) create thousands of high-paying jobs’ – is national, and Abuja is where that work happens.

“The case for the people: Yet, representation is measured in two currencies: results and presence. On results, Alake scores. On presence, the ledger is thin.

“Ekiti is not Zamfara or Kogi; we have no sprawling mines to commission. So the minister’s victories – AMSG chairmanship, mining marshals, MoUs with South Africa – land in the news, not on the ground in Ikoro or Ise. That is the structural reality of his portfolio.

But it is compounded by a political choice: Alake has deliberately distanced himself from state politics, dismissing governorship posters as ‘fake’ and insisting he is ‘too busy’ for Ekiti elections ‘now or in the future.’

“In avoiding politicking, he has also avoided the town halls, the school visits, the borehole projects that other ministers use to keep a finger on their home pulse. The constitution does not demand those visits. Public sentiment does.

“Dimension stone and granite processing hub: Ekiti State sits on large deposits of granite and other dimension stones; yet, Nigeria still imports polished granite for major projects.

A federal processing hub in Ekiti would fit squarely within the Ministry of Solid Minerals’ mandate because Minister Dele Alake has said the sector must ‘create thousands of high-paying jobs for Nigerians’ and move beyond raw extraction to value addition.

Despite that alignment, no federal granite or dimension-stone hub has been announced for Ekiti since he took office.

“Gemstone cutting and polishing school: The Ijero axis of Ekiti is known for tourmaline, aquamarine, and other semi-precious stones.

Setting up a gemstone cutting and polishing school in Ado-Ekiti would advance the Ministry’s stated goal of integrating artisanal miners into the formal economy while building the skilled workforce needed for value-added exports.

At the moment, there is no training center or lapidary school tied to the Ministry in the state.

“Kaolin-to-pharma and paint pilot: Ekiti has commercial kaolin deposits, a mineral used in pharmaceuticals, paints, and ceramics that Nigeria largely imports.

A pilot project to process Ekiti kaolin for domestic industries would support the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda on import substitution and industrialization – both themes Alake has linked to his reforms. However, no pilot plant or kaolin beneficiation project has been flagged off in Ekiti.

“Formalizing Ekiti’s artisanal miners: Nationwide, the Ministry is registering artisanal mining cooperatives as part of its push to curb illegal mining and grow revenue, which has already risen from N16 billion to over N70 billion.

Ekiti has informal quarry workers and gemstone pickers who would benefit from cooperatives, licensing, and access to equipment. Still, there are no published figures on how many Ekiti cooperatives have been onboarded, and no state-specific numbers have been released.

“Geoscience data for Ekiti: The Nigeria-South Africa mining MoU that Alake signed covers UAV remote sensing, geoscience mapping, and advanced laboratory technology like LA-ICP-MS – tools that can prove the size and grade of mineral deposits to attract investors. Ekiti’s pegmatite and industrial mineral belts would be prime candidates for such surveys. Yet, no survey flight, mapping exercise or geodata release has been announced for the state.

“Our stand: Treasure Newspaper does not join the call for Dr. Alake to abandon his national assignment. Nigeria needs a solid minerals sector that works, and his reforms are beginning to deliver. We also reject the cynical view that ‘no visit means no work.’ That is lazy politics.

“But we do ask for balance. A minister is not a commissioner; yet, he remains the only Ekiti voice in the Federal Executive Council. That voice must be heard and seen.

Presence does not require weekly homecoming, but it does require deliberate touchpoints: quarterly ministerial briefings in Ado-Ekiti, solid minerals skills programs for our technical colleges, and clear advocacy for federal projects that site infrastructure in Ekiti where geology allows.

“Gov. Oyebanji cannot be the minister’s proxy forever. If Dr. Alake is indeed ‘a proud son of the soil’, the soil should feel him beyond bags of rice.

“Ekiti gave Nigeria a strategist. We are proud of that. Now we ask the strategist to remember that strategy without people is just a memo in Abuja. Representing Ekiti means bringing Abuja’s weight to Ekiti’s ground – at least often enough that no citizen has to ask, ‘Who is our minister?’

“Minister Dele Alake should consider and factor Ekiti State into the activities of his current Ministry of Mines and Solid Minerals in Abuja and remember his home State for good. He should know that there is life after leaving office.”

Questions, questions, questions! Is this well-written editorial factually correct? Is it true that Ekiti is yet to benefit from its Minister? Maybe, like Oliver Twist, the writers of this editorial are only asking for more.

Again, is it not too early to jump into conclusions? The patient dog, they say, eats the fattest bones. Could the mission of this editorial be to function as a reminder to the Honourable Minister that “We are still here o! We dey loyal o”?

Maybe Ekiti should give Dele more time! More often than not, southerners in power are more circumspect than their northern counterparts when it comes to channeling Federal largesse to their home base.

But charity begins from home. Sir Thomas Browne, English author and polymath, is reputed to have first made this statement in his 1642 publication titled “Religio Medici.”

Whereas Dele is an accomplished journalist, he is undeniably also a politician.

He held office as Commissioner for Information in Lagos state for a record eight years during the governorship of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He is today a Minister of the Federal Republic, representing Ekiti state, according to this editorial.

Thomas (Tip) O’Neil Jr., one-time speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1977 – 1987), coined the phrase “All politics is local.”, underscoring the fact that even national politics must reflect local priorities.

My friend and colleague, Lekan Sote, in his March 6, 2019 column in The PUNCH, also explored this theme when he posited that “politicians must always pay attention to the everyday concerns of their constituents, and not only the so-called national issues.”

I know it can be argued that Dele’s ministerial appointment had nothing to do with his state of origin.

Yes, he could still have been a Minister anyway, regardless of his state of origin – or even if he is stateless! All the same, we will still trace him to Ikoro-Ekiti, just like I did at the beginning of this piece – whether he likes it or not.

Can anyone turn Dele away from Ekiti? Felix Houphouet-Boigny, erstwhile president of the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) says, “Home is where, when you go there, they take you in” Can they ever fail to welcome Dele anytime he goes to Ekiti?

That said, it will be uncharitable not to imagine the pressure under which Dele must be performing his duty as minister.

I think I read in a place where Dele reportedly said he specifically asked for the Solid Minerals portfolio. So, he has no choice but to perform.

Besides, he is a well-known associate of Mr. President; so he cannot afford to let him down. Therefore, the pressure on him to perform must be much.

The target and mandate set for him by his principal must be his driving force.

That, in itself, will demand a lot of personal sacrifice. There is no way Dele’s uncommon devotion to his national assignment, attested to by this editorial, will not cut him off even from childhood friends who shared the same lockers with him in elementary school!

Walking this tight rope in the midst of the realization that, all said and done, “Ile l’abo simi oko” cannot come easy. Abuja, Lagos or anywhere else is “oko” (foreign land) while Ekiti is “ile” (home).

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After a life well spent traversing here and there before transiting in 1984, Pa Alake’s mortal remains were interred in Ekiti where, from the stories I heard, he was well received. That, in itself, is instructive!