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Tag: Ekiti

  • Fayemi’s urban renewal takes Ekiti to 21st century

    Fayemi’s urban renewal takes Ekiti to 21st century

    The urban renewal efforts of Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration in Ekiti State have peaked faster than many thought possible just two years ago. Sulaiman Salaw-udeen examines the effects on the residents

    The view across Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti state and other towns in the state, far beyond being genial, is lately even inviting. Structures belonging to banks and other corporate outfits which verge major roads and streets now impress a stamp of newness and health on a capital which might finally have caught up with modernity earlier than imaginable only two years previously.

    Passing through the roads and streets day or night either walking or by other means is no longer stressful, courtesy of the much advanced road rehabilitation and urban renewal programmes of the administration of Dr. Kayode Fayemi which turned three recently.

    Either as one moves into the capital from the entry points of Iyin-Ekiti, Iworoko-Ekiti, Ijan-Ekiti/Federal Poly axis, Ikere-Ekiti and Ilawe-Ekiti, or out of the capital, the traveller is greeted by and enjoys dark, shiny, smooth tar and much widened and often dualised lanes all of which have gained additional beauty through concrete drainage system for the channeling of waste water and flood during rains.

    Even within the township, main roads including Police Headquartres-Basiri-Fajuyi road, Fajuyi-Adebayo road, Fajuyi-Okesa-Okeyinmi-Old Garrage road, Bank road, NTA road, Old Garrage-Ijigbo-Ajilosun road are now also well-paved, double-carriage and widened.

    So far, according to findings, 736,715km of a total of 1,334 kilometres of both federal and state roads have been completed while an additional 500 kilometres are ongoing across every nooks and crannies of the 16 local government areas of the state since the inception of the administration.

    Further, the streets are illuminated with bright lights as apparent in the nights when driving without the headlights may not pose much danger; functional traffic lights supported by the ubiquitous and ever-vigilant State Traffic Control Officers decree a regime of sanity in vehicular operations in daytime. The (road) medians which house the street light poles are lately going green with cultivated grasses.

    As mobility devices glide with ease through the streets and highways, traffic hold-ups have also gone in areas such as Old Garrage/Post Office/Oja’ba, Okeyinmi and Ojumoshe junctions and Fajuyi/Okesa roundabouts through access roads rehabilitated/created about the town. The urban renewal/beautification exercise of the Fajuyi area itself has lent supporting allure to the corporate appearance of the whole environment.

    Also, heaps of fresh and decomposing refuse which used to take strategic positions within the metropolis have equally gone, thanks to the vibrant Ekiti Waste Management Agency which today does not just clear the refuse but has been converting same into forms usable for other attainments.

    With street lights on major roads, night time commercial activities are now familiar development with consequent improvement on nightlife specifically around Fajuyi-Adebayo areas while incidences of attacks of hoodlums who often applied the darkness about the town to unleash their art have reportedly also waned.

    Shops and kiosks where locals access staples and other items of need which remain a common sight still are now well recessed from the road, allowing more freedom to other official operations which might occasionally become necessary, including the much advanced laying of cyber-optic cables.

    Presence of government in one regard or another is seen all over the town more often nowadays with sights of refuse/waste collection trucks and their officials in action; the erection or repair of this or that street light or faulty road portion. The likelihood of such encounters has become so much as to be trite.

    Commenting on this development, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo said: “What used to be the order was open and blunt official negligence and abdication of duties. On all indicators of the existence of governance in the state, you would find the repositories of peoples’ questionable mandate than ever in bed and sleeping.”

    According to Ekundayo, unease and sleeplessness befall such a head that must wear the crown of governance. “As a responsible administration that we have today in the state, there is no rest time. And that is why you have the smoothness and progress on all fronts in the state.

    “The roads that Fayemi has built have a minimum survival period of nothing less than ten years but should anything go wrong with any of it anywhere and anytime, you would see our officials there for the amends. This is how we understand administration”, Ekundayo said.

    Clarifying further, the commissioner said “the current administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi runs an 8 Point Development Agenda. None among all the 8 can be said to suffer. Everything is success and more success and more success. If we have been resting, half what we have achieved would not have been possible.

    “Recall that the governor just concluded the celebration of his third year in office. Though celebrations we call it, it was actually an opportunity to do more work. Several projects were commissioned while another phase of the social security scheme was flagged off with the addition of 5,000 qualified elderly individuals into the bulk of twenty thousand.

    “New projects were launched during the programmes across agriculture, health, empowerment and others. The third anniversary celebrations have been concluded but the governor, as we are talking has started and completed a tour of the entire 132 communities in the state as part of Village Square/Town Hall meetings to access community people’s contribution towards the 2014 budget. The result of this will soon come for people to see in the structuring of the 2014 budget.

    “You really cannot avail much if you are the holidaying type as a leader. I dare say unease lies the head that wears a crown and the reward for good work is more work for the people”, the Commissioner said.

    How it used to be

    But someone who has not been in the state for at least one and half years might not be aware of what the residents, especially vehicle owners and commercial cab operators had gone through.

    Itinerant businessmen and other categories of visitors coming into the capital might then have wondered “where the capital really was in the capital, Ado-Ekiti” as they battled a view which awed sensibilities in its unbecoming grandeur and a movement that must tax patience.

    Difficulties of both vehicular and pedestrian operations had generally been sanctioned by potholes and craters which had overtaken significant sections of the often too tiny stretches of the major and access roads, worsened by shops, kiosks, business complexes and even residential buildings built up to the last margins of the roads. These particularly made driving a most unattractive and troubling burden.

    The commercial vehicle operators who, in trying to outsmart other road users while rushing possibly to meet ‘delivery targets,’ only worsened situations. Heaps of debris of collapsed structures and assorted construction machines which laid here and there at the peak of the urban beautification exercise only choked up the already tiny spaces the worse.

    Residents, especially in the more expansive settings of Ado and Ikere Ekiti, constrained by lack of waste disposal points had also then chosen city centres as their dump sites. Mounted at major junctions were mountainous heaps of often decayed garbage of assorted wastes from houses and community markets which, lying unattended days, would issue offensive smells and foul breath.

    Further, arising from the darkness which usually enveloped the town soon as night fell owing to lack of state-aided illumination/lighting, sights of vehicles, including commercial taxis, plying the roads were scanty, while roadside traders and hawkers were a rarity, leaving the needy at such periods at the mercy of luck!

    Owing to largely absent and occasionally blocked drains, floods must come onto the roads during rains again, dragging along and depositing at critical sections all manner of debris. The consequence had often been an unsightly view of a capital reeling under multiple failures of a best forgotten past.

    Moving from the capital then into the hinterland, especially towards Iworoko-Ifaki, Ajilosun-Ikere and Fedpoly-Ijan-Iluomoba, the road user must meet worse challenges. The hell holes which had then worsened into craters and gullies over time would keep dragging the unfortunate machine and its occupants from one end of the road to another in an infernal ding-dong, forcing them to commit hours into a journey of minutes!

    For those lucky to avoid head-on collisions arising from often compelled needs to dodge undesirable sections of the roads, the machines must sure be returned to the artisan for urgent salvage.

    Abandoned along the roads at the time were scores of vehicles the deaths of which had been aided by such harrowing tales. Today, all inter-township roads are free and unclogged and sights of abandoned/disused vehicles along the highways are a rarity.

    But the infrastructural reversals in Ekiti have meant more than these. They have also involved the entire overhauling of the secondary schools through Operation Renovate all (182) Secondary Schools (ORASE) and Operation Renovation all (120) General Hospitals (ORAHE) across the 16 local government areas of the state.

    Generally, since inception in October 2010, the current administration has commissioned well over a thousand projects which include several rural and urban electrification projects and infrastructural monuments. Among the latter is a giant edifice named ‘The Civic Centre’ which is one of what the administration has described as ‘legacy projects’.

    Also at the far right and atop a noticeable Ayoba Hill about Okesa junction in Ado-Ekiti is the new ‘Governor’s Lodge Complex’, now standing sturdy on the Hill.  The State Pavilion located at the far end of the Bank Road is expected to serve as a good icing on the cake of the very many infrastructural accomplishments of the administration. Both are in Ado-Ekiti and at very advanced completion stages.

    Others on the ‘legacy projects’ list, aside some of the new roads within the metropolis, according to the findings, are The New Governor’s Office, Ire Burnt Bricks Factory in Ire-Ekiti, completed and now servicing the interested public; Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort in Ikogosi-Ekiti, equally completed and already attracting commendation and patronage from within and outside the state.

    Infrastructural facilities like electricity distribution supports for communities, upgrading of water provision facilities in Ado-Ekiti and other towns across the state and the laying of cyber-optic cables in Ado-Ekiti, have all been receiving generous and consistent attention as well from the administration.

    Specifically, the laying of the cyber cables was the culmination of several previous efforts at enhancing the information and communication awareness of residents of the state, especially, secondary school students and their teachers, with the distribution of nearly 35,000 net-book, solar-powered laptop computers. Most of the students who are now ICT aware and even the teachers were interacting with the computer for the first time in their whole lives!

    The combined effect of  all the efforts as listed here has transformed not only the entire view of the state, especially the capital, but even the ease of transacting businesses, from governance to education, the civil and public service, banking, relaxation/tourism and other areas of life.

    Presenting a bill in respect of next year’s appropriation, the governor said in terms of infrastructural development in the state: “our goal is to establish optimum communities that will improve the lives of citizens and attract investment. Our target is to ensure that every part of the state is accessible by motorable roads by the end of our first term in October 2014.”

    Although, relatively, the achievement in the area of water supply and distribution in the state has been lower compared with other areas, the state government has committed a sizeable chunk of its total earnings into reversing the sector.

    Governor Fayemi admitted this during the bill presentation saying, “In concrete terms, we have invested over N1.2 billion in water production in the last three years with over 157.3 kilometres of water pipe laid in 2011 alone. We are also making water dams in the state functional so as to increase water supply and coverage by 80 per cent while using the PPP to increase generation and distribution of electricity.

    “Three water schemes were completed and commissioned in Efon-Alaaye, Okemesi and Ido-Ile while two other schemes in Ipole-Iloro and Erinjiyan-Ekiti are nearing completion. About 4.0 billion cubic metres of water has been produced and distributed to the various communities in the state in the last two years”, Governor Fayemi said.

    According to other sources, efforts have been mounted to institute fundamental changes through a multi-sectoral approach which by the middle of next year will take concrete shapes especially in the capital of Ado, Ikere and Ikole.

    The challenge of urbanisation

    The infrastructural developments particularly in Ado-Ekiti have introduced challenges though. Perhaps the most visible lately is the sheer increase in population as often attested in the number of commercial motorcycle operators whose penchant for over-speeding and sundry road misdemeanours have been attracting attention.

    Crude estimates now put the number of commercial motorcycles operating in Ado-Ekiti alone at nearly a hundred thousand which people argue is more than double the number of commercial taxis plying inter and intra-township roads.

    The concern however is not the figure which most consider intimidating and potentially dangerous but the fact that the riders defy road regulations with gleeful abandon, a development which has made them more susceptible to accidents. Even while over-speeding, most would not wear crash helmets, which puts them at double jeopardy in accident situations.

    According to the State Sector Commander, Federal Roads Safety Corps, Engr. Ringdom Kumven, “efforts have lately been mounted through a Thursday radio programme owing to observed recalcitrance of the operators of commercial motorcycles.”

    “You will notice that most of those who ride the motorcycles are not trained and neither are they mature enough to pick up that trade. Pressed of necessity, the young boys just reach for the motorcycles as a last resort, driving with all manner of condemnable recklessness”, Kumven said.

    The programme which, according to him, was in consequence of frequent motorcycle accidents some of which claim lives was mounted to offer channels of discussions on how to maintain safety on major roads.

    The effect of urbanisation on properties have however been unprecedented and mind-blowing. While the cost of obtaining shops has more than doubled in the last two years, that of renting a modest residential apartment has become more unfriendly. While it has become harder to secure houses in urban Ado, the needy are having to seek solution in adjoining suburban settlements of Ikere and Ilawe.

    A properties dealer who craved anonymity noted: “The cost either of buying a landed property or renting an apartment or shop can never go down again. Generally and all times, cost of properties don’t go down. There may be occasional lags, but prices soon return to normal.

    “What I can advise people to do is to get their own portion of land and build their houses. It is the solution to the ever rising costs of obtaining through rent a residential accommodation. Government is also set to assist the residents through the recently commenced 5,000 housing units project. If they can construct that number of units, it will assist quite a number of residents, especially the civil servants.

  • ‘PDP, LP can’t dislodge APC in Ekiti’

    ‘PDP, LP can’t dislodge APC in Ekiti’

    Former Ekiti State Governor Adeniyi Adebayo is the All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim National Vice Chairman (Southwest). He spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU and MUSA  ODOSHIMOKHE on the challenges confronting the mega party, preparation for Ekiti and Osun state governorship elections, Jonathan Administration, single term tenure, national security and other issues.

    Why was it difficult to resolve the rift between Governor Kayode Fayemi and House of Representatives member Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele?

    We did everything possible to bring about rapprochement. We tried to pacify all the parties, but I really don’t know why it did not yield the desired results.

    As a big brother, people thought your influence would have robbed off and brought about peace…

    But unfortunately, this did not make the impact and, like I said, I did my best to ensure that the parties involved resolve their differences.

    What do you think is the bone of contention?

    The reality is that Opeyemi Bamidele don’t want to step down for Kayode Fayemi. He has made up his mind to go to another party to contest. All I can say is that I wish him the best of luck.

    It has been speculated that his departure will have adverse effect on the party….

    Sincerely speaking, I don’t see how that will happen in Ekiti State. I don’t see how our members will leave a winning party and join a party that is not yet tested in Ekiti. I do not think that people will move from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party (LP). It will not have any adverse effect on our party.

    Some people said that Bamidele has grievances, which you elders failed to address…

    Frankly speaking, Opeyemi Bamideles is a non-issue with me for now. He has left my party. So, I wish him all the best in his future endeavour.

    Why is it difficult for the progressives to resolve their differences?

    Your question is hypothetical. I am a progressive and I don’t think I have problem with anybody.

    People are of the opinion that you don’t have crisis resolution mechanism in your party

    You will always have aggrieved people in any political party, whether progressives or conservatives. That is because sometimes, reasons do not prevail where a man has an ambition. And I don’t think this happens only among progressives. We have it in the conservative fold.

    A month ago, the APC only had an adversary, the PDP. But now, it has the PDP and Labour Party to contend with…

    Add both together; they cannot pose a threat to the APC in Ekiti State. I keep saying it and I will say it again ,until we hold election in Ekiti. The APC will win not less than 70 percent of the votes.

    What is responsible this over confidence?

    It is not over confidence. It is confidence borne out of the reality on ground. The governor has done a fantastic job. He has done fantastic a job, in term of developing the state and that is what gives me the confidence. Any attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission to rig the election will be resisted. As a politician, I go round the state. I see what is on the ground and I feel the pulse of the people. The feeling is that the governor has performed. Everybody in Ekiti is desirous of having continuity in government. The problem of Ekiti is non-continuity in government. After I left office in 2003, I think we have had about five or six governors in the state. This has created a lot of disruption within the system.

    So, all we are saying is that we admire places like Lagos as a result of continuity of government. When there is a continuity of government, there will be continuity of policy of development. And many people are saying that, with the kind of job Governor Kayemi has done, if allowed to continue in another four years, he will continue to do the same job by making Ekiti greater.

    And whoever comes after him, the developmental stride will continue. That is what people want to see. All they are interested in is to ensure that there is continuity, in term of development. Now, they have somebody who is doing a good job. So, he will continue.

    Between now and 2014, what do you think should be the pre-occupation of Fayemi Administration?

    I think by the time the detail of Governor Fayemi’s budget is out, it will be the continuation of what he is already doing. He will be involved in bringing more development to Ekiti State. He will continue with the development and construction of roads in Ekiti State. He will continue with the development of infrastructure for school, hospitals. I know there is plan to expand the social security for the elderly people. He will put more money in agriculture togenerate employment. He plans to do a lot and he should be given the opportunity to carry this out in another four years.

    The APC has been protesting the outcome of the governorship election in Anambra State. You are going to elections in Ekiti State and Osun states. What are your fears?

    We have learnt a lot from what happened in Anambra State. We have studied the situation and we are going to ensure that we guard against what happened. We are not going to allow that to play out in Ekiti and Osun states.

    The defection of Alhaji Rafiu Ogunleye from the Ogun State APC to the PDP has been described as a minus. What happened?

    I have to ask you why he decided to leave. Sometimes we engage ourselves too much on personalities. It is not the personality that is the issue; it is the followership. For instance, in Ekiti, my deputy decided to go to the PDP, but his followers did not go with him. At a time 14 members of the ACN left and they thought it was going to weaken the ACN, but this did not happen because, when they left, their followers did not go with them. And that is the situation in Ogun State as well. Though Ogunleye has left, many of the followers did not go with him. Many in the APC believe in our party. No party is perfect; there will always be differences. Even within families, there is difference. You are not going to say because you have differences with your children or relatives, you are no long a member of that family. It should not be that way. And incidentally, when these people leave and believe that they are going to move with their followers, they get disappointed. If you want to go, you can do that, f am not happy with what is going on. But I prefer to stay within my own house and fight for my right than abandon the ship.

    Is there no lesson that we can learn from their defection?

    If you say the grass is greener onthe other side, it is when you get to the other side that you discover that it not so. I don’t understand how you profess to be a progressive and you now leave it to the conservative camp. That I don’t understand.

    The PDP is targeting the Southwest for liquidation…

    That has always been their ambition, even when they used might and everything that they have to overrun us in the Southwest. Later, the Southwest liberated itself. They have always dreamt. Let them continue to dream.

    But, how are you prepared to curtail them?

    They did it once. We made the mistake that we tried to support a Yoruba man for the Presidency, but he used everything at his disposal to get us out of office. Now, we are smarter. Our eyes are opened and you can be rest assured that nobody can deceive us. We know what they are planning to do. we are tiding up and prepared to stop any attempt by them to do thingss we considered inimical to democracy.

    You have been celebrating the expansion of your party. How will those who are coming be able flow together with you ideologically?

    If we look at those who have come to join us so far, you find out they have progressive tendencies. And, if you remember, the PDP was formed by progressive politicians. It was unfortunately that they allowed it to be taken over by the conservatives. At the time the PDP was formed and, if you look at the founding fathers of the PDP, majority of them were progressives. Unfortunately, there was an influx of conservatives and, as at today, the party has been taken over by them. And you will find out that it is the progressives among them that have said enough is enough and have moved back to their traditional abode. If you want to get progressives together, people of like minds, you will find out that there is always accommodation.

    There are diasagreements on whether the new governors will have overriding influence in their states…

    We believe strongly in internal democracy. For now, what we are going to face is the registration of our members. Anybody that is interested in our party will be registered and, from then, we will hold our congress. The congress will hold from the ward level, local government to the state level. It is at that point we will know who is in control and who is not in control. What I am saying in essence is that it is the party that will be in control of the party machinery. The leadership of the party will be decided by the people themselves, as supposed to anybody being foisted on anybody. We are not a party where you will say, come ,you are going to be the leader of the party. There is theparty constitution and the leadership will emerge by the will of the people.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar defected to the Action Congress (AC) 2007 and, after the election he went back to the PDP. What is the assurance that those who defected now will not go back to the PDP?

    I cannot predict the future because I am not a soothsayer. From what they are saying and their body language, I feel comfortable with them. I think they have chosen to come back to their natural abode.

    It has been said that you are eyeing the Senate…

    I always laugh when I heard such comments. I have never nursed any ambition in this direction. I had the opportunity to contest for the Senate and I refused such opportunities. I am not interested in the Senate; my interest is building the party. My ambition, when I was young, was to be a governor. Ekiti State was created and I got into politics and I was elected the first executive governor of Ekiti State. Ever since, I have not shown any interest in an elective office. I still have no such plans and, ever since I left office, I have been involved in the process of building the party from the AC to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now the APC. I have been involved in building a national political party. We have now got to the state that we have to do something to achieve a national party. This will be done such that, by the time we hold our national convention, we will have on ground a national party that will be the envy of everybody and that, for now, is my ambition. I want to state categorically that, either now or the future, I doubt very much that I have such intention. I can tell you categorically that, in the immediate future, I have no interest.

    What is your position on the proposed national conference?

    I have been around long enough. Many people use these conferences for tenure elongation. During the time of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and now President Goodluck Jonathan, I believe that, in this country, we should have a national conference. If we are serious about having a national conference, this is not the time to have it. If President Jonathan was serious about it, we should have had that earlier. This is the same President that had stated categorically that he does not believe in it. And, all of a sudden, it is coming to election time and he has changed. He wants to use it as an opportunity to try and convince some people to get their support. The Yoruba people voted for Jonathan for him to become the President of the country, but the Yoruba have not been treated well under the administration.

    There are complaints in Yorubaland and I think honestly, he must have been advised that the Yorubas are not happy with him and what you can do now to make them happy is to tell them that he will hold a national conference. For someone who for many years opposed the national conference and toward the end of his tenure now decides to hold a national conference is a smack of deceit. I for one do not believe that it is feasible. I do not believe it will work and I believe it was something somebody suggested to him.

    They believe he can use this one to keep people quiet for sometimes and get support from the Southwest. President Obasanjo tried it, which was the beginning of his tenure elongation. The Deputy Senate President has even told us that there should be tenure elongation. He has suggested that people should stay in office for another two years. It is the same script. They are reading the same book, the same attempt that was used by Obasanjo. They have now brought the same script again and the way it failed during President Obasanjo time, that is how it will fail again.

    Does that mean that the proposal will not work?

    Even if we are going to have it, it is not the way he put it to us. Not by saying that the present elected officers should stay for another two years. If we are going to have that, let us sit down and do a proper national conference. We should have proper resolution made; have everything properly put in a constitution. And not that the present people who have been elected to stay in office for four years should now come and extend their tenure. No way. We did not vote for them to stay for six years; we voted for four years.

    What are the factors and issues that will shape 2015 general electionn?

    Number one, it is corruption. There is massive corruption at the federal level. In fact, I am happy that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Okonjo Iweala, made a comment yesterday that corruption is a major problem they are unable to tackle. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, said categorically that corruption is being encouraged by the executive. Nigerians are sick and tired of it. That is one issue that we will put on the front burner.

    The mood in the APC tends to suggest that its presidential slot may be zoned to the North…

    Even, if it is so, there will still be primaries. Whoever is going to emerge will be chosen by the people through a democratic process as provided for in the constitution.

    Will the primary be guided or open?

    We have different procedures. Which ever that is decided upon will be used.

    Most of you who are leaders of Afenifere are not prepared for reconciliation in the fold again…

    I believe that, one day, we will all come back together again. Efforts are being made in that direction. At the end of the day, really what is Afenifere all about? It is the wellbeing of Yoruba people. Many of us are in different political parties today, but we still have the wellbeing of the Yoruba at heart. The most important thing is that, as long as we are fighting for the progress of the Yoruba people, irrespective of political parties, then, we are still on course.

    Are you not worried that local government election has not been held in Ekiti?

    The election has not held because of the case in court. The PDP took the government to court and that is what is holding us. It is not something that we are happy about.

  • Fayemi receives ERA’s livelihood award.

    The Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi is the winner of this year’s Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Premiere Award for Social Security, Livelihoods and Environmental Protection award.

    Presenting the award to governor Fayemi in Ado- Ekiti during the 6th Annual National Consultation on the Environment (NEC) conference titled: Our Forest, Our Life, ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, said in considering the governor for the award, the organization noted and considered D governor Fayemi’s sustained efforts to provide support for vulnerable groups in a nation without security and insurance for the poor.

    He said Fayemi has blazed the trail in social security delievery through his innovative scheme whereby elderly citizens of the state receives a monthly stipend. According to Ojo, this social security safety net aligns with ERA/FoEN’s commitment towards the establishment of a nationwide social security scheme called the National Basic Income Scheme (NaBIS).

    The NaBIS according to him is a social security scheme whereby about N10, 000 is to be paid monthly to all Nigerians who are unemployed. The scheme is designed to uphold human dignity, reduce poverty, unlock creative potentials for the generation of employment opportunities and reduce prevalence of crime in the society.

    “We found in the comrade governor, some level of fulfillment of these aspirations in his empowerment of Community Development Associations (CDA’s) and his innovative monthly social security stipends to the elderly senior citizens. This premiere award of recognition goes to the governor for his sustained effort to provide social security for vulnerable groups in the state,” Ojo said.

    In his response, Fayemi dedicated the award to the elderly in the state while expressing his willingness to work with civil society organizations in launching NaBIS on a national scale.

    “I dedicate this award to the elderly people in Ekiti. I give them just N5, 000 a month and whenever I engage with the elderly they tell me that many of them still have at least N1, 000 remaining at the end of the month. The elderly also have a contributory scheme within themselves from the little they receive from the government,” Fayemi said.

    Earlier in his keynote address, governor Fayemi called on civil society organizations to collaborate with the government in ensuring the sustainability of Nigerian forests. The governor lamented that civil societies often neglect the aspect of governance in their campaigns saying the two have to go together.

    “I believe government should be involved in the campaign for the protection of the environment. As civil society groups, we should not isolate the government. When we pursue our environmental activities as activists, we should remember the government angle, we cannot push it over,” he said.

    In his opening speech, ERA director Ojo said the topic of this year’s conference is apt because of the great impact that unchecked industrialization processes have led to forest degradation and negatively impacted the communities.

    Ojo said deforestation is nearing crisis level in Nigeria. He estimated that Nigeria has an annual deforestation rate of 3.5 percent and is ranked among countries with the highest level of deforestation of pristine forests in the world.

    According to statistics, between 2000n and 2005, Nigeria lost 409,700 hectares of forests annually and between 1990 and 2000 another 55.7 percent of primary forests were lost to deforestation.  Nigeria currently has below 9.6 million hectares of forest reserves as against 60 million hectares of forests and woodlands credited to the country in 1887.

    Ojo cautioned against false solution to deforestation like the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) which he said is to rob communities of their lands and exacerbate climate change. He said the impact of the loss of forests and biodiversity is replete across Nigeria especially in the 11 frontline states in northern Nigeria.

    He also lamented the indiscriminate logging which is profound in many communities in Ekiti state. “In Irele-Ekiti, which hitherto boasted of huge tress and forest cover, the reverse in now the case as indiscriminate logging and other unsustainable forest practices caused by unregulated charcoal production has severely degraded the forests and forced some plant species and animals into extinction.”

    Ojo called on Nigerians to collectively salvage the forest in order to preserve life forms, biodiversity and food sources for the present and future generations. “ERA/FoEN’s advocacy strategy is to reject and resist all forms of false solutions that will open up the forests to marketization, speculation, hedge funds and carbon stocks.”

  • Old students, community meet on Saturday

    The Old Students’ Association of Egbeoba High School (EHS) in Ikole-Ekiti, 1975 set, will meet in Omuo-Ekiti on Saturday. All members are urged to be there.

    Also on Saturday, indigenes of Temidire-Ekiti in Ikole Local Government will hold “an important” meeting by 10am.

     

  • Scenes from the countryside

    Scenes from the countryside

    EVERY visit fascinates me. The flashback to my days as a kid growing up in the town.

    We used to come here to pluck cherry mangoes. We carefully chose our timing. We would go when it rained. Then, the big men and their domestic workers would be nestling in their beds, away from the biting cold that was usually reinforced by the wind from the hills. The caged dogs would bark and bark, apparently angered at their inability to pounce on the intruders. We would climb the mango trees, big red ants tearing away at our skin to create some painful reddish wounds – the tell-tale signs of our youthful exuberance. We would endure it all to get our prize, the cherry mango with its unique honey-like taste.

    But the visit this time to Okebareke in Ado-Ekiti is not to pluck mangoes. There are no barking dogs; nobody screaming to drive away intruders and no mango trees with those alluring yellowish fruits. There are still some teak, shedding their large leaves, but the big stream, Isinla, is no more visible, having been forced to recede by forces of modernity. Gone also is the massive prison yard. It has been pulled down. From its ruins a cultural centre is set to rise.

    Between the hills overlooking the colonial District’s Officer’s office and the old prison yard sits Osuntokun Lodge, the modest bungalow that is the Government House. I have an appointment to see Dr John Kayode Fayemi, former alter boy, activist, scholar and politician whose guiding principle is integrity; integrity as a tool to rescue a society plunged into a murky well of reptiles by the very people who swore to care for her. The governor of Ekiti State has asked me to join him on a trip to Isan, his hometown for the Isan Day ceremony and another social engagement involving a professional colleague of mine.

    Besides, history is in the making in nearby Iye-Ekiti where a king is taking the staff of office.

    The four-car convoy rolls out of the Government House quietly onto the major road that leads to Iworoko. The road is a work- in- progress, lying there as a vivid testimony to the profligacy – wickedness and foolishness, many insist – of the recent past. It was abandoned after the contractor had collected more than N1billion to turn it into a four-lane broad way befitting a state capital. He returned to the job after threats from the government, which stated clearly that it was not going to be business-as-usual. Now, the work is 70 per cent done. A long stretch of it is lit at night. It is bright and colourful – and romantic – making night driving a pleasant experience.

    It is all dusty. A rock has been blasted. A long line of drainage has been dug and red earth excavated. A narrow bridge that used to be the nemesis of careless drivers has been replaced by a wide one.

    But this, as I later found out, is one of the numerous roads that have been either smoothened or rebuilt and expanded – walkways, flower beds and all that – by the Fayemi Administration. Besides, the construction sites are not limited to the state capital. In every town and village, earth moving machines are roaring.

    From one town to the other, there are buildings wearing fire – red roofs and light yellow paints that captivate the eyes. They are the newly renovated schools over which old and current students as well as residents are excited. As of the last count, 180 of such schools that suffered years of neglect had been revived; the first phase of a massive programme to make the environment conducive to learning. New paints. New furniture. New flooring. And students exposed to the use of computers. But teachers are kicking against an aptitude test with which the government would like to prove that education is not all about infrastructure, that the human element is also important.

    As we move on from the heart of Iworoko to the outskirts, one is confronted by the majesty of nature. Thick, green forests and exotic birds flapping their fluffy wings, flying across the road. On both sides of the road are forests of big trees that will surely make a timber dealer’s day. The trees stand erect on rows and rows of undulating hills. Vehicles go slowly here, rocking from one side to the other to avoid the holes dug by the road builder’s caterpillars. Besides, there are risky bends that test a driver’s patience and skill.

    In every town and village, youths storm the roadside, raising their hands and hailing: Baba o! The old ones, many of them beneficiaries of the novel Social Security scheme under which they are paid N5,000 monthly, simply wave and smile.

    There is the picture of a governor who craves no attention – no siren, no long convoy, and no motorcycle outriders as we had in those days – yet his presence is gripping, going by this open show of deep affection.

    Iye-Ekiti, home of elder statesman Ayo Fasanmi, is a small agrarian town in Ilejemeje Local Government Area. But there is no farming on this day. Residents have dropped all other things to witness history – the presentation of the staff of office to Oba Jonathan Agboola Adeleye-Oni, the Oniye, by Dr Fayemi.

    The applause that greets the governor’s arrival seems a profound expression of gratitude – for the approval of the would-be king to mount the throne and the infrastructural development of the area. Coronation Committee chair J.W. Ogunyemi speaks of “the good road from Oye through Iye to Otun and the beautification of our grammar school as well as the construction of a very standard and modern bridge of Ero along Iye/Ewu/Ayetoro road”. The crowd applauds.

    Oba Adeleye-Oni, who graduated from the Lagos State University in 2008, studied Public Administration. He was in the United States from where he was recalled for the royal office.

    Fayemi delivers a short speech, acknowledging the people’s support for his administration and promising to do more for them. As the king takes the staff, the symbol of his kingship and authority, the crowd yells: Kabiyesi o! Thus ends a long and tedious process of selecting a king.

    A few minutes away in Isan, Fayemi’s hometown, the town’s day is in full swing. Youths are dancing. Women are singing songs that highlight the culture of the town, the home of clay pots. Many of such pots depicting the rich artistic history – and industry – of the people are on display.

    Bade Gboyega, a chief and president of the Isan-Ekiti Progressive Union, delivers his address, praising the people for the peace that exists in the town and recommending dialogue to resolve all issues. The youth, he urges, should be patient. “The governor is one of you, but he alone can’t do it,” he says and lists some of the desires of the town. Tarred roads linking some neighbouring towns, a university, a farm settlement, street lamps, a skill acquisition centre and a microfinance bank.

    Fayemi reels off his administration’s achievements, thanks the people for their support and promises to do more. His audience, including the traditional ruler, Oba Sunday Owolabi Ajiboye, local government chiefs and senior government officials, seem to agree. They applaud.

    Some women hail as he speaks. They round off the speech with a song: “E ma hale mo Kayode o; e ma hale mo Kayode o. Ki lenikan teni kan o se ri, e mo hale mo Kayode o.” “Don’t brag at Kayode o. What strange thing has somebody done, that nobody has ever done. Don’t brag at Kayode o.”

    They clap and shout: “Four plus four? Eight!”

    The group of women sing the praise of the governor’s wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, who is decked out in a smart traditional attire of iro and buba, her dreadlocks covered with a cap of beads – the symbol of her traditional title. She is all smiles.

    A political meeting is set to begin. Off goes Fayemi and this reporter is left with Erelu and a woman visitor.

    “For how long have you had your dreadlocks?” the woman asks Mrs Fayemi. “For five years,” she replies. “They look so good and natural; well tended.” “Thank you ma.”

    “But, why did you do it? Were you tired of visiting the salon?” Mrs Fayemi smiles. “Not really. I just felt that the attempt by many women to make their hair look European is just not right. I like my natural hair.”

    The discussion moves from hair care to serious issues, such as women’s rights, poverty alleviation and governance. A woman and her child show up at the gate. She comes all the way from Ikere-Ekiti to see the Erelu for financial assistance to tackle her diabetes. “These are the things we see every time,” says Erelu, a rights activist and compassionate woman, who seems to be happy that awareness of gender issues and human rights is rising.

    But, to her, it is surprising that she is seen as the unseen hand behind every attempt to get justice for victims of abuses, such as rape and battery. “This is not true; it’s just that people are getting more interested in rights issues,” she says.

    All is quiet on the way back to Ado-Ekiti. Fayemi speaks of his dream to lighten up the road – all the way from the capital. He is obviously impressed by the beauty of the skyline and the new road as the street lamps beam from their long poles, creating a glimmering effect on the dark asphalt.

    In the morning, a short ride around the capital unveils a town in a hurry to cast off the remaining vestiges of its rustic apparel for full modernity. A group of Chinese men are sweating it out at the Civic Centre to which the old prison yard – its eerie air of morbidity and hopelessness – has finally yielded ground. Now, residents and visitors will soon come here for revelries and academic exertions – as the case may be. There is a library. A museum is there, perhaps to house the relics of the old prison yard. In the plan is a shopping arcade. A big hall that can accommodate 1000 people will be part of the centre. There will be others in which between 100 and 250 guests can sit.

    The pavilion will free the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, which is named after the late Ado-Ekiti born frontline sprinter, from other activities, such as the Independent Day and NYSC Passing Out parades. It has a capacity for 20,000 people, sitting comfortably in covered areas.

    But the Civic Centre and the pavilion are just two of a group the Fayemi Administration has christened the Legacy Projects. Right there atop the hill that used to house the colonial District Officer (DO) will sit the new Government House, which is designed to be a beautiful edifice that will be a vivid exhibition of some architectural expertise. The builders are leaving nothing to chance in a desperate attempt to meet the December deadline. Some of the surrounding buildings are already up, seducing the eyes of passersby on the major road down below. The new structure, which will be overlooking the town from its imperial height, I am told, will be, arguably, the best of its type in the country.

    Fayemi smiles and asks the contractor: “Are we still okay for the December deadline?” “O yes; we’ll meet up,” the man replies, adding: “These are the difficult parts. Setting the blocks is easy: it’ll be fast.”

    The builder explains it all, stating how functional the rising edifice will be, why a pillar must come up here and a beam must be forged there. But the new Government House is not just another building. It is a striking parody of the state of the state. Ekiti is restless in its determination to become a fully developed modern state with a functional transportation system, good roads, huge water works, well-equipped hospitals, security and all. As a corollary of these, the state will become a seductive bride to the private sector, which will come in to set up factories. The economy will develop and there will be jobs for the youth.

  • Their culture, their pride

    Their culture, their pride

    Seven sons of Ekiti were honoured by a socio-cultural group, Ekiti Parapo, Lagos Chapter, last Saturday with Icon of Corporate Nigeria Award for their service to humanity. The event was held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja. OLATUNDE ODEBIYI reports.

    The yearly Ekiti Day organised by a socio-cultural group, Ekiti Parapo, Lagos chapter, held last Saturday at the Oranmiyan Hall, Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

    For Ekiti indigenes in Lagos, the event was a homecoming and a time to commemorate their cultural heritage and to bring together those of living in Lagos.

    The event also featured a fundraiser for the development.

    Ekiti Parapo is a non-political but socio-cultural group, for Ekiti indigenes in Lagos.

    The Oranmiyan Hall sparkled. It was decorated in red and green. Chairs were stylishly set round the rectangle shaped tables which had various designs that enhanced the beauty of the hall.

    The ushers, in their green Ankara tops on black trousers, happily led guests in traditional attires into the hall.

    Ekiti dialect and English were the languages of the day.

    As soon as the guests sat, the event began with the recitation of the national anthem. It was followed by a prayer.

    The President of Ekiti Parapo, Lagos, Chief Kola Akomolede, thanked the guests for honouring their invitation.

    A live band entertained guests with various Ekiti songs.

    The duo of Chief Ojo Erugale and Tolu Oguntoyinbo anchored the event.

    The award, Akomolede said, was to recognise the achievements of those who have contributed to the development of the state.

    ‘’Ekiti people should come together for the purpose of developing our state, nobody can do it for us, and we have to do it ourselves.

    “We are rich in human resources and we have great numbers of professors and professionals in the country but we must translate it to the development of our state, because Ekiti State receives the second least allocation from the Federation Account,” he said.

    He urged the awardees not to relent in their good gestures.

    In his keynote address, Ekiti State Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi thanked the group for its support to the state.

    Represented by his deputy, Prof Modupe Adelabu, Fayemi spoke on the eight-point agenda of the state, which are: governance; infrastructure development; agriculture; education and human capital development; healthcare service; industrial development; tourism development; and gender equality and empowerment.

    He told the group to get involved in issues affecting the state.

    “Let us not continue to fold our hands. It is high time we as individual citizens of Ekiti State, Ekiti social groups and all stakeholders got committed to the development of our dear state and start to see government as ours and not just about the governor, or the deputy governor, or the political office holders,” he said.

    Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the day, former Ogun State governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba, hailed the organiser for the colourful event.

    The event continued with donations for the development of the state and the completion of a cassava processing factory which was started three years ago.

    The chief launcher, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, urged Ekiti investors in Lagos to also invest in their own town – Ekiti. He made his donation after which others followed.

    Atiku congratulated the awardees, urging them not to rest on their oars.

    The awardees were; Chief Sam Bolarinde; Chief Oladeji Fasuan; Rt Revd Peter Awelewa; Otunba Kunle Olasope; Mrs Funke Fatogbe; Dr Ola Orekunrin and Mr Folu Ayeni and wife Bose, who were represented by Mr Olumide Ale.

    After receiving the plaques, an Ekiti indigene and graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Tayo Oyeniyi, presented a big card to the governor.

    One of the awardees, Chief Oladeji Fasuan, described the award as unique.

    “It is coming on the heels of many others but I cherish this completely because of the fact that the people recognised what is happening.

    “Ekiti is worth struggling for, you cannot be isolation, and you must be able to elevate your society and make your contributions to the development of your community. The award tells us to be more committed and contribute more to our environment, Fasuan said.

    Chief Sam Bolarinde said he felt honoured being among the recipients.

    ‘’I don’t know what I have done to deserve this award. I love the recognition and its going to make me work harder and do better things for Ekiti,’’ he said.

    Mrs Funke Fatogbe said she was grateful to the organisation.

    ‘’It encourages me to do much more for my state and I am proud to be an undiluted daughter of Ekiti,’’ she said.

    Present at the event were former Governor of Ekiti State Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo; the Chairman of Island Club, Prince Ademola Dada; patron and immediate past president, Sir Remi Omotosho; Prof Babalola Borishade; Shina Awolewa, Jumoke Akintoye; human rights lawyer Femi Falana; Prof Afolayan Ojo; Dr Gbenga Owojaye; Chief Ayodele Otitoju; Mr Kehinde Olaitan; Prince Toyin Ajibade; Mr Ayo Obilana; Tosin Okosi; Omotayo Olotiji and Bola Omoniyi, among others.

  • I’ve not failed Ekiti people, says Fayemi

    I’ve not failed Ekiti people, says Fayemi

    • Governor replies Bamidele

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday said he has not failed the people of the state, contrary to the insinuations of a member of the House of Representatives, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele.

    He said Ekiti has witnessed unprecedented progress under his administration.

    Fayemi, in an October 28 letter to Bamidele on the House member’s resignation as the Ekiti Caucus Leader, said: “In view of the foregoing, it is unnecessary to respond to the opprobrious suggestions on the state of our state which you made in your letter – you are entitled to your opinion, but not facts.

    “The people of Ekiti collectively affirm that by the grace of God, Ekiti has witnessed unprecedented progress since the inception of this administration, to the glory of God and the joy of our people. This is not so appropriate medium to communicate our achievements.”

    He said the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was aware of the sack of Bamidele by the caucus before his resignation.

    He alleged that Bamidele failed in providing leadership to Ekiti Caucus in the House.

    The letter added: “Your letter is well received, though considering the fact that the leadership of our great party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) – had already received prior information that your colleagues in the House of Representatives had replaced you with Hon. Robinson Ajiboye as the Caucus Leader, due to your failure to provide honourable and unifying leadership in promoting the interests of Ekiti Kete in the National Assembly.

    “You are invited to note that the role of Ekiti Caucus Leader in the House of Representatives, which have just been eased out of, is not a ceremonial one, but a crucial role which demands utmost humility, sincerity of purpose and selflessness in the pursuit of the common good of our people.

    “It is a role that requires pristine statesmanship in mobilising Ekiti Kete not only in the House, but back home in the state, the entire country, and indeed the world over, towards agitating for more equitable consideration of our great state in the affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Gunmen kill man at meeting in Ekiti

    Gunmen have killed a timber merchant, Mr. Foluso Ogundare (37), in Emure-Ekiti, Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

    The incident occurred on Sunday while members of the Ekiti Bibiire Coalition (EBC) were meeting.

    A woman, Mrs. Beatrice Ige, was injured.

    EBC is the campaign outfit of House of Representatives member and governorship aspirant Opeyemi Bamidele.

    It was learnt that the gunmen stormed the venue of the meeting and started shooting.

    Sources said those at the meeting ran for safety, but the gunmen caught up with the Ogundare and shot him in the stomach.

    A source said the victim was killed because he could identify some of the hoodlums.

    Ogundare died around 10:25pm on Sunday at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido Ekiti.”

    The source said: “When the killers came, they shot into the air and everyone ran out. But they went after the late Ogundare and when they caught up with him, they said he should be killed because he knew some of them.

    “Mrs. Ige was lucky as she was shot in the buttocks. She is receiving treatment at the State Teaching Hospital in Ado-Ekiti.

    “What happened caught us unawares. We have been meeting for a long time at a specific place in Ward 3 at the local government. We never disturbed anyone. It was not a secret meeting.”

    Police spokesman Victor Olu-Babayemi said details of the incident were not yet known.

    Olu-Babayemi said: “Immediately we got the alert, we sent our men to FMC, Ido-Ekiti, where the body was deposited, and Emure-Ekiti, where the incident happened.

    “We must wait for the reports of our detectives and the autopsy to know the cause of Ogundare’s death.”

    In a statement yesterday, EBC alleged that Governor Kayode Fayemi could not stand opposition and accused him of sponsoring the attack.

    The Ekiti chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) debunked the allegations.

    In a statement by its Publicity Director, Segun Dipe, APC condemned the Emure incident, alleging that it was caused by a supremacy battle between two factions of Bamidele’s supporters.

    APC alleged that the factions were fighting over some money that they were expecting from Bamidele.

    It said: “APC is a law-abiding party. Fayemi has consistently warned that no blood of an Ekiti man is worth shedding for his or anyone’s political ambition. We urge the public to join us in the no-bloodshed, no-mayhem campaign as we move into another election period.”

     

  • Ekiti ronu

    Ekiti ronu

    If Ekiti ronu [Ekiti think] echoes Yoruba ronu, iconic caution as mass protest music by late dramatist, Hubert Ogunde, during the 1st Republic’s political storm, it is simply because a storm of similar magnitude is hovering over Ekiti.

    Should this storm dawn and thunder break, as the pan-Yoruba one did in the 1st Republic Western Region, Ekiti people would be the grand victims in the present South West.

    Indeed, in Ekiti, the third generation of Obafemi Awolowo’s developmental politics are about to fall upon themselves, ironically as the paterfamilias and his policy greats did; making hideous political killing fields of the same Western vista in which they had showcased startling policy wonders; and birthing the first generation of Yoruba political sinners and saints!

    Now what is this: history inevitably repeating itself or plain hubris, pushing towards avoidable ruin?

    Enter Samuel Ladoke Akintola and his fallen angels, among the brightest and best in the old Action Group (AG), the first generation of Yoruba political sinners versus Awo and faithful disciples, the first generation of Yoruba saints; then Akin Omoboriowo and pals, among the brightest and best in the 2nd Republic Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), second generation of Yoruba sinners versus Michael Adekunle Ajasin and brood, second generation of Yoruba saints.

    Now, is the black-or-white, famously unforgiving and notoriously ancestral-feuding Yoruba political clime ripe for a third generation of sinners and saints, in the looming Ekiti toss-up between Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) and John Kayode Fayemi (JKF)?

    Both lead feuding blocs of the All Progressives Congress (APC), present South West political lords of the manor, and closest articulators of Awo’s development politics, among the varied groups laying claim to the Awo legacy.

    Indeed, Awo political descendants are no united phalanx. From the very genesis, even with Awo in charge, the ranks had always fissured. So, it is with the present generation.

    For starters, a bloc insists it is Awo natural franchisers, to be disputed by no one. This class comprises the living Awolowos, the Afenifere grandees, Awo-era battle-hardened but ageing veterans and other Awo ideology coterie and family friends, in the clergy and other fields.

    This group considers itself the Areopagus, apex chamber of wise elders in ancient Athens, from which the Awo franchise must be cleared. But aside from holding this virtual “spiritual brief”, to use legal-speak, they have done pretty little to concretise the Awo developmental essence.

    Indeed, it is not illegitimate to charge this bloc with illicit doctrinaire trade-offs, for immediate but eventually ruinous political gains (as the Afenifere grandees did with Ogun’s former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, OGD, and his Ogun Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and currently with Olusegun Mimiko and his Labour Party in Ondo), when faced with political pressures from rival claimants to the Awo legacy.

    Then there is the Bola Tinubu group, from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the start of this 4th Republic, to Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now All Progressives Congress (APC). Though the Afenifere bloc regards Asiwaju Tinubu and his younger Turks as a breed of upstarts (and on both sides, the contempt is mutual), the Tinubu bloc has done more than any other to actualise Awo’s developmental vision.

    Indeed, what the AD class of 1999-2003 miserably flunked, the Tinubu current brood in the South West is doing with panache: in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states, with the South West boasting robust development makeovers, reminiscent of the golden Awo days, in stark contrast to the abject developmental puddle of the Olusegun Obasanjo mainstream era.

    But aside from the Afenifere and Tinubu blocs, there are the Awo ideological fair weather friends, exemplified by the Mimikos and OGDs, who nibble the Awo rhetoric for political sustenance, but are political Machiavellis, sworn to the end justifying the means – or “meanness” to parody Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    Since every Tinubu gain necessarily translates into an Afenifere loss (and probably vice-versa), the Mimikos and OGDs are in booming business, entering sweetheart partnerships with Afenifere, as the unending battle flares, to control of the soul of the South West.

    It is to this vicious vista, therefore, that the looming MOB-JKF battle royale for the capture of Ekiti is opening. But that is not the only danger. Lurking in the wings, and waiting for carrion, are the federal political vultures of Goodluck Jonathan, a presidential camp desperately craving a second term (after making a hash of the first), and for whom a fissured Ekiti APC would be virtual gift from the gods!

    If all these would not jolt into sense the Ekiti gladiators, behaving as children without a sense of history, then it is plain hubris, the good old Yoruba eedi, at play!

    MOB, rumoured to be lining up joining forces with Labour Party (LP) would probably destroy himself. That is trite, but if only conventional wisdom holds right.

    So, after Akintola and Omoboriowo, is MOB bracing up to lead the latest generation of progressives-turned-demons in Yoruba politics? But what if conventional wisdom turns grand folly and MOB turns the table? Or worse: the federal reactionaries cook up the vote and bolt with the prize, while MOB and JKF, in progressive feuding, mutually self-destroy?

    But why would a man take such a perilous path? Why would MOB eye possible glory but probable doom, and yet develop a Samson’s complex to stake it all? That is what is not trite!

    That would suggest an intolerable political situation in his APC, that makes coexistence mutually unbeneficial. So, if a man cannot legitimately actualise his dreams in a union, why should he invest his time and loyalty in it? Vaulting ambition? Maybe. But ambition is no crime, and “vaulting” is only an adjective!

    That takes the discourse to the Fayemi side, now posing as saints in the divide. They are not. MOB and his coalition of the aggrieved accuse the governor of bad faith and of use-and-dump tactics.

    These allegations could be right or wrong. But the reality is that one side is incensed enough to torpedo the whole house. That cannot be good for a sitting governor that even the aggrieved admit – even if in private – has done enough to earn re-election.

    MOB must, therefore, beware of the Coriolanus syndrome. Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, in a fit of fatal anger, joined the Volscians against his native Corioli. He lost his life in the gambit.

    But JKF too must be wary of the hubris of gubernatorial conceit to crush a comrade turned foe. And those bent on media demonization of MOB are tragically mistaken. He who is down need fear no fall!

    Whatever it takes, the APC leadership must tweak the ears of both combatant camps, and bring both to reason – whatever it takes! On the basis of equal opportunity membership, they must hand each side mutual, cast-iron guarantees to build confidence and fend off the looming disaster.

    Each time the South West advances, reactionary forces gather to scuttle the efforts, using feuding progressives themselves as fuel.

    Should such happen again in Ekiti, MOB and JKF would take the flak. So, they had better both jerk awake before earning themselves a harsh verdict of history.

    Ekiti ronu!

  • Ekiti begins housing project

    Ekiti begins housing project

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday laid the foundation of the 1,000-unit Eyiyato Housing Estate in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    He said the government would build 5,000 low cost housing units for across the three senatorial districts before next year to lessen the burden of housing on the people.

    Fayemi said measures would soon be in place to ease workers’ access to mortgage loans to purchase houses through the National Housing Fund (NHF).

    He said his administration entered into an agreement with a private developer, JD Ford Nigeria Limited, to develop the housing units.

    The governor said all government estates will have Close Circuit Television (CCTV), police post, roads and uninterrupted power and water supply.

    The Eyiyato Housing Estate, which covers 34.9 hectares of land, would be jointly supervised by the developer and the Ekiti State Fountain Holdings.

    Fayemi said the government was speaking with other developers to build the proposed Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) estates to be located on Iyin and Ijan roads.

    Commissioner for Housing Remi Olorunleke said the project would enhance the economy.

    The Managing Directors of JD Ford Nigeria Limited, John Okonkwo, and Ekiti Fountain Holding, Muyiwa Ogunmilade, said 120 housing units were under construction at the estate and 300 would be completed by the end of the year.