BAO’s Green Revolution: Oyebanji Sparks Forestry Rebirth to Power Ekiti’s Green Economy

Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has launched what many call the state’s green revolution: a bold, hands-on reclamation of its dying forest reserves and a decisive push toward a climate-smart economy.

BAO’s Green Revolution: Oyebanji Sparks Forestry Rebirth to Power Ekiti’s Green Economy

For decades, Ekiti’s once-lush forests had been stripped bare, overrun by illegal loggers, bandits, and herdsmen who left behind vast stretches of deforested land. But under Oyebanji, the tide is turning. The forests are breathing again.

Early into his administration, Oyebanji ordered joint security operations that cleared out criminal elements from the reserves — a move that restored calm to communities long trapped in fear. With safety restored, the government swung into action, deploying new forest guards in 2023 and reinforcing security through Amotekun, the Agro-Marshal, and the Anti-Grazing Corps. In total, over 400 personnel have been mobilised to secure forested zones and rural areas.

Now, with law and order reclaimed, Ekiti is pivoting toward regeneration. The state has sealed key partnerships with private investors under new public-private reforestation schemes. These ventures are not just about planting trees, they’re about rebuilding an economy around them. Companies like YSJ Limited, MBH Global Resources, and Enshet Global Resources are already driving large-scale afforestation projects across Oke-Aro, Ogbese, Aramoko, and Ise-Ekiti. Each project promises not just biodiversity renewal but also local jobs, carbon credit potential, and sustainable timber production.

But Oyebanji’s green agenda goes deeper than planting saplings. It’s building knowledge. Ekiti recently welcomed a new outstation of the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) in Odo-Owa Ekiti, a project facilitated through collaboration with Dr Olly Owen, Technical Adviser on Forestry and Climate Change, and Dr Akinyemi Akinyugha, Technical Adviser on Green Economy and Ecological Matters. The FRIN centre, with 20 hectares of land and a functional office space, is expected to transform forestry research and education across the region.

“The Oyebanji administration has taken forestry from decline to revival,” said the Executive Secretary of the Ekiti State Forestry Commission, Mr Sunday Adekunle. “This is not just conservation, it’s economic transformation rooted in environmental responsibility.”

What’s emerging is a model of governance that balances growth with green ethics, one where economic expansion aligns with ecological preservation. From the ashes of neglect, Oyebanji’s Ekiti is crafting a new identity: a subnational powerhouse for green investment, carbon innovation, and climate action.

In the heart of Nigeria’s southwest, the trees are rising again and with them, Ekiti’s hope for a future that’s both sustainable and secure.