By Dauda Lawal
SIR: I refer to a piece published on The Nation letters page on Tuesday April 7, by one Emmanuel Ajanlekoko.
One of the many lies contained in the jaundiced write up against Governor Kayode Fayemi is when he wrote, “Alas, in his hometown, Isan Ekiti, many people have died from ailments that could be managed with a few thousands of naira. The state hospital in the town has become moribund; it is doubtful that paracetamol can be found in the hospital let alone other basic medications. The street roads are in sorry state”.
In the first place, there is no state or general hospital in Isan! The nearest general hospital to Isan is in Ayede- Ekiti and it is functioning well just as the remaining 17 general hospitals in the state which Governor Fayemi renovated in his first term and still gives priority attention now.
There is a well-equipped and functioning Comprehensive Health Centre in Isan Ekiti that attends to the health care needs of the people of the town.
It is not also true that many people in Isan have died from ailments that could be treated with a few thousand naira because Isan people like the rest of Ekiti indigenes benefit from the free health care programme of Fayemi who has paid more than lip service to primary health care delivery across the state.
Apart from all these, Isan Ekiti has also benefited greatly from various empowerment and poverty alleviation programmes being initiated directly by the governor or through his connections with some local and international donor agencies.
Apart from this, the wife of the governor, Bisi Fayemi empowered many widows, paid N20,000 monthly stipend and food stuffs (Ounje arugbo) to many elderly persons, youth and town union groups too numerous to mention and this she does all the time. She has paid hospital bills of many indigent patients not only in Isan but across the state.
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The claim that all Isan street roads are in a sorry state is another lie! Isan Ekiti like every other town in the state benefitted from Fayemi’s five kilometres per Local Government programme where many of the internal roads in the town were tarred and the farmstead roads graded.
Many of the strategic link roads in the town have been captured for upgrade under the Ekiti RAAMP project, an initiative of the World Bank in conjunction with the Ekiti State government.
Another lie from this strange Ajanlekoko is that 10 of Fayemi’s immediate family members are in his cabinet! I challenge the writer to name just one out of this 10 in Fayemi’s cabinet! On the imaginary allegation of betrayal that the writer like his remaining sponsors are trying to make stick on Dr. Fayemi, the Ekiti indigenes he mentioned as those Fayemi betrayed are all beneficiaries of Fayemi’s goodwill and large heart. The people mentioned know better and Ekiti people and posterity are in a better position to assess them.
The two gentlemen – Bimbo Daramola, and Oyetunde Ojo would certainly not dare accuse Governor Fayemi of betrayal because one thing people hold against the governor is that he promoted them way above their level against better qualified and more credible politicians.
- Dauda Lawal, Isan- Ekiti.
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