Bamidele: The quiet general selling Tinubu in Ekiti

By Rotimi Ojomoyela In the rolling hills of Ekiti, where politics is played in markets, churches, palaces and town halls, a quiet storm is gathering ahead of 2027 and at its eye stands one man, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. The Senate Leader and representative of Ekiti Central Senatorial District has emerged as the central figure coordinating mobilisation for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term campaign in the state, not with noise, but with work that people can see, touch and ride on.

For Bamidele, already a two term senator and an earned ticket for another term, the assignment is not just about party loyalty. It is about consolidating a political partnership that has defined Ekiti’s place in national politics since 2023 and proving that alignment with the centre pays The bridge between Abuja and Ado-Ekiti Bamidele is no stranger to the Tinubu political family.

As a former aide, commissioner and long-standing ally of the President, he understands the President’s vision and speaks with authority on it. That proximity has made him the natural bridge between Abuja and Ekiti. While other leaders talk about 2027 in hushed tones, Bamidele has taken the conversation to town halls, party meetings, professional groups and community gatherings.

Party sources say his approach is deliberate; unite first, mobilise second and win convincingly third. Where projects speak louder than promises What sets Bamidele’s mobilisation apart is that it is anchored on visible projects, not just promises. In Ekiti Central, constituents point to roads, schools, water, light and empowerment as evidence that the Tinubu era is working.

Across Ekiti West, Efon-Alaaye, Ijero, Irepodun/Ifelodun and Ado-Ekiti, his interventions have focused on basic amenities that touch daily life. Dozens of motorised solar-powered boreholes have been installed in communities like Aramoko, Iyin, Ijero and Ado-Ekiti to reduce reliance on unsafe water sources. Solar-powered street lights have also been installed across major roads and communities from Aramoko to Ikogosi and Iyin-Ekiti, improving security, nightlife commerce and reducing accidents, while transformers have been provided to boost electricity supply.

The most quoted scorecard of his stewardship is in road infrastructure. Reports on his record put the number at over 50 roads rehabilitated and constructed across his district, alongside 12 mini-stadiums, thousands of solar streetlights, ICU facilities at five hospitals and new ambulances donated to health centres across Ekiti State. In Iyin-Ekiti alone, constituents have cited the construction of the Iyin-Ilawe road, the road network within the community, installation of solar lights and construction of market stalls with modern facilities.

For canvassers of Tinubu’s second term, those roads are walking billboards. A University rises in Iyin At the heart of Bamidele’s legacy project is the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, FUTESI. He sponsored the bill establishing the Federal University of Medical and Environmental Sciences, Iyin-Ekiti, which was passed by the Senate, and later secured federal funding to establish the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences in Iyin-Ekiti, giving his community a tertiary institution it did not previously have, a development that has brought federal presence, jobs, students and economic activity to Ekiti Central.

To protect the interest of secondary school students sharing the same site with the new university, Bamidele personally undertook the renovation of Government Science College, Iyin-Ekiti, at a cost of over N200 million, covering the boys’ hostel, administrative and classroom blocks, girls’ hostel, dining hall and kitchen, while he also presented a brand-new bus to the school and another to FUTESI.

In his words, “The essence of investing in schools is to create an environment where children could acquire the knowledge, skills and character needed to become better and greater leaders of tomorrow. “My hope and prayer is that this is the home of tomorrow’s engineers, medical doctors, physicists, pharmacists and in the leadership sector future governors, future senators, commissioners and other leaders”.

Hands that empower, voices that mobilise Beyond infrastructure, Bamidele’s record shows a strong emphasis on skills acquisition and economic empowerment, with thousands of constituents benefiting from training in entrepreneurship, vocational skills, agriculture and technical services. His mega empowerment programmes distributed tools and equipment aimed at boosting small businesses and agriculture, with beneficiaries receiving sewing machines, grinding machines, motorcycles, tricycles and minibuses.

In a state where elections are often won in markets and motor parks, those empowerment items have become powerful testimonials for the Tinubu campaign. His interventions have also included day care centres for the elderly in Aramoko and Iyin-Ekiti, and in Ado