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Tag: Fayemi

  • ACN national leadership endorsement: A defining moment for Fayemi

    ACN national leadership endorsement: A defining moment for Fayemi

    Ekiti people should still rally behind Gov. Fayemi

    A part from Ekiti’s demographic considerations which should ordinarily restrain Iyin-Ekiti born Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, MHR, (Iyin has produced two past governors) from wanting to contest the 2014 governorship elections in the state, one would have expected that a party leader of his standing, even if he could so easily discount friendship, would at least think of party solidarity, and control his ambitions, at least for now. Instead, so eagerly did Opeyemi pursue his ambition that very long ago, while Fayemi was making the rounds of Election Tribunals trying to reclaim a mandate Ekiti people have so handsomely twice given him, he had begun to expend enormous resources wanting to contest the 2011 elections with the believe that the then men of impunity would triumph at the tribunals.

    I got the first inkling of this from a very senior party leader in the Ise-Orun Local Government Area who asked me if the Central Senatorial District where Bamidele wanted to contest, extended to that Local Government Area. Asked why the question, I was pleasantly surprised to be told that Mr Bamidele, as he was then known, was already extending tantalising items to party members in the area. I would later have firsthand knowledge of how LG executives have been split down the line -no thanks to him. Then came the rancorous Senate primaries about which we need not delay ourselves here.

    Before the party’s national leadership came into the open with their heartwarming endorsement of a hugely performing Fayemi at the epochal meeting of of last week Wednesday, a lot of water has passed under the bridge as the national leadership has done everything to appeal to Hon Bamidele to rally round the party by supporting a performing governor with whom the party at all levels is happy.

    Opeyemi’s recalcitance was one of the reasons for the meeting and as Ashiwaju did not fail to say, the meeting was intended to settle all, and every disagreement, endorse the incumbent for the next election, and set the party ready on the path for the 2014 election. For this reason, Hon Bamidele was expected to be at the meeting with the national leadership.

    Both leaders, the Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande and the National Leader, Ashiwaju Ahmed Tinubu did not hide the fact that their mission at the meeting was ‘to set in motion processes to settle our in-house misunderstandings’, where any exists, just as Ashiwaju who said such meetings will hold in other states appealed to Bamidele when he said: ‘if anyone here knows Opeyemi, tell him that Jagaban has sent you to him to drop his ambition.’ He went on to say the party in the state should invite him and appeal to him. But if anybody should know Opeyemi, it should be the Jagaban. During a mid-night call I made to Ashiwaju the night before the 2011 Senatorial primaries rerun between now Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon Bamidele, the National leader told me how he had tried, without success, to dissuade Bamidele from unnecessarily fouling the waters, insisting on the Senate when he could literally effortlessly go to the House of Representatives.

    With that for experience, I wrote as follows on a forum to which Opeyemi also belongs a few hours after the National leadership endorsed Fayemi, thereby concluding the series of endorsements we have seen at all levels of the party in the hope that he could still be appealed to as sugested by the leaders:

    ‘It is a warm and hearty congratulations to our party and our hard working governor who remains an exemplar. I have got tens of calls concerning my absence at the defining endorsement meeting and these included the one from our Deputy Governor but the callers were mollified when they heard I was at an Annual General Meeting, which I chaired, a few hours earlier.

    It doesn’t get any better and because we need a united front to, once again, comprehensively deal with our ragtag, ever- feuding opponents, I hereby plead with my dear aburo, and Rep, the Hon Ope Bamidele MHR, to PLEASE heed the advice of the leaders. Like Otunba said, he did nothing wrong but we need all hands behind this performing governor. Opeyemi should wait for his time and, that time, God willing, he will have our prayers for success.

    He should not allow anybody to use him to burrow into the A C N fortress in the South-west and ignite an Akintola- type scenario. He should know that we are daily making history and should therefore be guided by what legacy attends to those political leaders who ignited intra party feuds in Yoruba land. Their ugly skeletons are strewn over the entire Yoruba landscape as they are remembered only with ignominy’.

    Opeyemi Bamidele comes from my Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA which forms a part of his federal constituency. He is, therefore, my Rep and he sure represents us well. That fact has made him, like some others, a target of that party with sundry minor surrogates, Labour inclusive, which, lacking good people, is running from pillar to post in the South-west looking for some of our progressive friends who would fly their governorship flags even when their own internal governorship wannabes would consider nothing reprehensible in their quest to be governor. The wise one should, therefore, keep them at arms length no matter how many times they had been led to the Villa. In case they are not far gone yet in the company of those who will not only use them to make Abuja money and dump them when they fail, as they sure will do, but are bound to shipwreck their future political aspirations because the Yoruba knows exactly how to treat traitors.

    Asiwaju had barely got home in Lagos when , with the Party Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, present, Fayemi again launched what will go down in the state as a veritable milestone. At an impressive gathering at the St Augustines Comprehensive High School, Oye-Ekiti, of party faithful and representatives of Ekiti people from all over the state and amidst early morning showers of divine blessings, the governor distributed a total of N300 million as grant -in -aid to self-help projects in 82 towns and communities in the first phase of the trail-blazing programme.

    This was in fulfillment of his campaign promise and his resolve to develop and transform Ekiti and make it comparable to any state in the country. This developmental paradigm, said the governor, ‘is based on the principle that his administration will only do development with the people and not for them. This, he further said, was borne out of his belief that development is more enduring when the people take full ownership of what is done by government by not only suggesting what they consider most valuable to them, but also participate actively in its implementation and monitoring’. But the philosophy girding this developmental model is much deeper.

    On Saturday December 1, the governor brainstormed with the Chairmen and Secretaries of Community Development Associations in the State along the lines of the 8 point Agenda of the administration. The following were agreed:

    – Continual brainstorming for budget process, implementation and feedback by all stakeholders.

    – Creation of the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment to bring development to all the nooks and crannies of the state.

    – Grants in-aid to communities for self-help projects.

    – Revitalisation of Cooperative Development in Ekiti State.

    What transpired at Oye therefore was a clear indication that the Fayemi administration’s word is its bond. As part of its efforts to bring development to the rural communities where over 75% of the populace reside, the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created in January, 2013. All the stakeholders in the state were fully involved in the preparation of the year’s budget which is based on the zero budgeting method as is currently being practised all over the world. This means that the opinion of all the various strata/segments of Ekiti people were sought before the 2013 budget was prepared using a dynamic bottom-up approach.

    I am sure that a federal government, which by July 2013 is still at daggers drawn with the National Assembly on its 2013 budget, has a lot to learn from the Fayemi model.

  • Fayemi gives N300m to 82 communities

    Fayemi gives N300m to 82 communities

    Eighty-two communities in Ekiti State yesterday got cheques totalling N300 million to undertake community projects under the Self-Help Programme of the state government.

    Presenting the cheques to the communities in Oye- Ekiti, Governor Kayode Fayemi said the gesture is in fulfilment of the resolutions reached with the community leaders in the state during the stakeholders’ meetings held last year.

    He added that the self-help project is in line with the government’s commitment to embarking on development projects with the people.

    Representatives of the benefiting communities and their traditional rulers were in a joyful mood as they filed out to receive their cheques. Many of the town unions defied the early morning rainfall, came out in full traditional regalia and masquerades, which turned the ceremony into a carnival.

    Governor Fayemi, who presented the cheques, assisted by the National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande and a former governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, said the communities had at the meetings submitted their priority self-help projects for grants and are getting the N300 million grant for the completion of the ongoing, abandoned and uncompleted self-help projects as well as provision of boreholes, access culverts, among others, in the benefiting communities.

    He assured that every community in the state, no matter the population, would benefit from the grants-in-aid programme of the administration before the end of the year.

    He said the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created to focus on development in the rural areas.

     

    Fayemi said: “As part of the efforts of the present administration to bring development to the rural communities where over 75 per cent of the populace live, the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created in January.

    “Unlike the previous administration, all the stakeholders in the state were involved in the preparation of the year 2013 budget, and we have adopted the zero budgeting method as is being practised all over the world.

    “The opinions of the various strata/segments of the people in the state were sought before the 2013 budget was prepared, using a dynamic bottom-up approach.”

    The governor asserted that besides the grants being handed out to the 82 communities, government is undertaking other rural development and community empowerment projects to the tune of N3.2 billion spanning rural access roads to farm settlements, another round of 5km roads in each of the 16 local governments, ultra-modern markets, provision of hand dug wells and solar operated boreholes as well as construction of bridges and culverts.

    Fayemi added that the government is revitalising cooperative development by entering into partnership with the Bank of Agriculture with a view to using the cooperative federalism model as an alternative vehicle for reaching grassroots communities and local socio-economic activities.

    To this end, the government would shore up the cooperative societies with N300 million, the Bank of Agriculture would provide another N300 million.

    On the self-help projects, the governor appealed to stakeholders in the communities, especially the traditional rulers, to supervise, monitor and evaluate the projects in their communities and report as appropriate to the relevant government officials, who are expected to supervise and monitor the projects on a regular basis.

    He urged them to see the projects as their own, saying this concept of communal ownership is a fulfilment of his promise to do government “with the people and not for them.”

    The representative of Osi Ekiti, one of the benefiting communities, Mr. Peter Agbelusi, lauded the Dr. Fayemi administration for embarking on the self-help programme, which he said has not only given communities the sense of participation in government but also facilitated the execution of their priority projects “without going around to beg for assistance.”

    Agbelusi, who described the gesture as unprecedented, assured that his community would make judicious use of the grant on the renovation and completion of the town hall.

    Benefiting communities got grants between N2 million and N7.5 million, depending on their proposed project.

    The programe, which was dubbed, Ajose Eyiyato, was attended by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin; former governor, Otunba Adebayo; National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Akande; Deputy Speakers of Houses of Assembly in the Southwest, members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, members of Ekiti State Executive Council, traditional rulers and chairmen of local governments.

  • Ekiti’s community-based programmes get boost

    Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi will today give N300 million cheques to 82 communities in the 16 local governments. Sulaiman Salawudeen previews the event and other issues

    Today in Oye-Ekiti, Governor Kayode Fayemi will disburse N300 million in cheques to 82 communities for the completion (not initiation) of their community- based, self-help projects.

    Some of the projects, which include rehabilitation of the kings’ palaces, renovation of town halls, completion of blocks of primary schools’ classrooms, equipping of some secondary schools’ science laboratories, among others, must have been on for quite sometime.

    Expected at the event are monarchs and heads of community development associations, who will collect the cheques and monitor the projects. The decision of the government to intervene by footing the bills of the projects, according to the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, is “to encourage the communities and support them to drive their self- help projects to completion.”

    Adaramodu, who spoke recently at a media briefing, said: “Genuine community development could happen when the communities were allowed to identify their preferences for government support.”

    The Fayemi administration in 2011 pioneered state-wide town hall/village square meetings. Attended by monarchs, chiefs, community leaders and youth/trade groups, the meetings gave the communities the opportunity to state their needs, which mostly centred on roads, water, electricity, hospitals, bridges, job creation, renovation/reconstruction of schools and palaces.

    At the meetings, which were held at council headquarters across the three senatorial districts of the state, the governor insisted that “development cannot be genuine and people oriented until and unless it is borne out of actual needs of the communities.”

    Fayemi explained that the traditional and much more familiar pattern of top-down budgeting had been the sole reason development was not happening in the country.

    He insisted that “only a bottom-up approach in which the budget principally factors peoples’ needs could reverse such a picture as has been the bane of the country’s progress for ages.”

    He said: “In doing this, I have mandated the Finance Ministry to recast the budgeting process from the old exponential/futuristic method in which projects are guessed for the people and kept being rolled over year after year to zero-based pattern in which the budget will be the outcome of what people say they need rather than what government thought people need.

    “This is revolutionary. It will eliminate fraud. It is a difficult budgeting process as it will impose a new task on the responsible ministry and its officers. No government had used it before. But, it is equally a task, which is worth every seriousness and commitment as it holds key to our development dreams.

    “We don’t want to stay in Ado-Ekiti putting together a budget that bears little link to the people. Most of what our people are requesting could be accommodated in the budget, while some have been mentioned, which have nothing to do with budget. The plan of the administration is to ensure that the budget is the genuine product of the people and not the sole business of the people in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.”

    On how to ensure timely completion of the projects and eliminate the possibility of terms of execution by the contractors, the Commissioner for Rural Development and Community Empowerment, Mr. Folorunsho Olabode, explained that “there is not a single one of the 82 projects, which emanated from or imposed by this administration, either overtly or indirectly. The communities themselves who initiated them (the projects) would monitor and follow them through.

    “The projects are their own, they know the contractors and all those who would work on the projects to ensure desirable completion of the projects. The government had just decided to support them by giving them the funds. Simple.”

    Some monarchs of the beneficiary towns and communities disclosed their readiness to assume supervision of the projects. The Alara of Aramoko Ekiti in Ekiti West Local Government Area, Oba Olu Adeyemi, said: “It is my palace the fence of which would be completed. I will handle the supervision myself alongside the community development association.”

    The Onigbemo of Igbemo Ekiti, Oba Daramola Oyinyosaye, whose palace would also enjoy a lift, assured that every effort would be made to ensure judicious use of the fund, adding that “the layers of authorities in the town would be there at every stage to ensure things are done properly.

    Recalling what he described as “consistent empowerment drives of the governor, the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, said: “The plan of the administration was to level the fields sufficiently that no one would feel shortchanged, whether you are a career worker in the state or a political office holder.”

    According to him, it was in satisfying this end that the governor last week made good his promise to past political office holders in the state by paying their entitlements to the tune of nearly N250 million. Again, in what many saw as unprecedented, government has also paid over N1 billion as pension to retired civil servants including teachers in the state and across the 16 councils.

    “The administration has further sustained for nearly two years now the payment of N5,000 to a minimum of 20,000 elderly individuals as social security stipend, while it has been paying N10,000 to another set of 5,000 graduates employed under the Ekiti State Volunteer Aids Corps.”

  • Attitudinal change, value reorientation sustain development, says Fayemi

    A combination of attitudinal change and a reorientation of common values among the people would nurture and sustain the development of a nation, Ekiti state governor KayodeFayemi has said.

    The governor spoke yesterday in Ikogosi-Ekiti at the end of a two-week Ikogosi Graduate Summer School (IGSS), which held at the Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort.

    Fayemi said: “What makes IGSS much more important is the need to change attitudes and values. Buildings could collapse; roads may need to be mended.

    “It is true that we are building structures, constructing roads and effecting changes to our physical structures in Ekiti.

    “But these can be sustained only by attitudinal change and value re-orientation among our people. The IGSS remains one of the best ways to actualise this.”

    The governor explained that the academia was not about personal or worldly gains but about “being agents of social change”, noting that knowledge was useful only if it could add value to life and living.

    “If those who go into the academia go with a certainty that their no shortcut, then we have some hope,” the governor noted.

    The vice- chancellor, Ekiti State University, Prof OladipoAina, said he had given instructions to the Postgraduate School of the institution to find ways to partner the organisers of the Summer School for a “mutually beneficial interactions.”

     

  • Fire on, Fayemi – 2

    Fire on, Fayemi – 2

    The governor has an eight-point agenda which all dovetails into the overall development of the state. I do not intend to go into the details. All I can say is that agricultural development is a major plank of his agenda. Ekiti State by and large is an agricultural state, but it must not remain like this forever. We must begin to add value to our agricultural produce. We must also begin to think about how we can use our granite that is all over the place for industrial purposes such as tiling and flooring of houses and building generally. Our premier secondary school in Ekiti, Christ School has remained standing for such a long time because of the use of stones in building the old hostels and the quadrangle in the school. We can learn a little bit from the past and use some of these stones for major construction.

    The work of government would not be done in one administration or even in one generation, but it is a continuous process. We would need the expertise and drive of Fayemi not only in this administration, but in the one to come, unless he is drafted to a higher office at the centre which is quite possible and that is if he makes himself available. But there is no doubt that Ekiti needs him more than any other level of government. This is why a spontaneous and unprogrammed show of love and affection for him after the Supreme Court’s decision was a matter of great joy for all observers and I was not surprised at all. This is because Ekiti people are straight forward people and are not used to hiding their feelings. A story was told in 1999 during the election for the Presidency that some farmers in Ekiti were going to their farms during the election and when they were asked to go back home and vote, their leader retorted that he thought election for the Presidency had died with Obafemi Awolowo and that he did not think anybody else was fit to be president. When Ekiti people love a leader, they love him or her totally, unquestioningly, unabashedly and without any equivocation. So I believe it is with Kayode Fayemi.

    This is why I find it difficult to understand that a member of Fayemi’s party, the ACN from the central senatorial zone that has produced two governors in the state in the persons of Adeniyi Adebayo and Ayo Fayose should be taking advertisements in newspapers claiming he was going to challenge Fayemi for the nomination of the ACN. I dare say this would be an exercise in futility. Even in good old England – the home of democracy, parties are allowed to nominate candidates for elections by acclamation. It is not undemocratic for parties to acclaim an incumbent as a candidate for election. Challenging Fayemi on the grounds of internal democracy is not going to be a strong argument. Whatever the case may be, if challenged, Fayemi will be able to win convincingly. Democracy is not about elections alone, important as this may be, but it is the performance and fulfilling the manifesto on which one was elected that counts. This would be the strong point for the forthcoming elections next year. It should be a shoo-in for Governor Fayemi even though nothing can be taken for granted. But when the time comes, those who feel this governor has done very well will come out to attest to his performance.

    I remember the election of 1956 in the old Western region which brings happy memories to me. This was after five years of Awolowo’s first administration; my own brother, Chief Oduola Osuntokun was a member of that cabinet as from 1954 onwards when he was appointed minister of works and housing. The Action Group government’s stellar performance was so evident that the 1956 election was almost a referendum. The party went into the election with achievements in education, works and housing, agriculture, education and finance etc. It was during that regime that free universal primary education was launched in 1955 in Western Nigeria. The construction of Bodija housing estate was ongoing and farm settlements to absorb products of primary schools who could not find their way into colleges began. Liberty stadium in Ibadan and the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (WNBS/WNTV) were under construction. So when the election was called inspite of the vigorous opposition of the NCNC, the Action group came back in a landslide.

    Yoruba people are the most sophisticated electorate in Nigeria and it is difficult to fool them. Fayemi will go into the elections next year with a record that is palpable and therefore unbeatable. He has a precedence to follow and he will follow that precedence with the same result. It would be our task as part of the intelligentsia and illuminati to remind our people where we were some three years ago and where we are now. Service they say deserves its rewards and so shall it be in Ekiti state next year.

    Of course, it is not possible to say that all that needs to be achieved has been achieved. Fayemi is not perfect, indeed no one is perfect. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He was called “good master” turned this adulation down because He said no one is perfect except God. The task of governance is a continuous one and as J.F. Kennedy said this cannot be completed in one administration or even in our lifetime. One generation builds on the foundation of another and one leader stands on the shoulders of previous ones. What is important in the life of a politician and a leader is that he/she must leave a legacy on which to build. But the task of the Fayemi administration is yet to be completed and the consolidation of his achievements will not be done until the end of the next administration when it will be possible for him to leave legacies that would endure eternally. It is in our interest not to deny him and ourselves this opportunity.

    I say again service deserves its reward. The only way for our country to achieve greatness is if we reward our leaders with gratitude and appreciation when called upon to pass judgment at the appropriate time. A prophet is without honour in his own country, said our Lord Jesus Christ, but that was then. In our country where non-performers and incompetent leaders are imposed on us, we must now begin to honour those of our leaders who discharge their responsibilities to us with courage, honour, integrity and the fear of God. Fayemi is not only internationally recognised as an intelligent and a capable leader. To be so described by the London Economist magazine is the highest accolade which a leader in any country developed or developing can get. Not only did the Economist eulogise Fayemi as a sign of progress in Africa, it called on others to emulate him. I join his admirers to tell him that he has made us proud and even if we don’t have oil and gas, we have a leader with the abundance of grey matter that we can exploit for our state’s development. We cannot allow this opportunity to slip from our hands. This is why I say Fayemi Fire On.

  • Why investors shun Nigeria, by Fayemi

    Why investors shun Nigeria, by Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said quality infrastructure and legal frameworks will create a business-friendly environment and attract investments to the country.

    Fayemi spoke in Lagos on Monday at the 7th Annual Business Law Conference of the Business Law section of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

    He said investors have abandoned Nigeria because it lacks adequate infrastructure and institutional frameworks for businesses to thrive.

    At the event were the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar, who was represented by Justice Mahmud Mohammed; NBA President Okey Wali (SAN) and the Chairman, International Issues Committee of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mr. Harold Paisner, among others.

    Fayemi said: “Investors’ confidence is predicated as much on abstract property as it is on concrete physical infrastructure. Tangibles like bridges, roads and electricity certainly matter. But laws, values, norms and functional institutions also matter.

    “They constitute an invisible infrastructure, which, while not obvious to the naked eye, exert great influence on the business climate of a country and on the behaviour of economic actors.”

    He said while Nigeria’s aspiration to be the world’s 20th largest economy by 2020 would position it in the centre of a defining economic power-shift, the citizens’ cynicism about the vision reflect the crisis of confidence that defines government-citizenry relationship in the country.

    Fayemi said regardless of its conceptual shortcomings, the Vision 20:2020 is not just wishful thinking by technocrats at the national level of government.

    He said there was “a real ground for the country to entertain such ambition”.

    The governor said the challenge confronting Nigeria’s emerging economy is competitiveness on the global stage, adding that Nigeria scores poorly in the global ranking of the best places in the world to do business.

    He said the International Finance Corporation/World Bank’s global competitive index for the ease of ‘Doing Business’ for 2013 ranked Nigeria 131 out of 185.

    Fayemi said one of the signs that Nigerians live in a low-trust economy is the preponderance of high interest loans with very narrow performance windows as seen in the banking boom between 2004 and 2007, which was not accompanied by any spike in the manufacturing sector.

    He said many investment analysts classify Nigeria as a high-risk investment environment and identify political instability, policy discontinuity, lack of institutional memory and dysfunctional bureaucracies as factors militating against our economic viability.

    Stressing the effect of political instability on the economy, the governor said electoral fraud distorts the legitimacy of governance.

    He said beneficiaries of electoral frauds leave a “legacy of uncompleted highly-inflated contracts, unsustainable agreements with labour and other stakeholders in the society, uncoordinated and poorly articulated policy frameworks, among others”.

    Fayemi said: “In the eyes of the international community, they certainly do us no favours and depict our country as a place where anything goes. If we are serious about improving investors’ confidence and our prospects as an emerging economy, we have to do something about this aberration to serve as a deterrent to others, who might be scheming their way to office through the backdoor.”

    He said his administration was working on improving legal and regulatory framework to make the state attractive to investors and development partners.

    Fayemi said for the first time since the state was created 17 years ago, his administration revised and published the Laws of Ekiti State, which were once at the mercy of the Laws of the Old Ondo State.

    He said his administration has also taken steps to domesticate federal laws that promote transparency and participatory governance, adding that Ekiti was the first state to domesticate the Freedom of Information Act, the Child Rights Act and the Gender-Based Violence Prohibition Law, among others, which protect the people’s rights.

    Fayemi said this accounts for the renewed confidence investors and development partners have in Ekiti State, which facilitated the return of the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID), which left the state over six years ago.

    He said this has improved the quality of life in the state.

    Chairman, NBA’s Business Law section, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode said the conference would discuss the roles of lawyers in the Nigerian economy, adding that there is a correlation between good governance, the rule of law and the emerging economies of developing countries.

    Oyebode stressed the need for the respect of human rights. He said the Judiciary should be given autonomy to carry out its functions effectively and eradicate corruption, which is the bane of the nation’s economy.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fayemi’s final triumph (2)

    Fayemi’s final triumph (2)

    I was with General Adetunji Olurin from October 2006 till March 2007 as media consultant, when he was in charge in Ekiti State as the Administrator. This was sequel to the political crisis that engulfed the state after the dramatic impeachment of Ayodele Fayose, erstwhile governor of the state. A member of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Fayose was impeached by the PDP-controlled state House of Assembly in highly controversial circumstances. This led to the war of succession as two members of the ruling party – Friday Aderemi and Biodun Olujimi – laid claim to the seat of power. Aderemi was the Speaker of the House of Assembly who presided over the impeachment of Fayose, while Olujimi was the deputy governor at the time of impeachment. Both Fayose and Olujimi were swept off in the political volcano that swept the man of power away from his ‘throne’. At that time, Fayose had almost converted the governorship position to an imperial majesty dishing out orders which the highly enlightened people of Ekiti found not only distasteful but undignifying of a people with practically one of the largest colony of professors and academics.

    Olujimi did not take kindly to the blanket removal of herself and her principal. That resentment soon snowballed into a near major conflagration as she took on Aderemi, who had immediately pronounced himself governor in line with the constitution. It was in the hullabaloo that ensued that the then maximum President (note the use of the word ‘maximum’), Olusegun Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, slammed a six-month emergency rule on the state. Although the emergency rule declaration on October 17, 2006 almost stirred another ‘okiki’ (hue and cry) as certain members of the House of Representatives vehemently kicked against the move.

    By the provisions of the Constitution, the House of Representatives automatically assumes the duty of legislation for any state placed under emergency rule. The implication of this was that from then on, the duties of the state House of Assembly, which had been suspended, fell on the House of Representatives. The argument then was that Obasanjo ought to have consulted the House before making the declaration and subsequent appointment of a retired General to take over the running of affairs. Some of the members of the House, especially some principal officers, then seized the opportunity to extort money from the Presidency in order to dance to the President’s tune.

    One other salient issue that came up in the House of Reps over the emergency rule was the dissolution of the local government councils. This was buoyed by internal wrangling in the political landscape of Ekiti itself, especially the fresh bid by those who wanted to succeed Olurin after the expiration of his six-month duty tour as Administrator within the PDP-dominated House of Assembly that was billed to resume sitting immediately the emergency period was over.

    It was really a testing time for Ekiti politics but through prayers, divine intervention and perhaps sophistication of the people of Ekiti, no violence of the minutest magnitude was witnessed during the period. The rest is history. It was a sharp departure from the prevailing political atmosphere in the country today characterised by arson, killings and brigandage of unimaginable proportion which have completely taken over the landscape. This is probably the type of lawlessness and jungle justice a person like Segun Oni might have wished for in order to enable him to actualize his weird and myopic ambition to rule or misrule Ekiti once more since he cannot get his way through in the courts.

    Unfortunately, and surprisingly too, after the latest defeat at the Supreme Court, Oni has now conceded defeat and said that he could not question God. But the reality is that elections will still hold in this country, and dissatisfied parties will still run to the courts and pursue appeals, even beyond the final point as it now appears. But should the electoral process always be compromised and made questionable? Should politicians always question the will of the people? And shall we then not question the decisions of the judiciary?

    Should people or a person like Oni continue to weep and gnash their teeth over spilled milk, when in actual fact, it is glaringly clear to all that Fayemi possesses more administrative, management and human relations acumen to lead his people than the lacklustre administration or style of governance which completely alienated Oni and his government from the people? See the tumultuous crowd that heralded the news of the recent Supreme Court verdict on the Oni-Fayemi challenge. It is apparent that, that same large number or even twice or thrice that could have taken to the streets in protests if Oni had mistakenly been returned to the Government House. Perhaps, he could have thought about the option of ruling from his hometown of Ifaki Ekiti, if he had been returned to government. And, that is, if his people would not reject him outright.

    Oni and others in his clique are no match for Fayemi whose sense of reasoning and scholarly adventurism are enough to send the Onis of this world scampering for cover. Who dare mention a Lilliputian in the gathering of giants? It is an abnormality, a complete misnomer.

    Having said all these, it is instructive to sound a note of warning to the electorate in Ekiti State that 2014 is almost here when elections will be keenly contested in the state. Fayemi and his lieutenants in the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, now re-christened All Progressive Congress, APC, will be standing proudly with the flag of the party soaring higher and higher, Ekiti people should shine their eyes. Do not allow these never-do-well politicians who are clothed like normal human beings confuse you. Vote for Fayemi and his lieutenants and shame the devil. Apart from Fayemi and his henchmen in the APC, no other politician in Ekiti today has anything to offer or that is better to offer the people. They are only after the lean finances of the government, the public till which they are only interested in plundering and plunging the populace into endless poverty, misery and want. You can take their money because it is your money, take their rice and other perquisites but reject them at the final polls. They are not deserving of your votes. Any vote for them is a vote for hunger, deprivation and mass slaughter through non-provision of the essentials of a meaningful living like Fayemi and his people have been doing for the people in the past three years.

    I am not an indigene of Ekiti but I have lived in Ekiti, I have enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of the people, I have observed them from both afar and within. Ekitis are a hardworking lot. With good leaders, they can be the food basket of Nigeria. They have hectares of uncultivated, arable lands scattered all over the state. They are a proud people because they believe in what they can do with either their brains or their hands. I do not see any other society in Nigeria or Africa that parades such a contingent of professors and other academics. It is only in Ekiti that every family has at least one professor or more. They dot the whole landscape, every town, every village, every hamlet. They are just ubiquitous.

    I think Oni should go and look for something more profitable for him to do at the moment. His brand of politics has since become extinct with the coming into the arena by Fayemi and his group. Politics is not the best for Oni. As a water engineer, he can retire to his village in one of the hinterlands and devote his talents to agriculture, especially irrigation farming, channelization and all that. Let him leave politics for the Fayemis of this world!

    Ends.

  • She was an activist par excellence, says Fayemi

    Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has described the death of Alhaja Abibat Mogaji as a great and monumental loss for the nation’s commerce.

    The governor said in a statement on that Alhaja Mogaji was a pillar of support for many people in her lifetime as she served as an oak of succour to the less-privileged.

    The statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, described Mogaji as a legend, a colossus and a titan whose contributions would remain indelible in the minds of many.

    He however said he was happy that the late market leader lived to a very ripe old age and positively contributed to the nation’s economy as an investor, entrepreneur, employer of labour and a big-time merchant.

    Describing Alhaja Mogaji as an “activist par excellence”, Fayemi recalled that the deceased used her position to mobilise market women to fight for their economic rights and empowerment.

    The governor pointed out that Alhaja Mogaji was in the forefront of women emancipation and participation in politics most especially in having a say in the election of their political leaders.

     

  • Fayemi congratulates Bayero

    Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has congratulated the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, on the 50th anniversary of his ascension to the throne.

    The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, described Bayero as a bridge builder and a committed figure to the unity of the Nigerian federation.

    Fayemi noted that the Kano monarch is a highly detribalised Nigerian who has used his position to assist governments at various levels to ensure stability in the polity.

    He pointed out that the Kano city has witnessed tremendous socio-economic development under the leadership of Bayero and has assumed a pre-eminent importance in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

    The governor further described the Emir as a selfless servant of the people of Kano Emirate and a compassionate philanthropist who is ever ready to assist the less privileged.

    He stressed that the Emir has demonstrated this in his services to the country as a public servant, senior police officer, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Senegal, royal father and a religious leader of international repute.

    Fayemi prayed God to grant Bayero more fruitful years on the throne and more selfless service to humanity.

     

  • Fire on, Fayemi

    Fire on, Fayemi

    The Supreme Court’s decision over the gubernatorial conundrum in Ekiti State has finally rested the issue of the gubernatorial election in Ekiti. Even to a non-legal person like myself, it was clear to me that the decision of Segun Oni to challenge the judgement of the Appeal Court on the electoral malfeasance which culminated in his being illegally declared as governor was unchallengeable constitutionally. This is because all electoral disputes terminate at the Appeal Court. Appealing to the Supreme Court on the grounds of violation of fundamental Human Rights should have been known to be legally dicey. Lawyers have to eat and no lawyer would tell his client that his case is unwinnable. Of course, in the corrupt environment of Nigeria, some people would have goaded Oni in taking the case to the Supreme Court with the assurance that the judgement can be politically influenced. This wild expectation was of course conceivable in the Nigerian environment where anything goes. Mercifully, justice prevailed and the status quo ante remains in Ekiti. The incumbent governor is governor in fact and indeed as well as in law. He is not only in government, he is also in power.

    I have said this before about Segun Oni that he appears to me as a gentleman and when he was governor of Ekiti State, a highly respected friend of mine, an academic colleague and a former boss asked me to support Oni and wondered what I had against him? My answer then was and is that I had nothing against him, but that he was in the wrong party. Of course I do not have more than one vote and I do not want to be arrogant that my opinion counts seriously, politically, what I can say with all modesty is that I have played some part in the educational and diplomatic development of Nigeria. I also played some part in the struggle against Abacha which earned me six months detention and which led to the late Chief J.A.O Odebiyi and Baba Archdeacon Alayande wondering why I did not offer myself for position of Senator in 1999 on the grounds that service deserves its reward. My nephew Akin is a politician and I was not going to have a situation where two politicians are fighting in the same mother’s womb.

    Thirdly, the Osuntokun brand in Nigerian politics is not inconsequential and I can say without any fear of contradiction that the role of my family in the political evolution of this country would remain imperishable. These, I believe are my credentials that made it necessary for my support to be sought. Now that the battle for the governor’s position has been fought and won, I advise Oni to move on and to support the incumbent Governor Fayemi for the benefit of Ekiti State if he really loves the state and I have no doubt that he loves the state. In any case, there are so many ways of serving the state than being governor. If he offers to serve and genuinely means it, Fayemi would accept the offer. This was clearly stated in the governor’s broadcast to the state after his victory. The governor said he was prepared to forget all the shenanigans that took place when Oni was governor and wipe the slate clean. This should be regarded as the highest form of magnanimity in victory.

    Since coming into the saddle in the rulership of Ekiti almost three years ago, Fayemi has demonstrated how prepared he is for the job. Unlike political leaders in other parts of the country, he had a well planned agenda of development which he has scrupulously followed up till date. He did not wait until he was in government before developing his programme. This is why he was able to hit the ground running with his vision and mission. His emphasis on infrastructural development is based on the well thought out belief that any state or country that is not in constant motion is dead. This is why he has crisscrossed the state with excellent roads. His greatest impact in this regard is at the capital city itself. I spent nine of my formative years in Ado-Ekiti and it is now impossible for me to recognise anywhere because of Fayemi’s magic touch. He is not restricting the transportation revolution to Ado-Ekiti alone, he is even building a virgin road to connect my town of Okemessi with Ido-Ile, where there was no road before. I cite this example as a demonstration of how comprehensive his development agenda is. I have been in education, apart from forays into diplomacy, all my life. I was a director of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and I know a bit about higher education and education generally. This is an area in which Fayemi has excelled and would still excel. His consolidation of the three universities in Ekiti into one is a masterstroke. This is because the state is not in any position to fund one university adequately, not to talk of three. We were deceiving and fooling ourselves under Oni by having two specialized universities, one on Education and the other on Science and Technology. With our gross revenue of less than four billion naira a month, how three universities could have being inflicted on us beats me. Fayemi saved us the embarrassment of this delusional ambition. I must say here that since the history of higher education in Ekiti, it is the Fayemi administration that has ever released substantial amount of capital vote for physical development.

    His funding of education is not limited to Ekiti State University; the college of Education in Ikerre-Ekiti has also undergone phenomenal development and transformation. In a discussion with the governor when I was bemoaning the fact that Ekiti State is not rich because we don’t have oil, the governor was clear in his mind that the intellectual solidity of our people is more than millions of barrels of oil. As if I did not know this, officials of DFID, in a private conversation with me said the same thing that in terms of people, Ekiti is the richest state in Nigeria and it is my belief that when Fayemi has finished with us in Ekiti, we would donate him to the centre, so that other Nigerians can be beneficiaries of the programmes of this intelligent young man. It is the quality of one’s mind, rather than the amount of natural resources one commands that matters. The highly developed economies of Germany and Japan with their little or no natural resources with stupendous intellectual prowess and brain power prove this.

    This is incontrovertible because I bear testimony to it. He has recognised the nexus between primary, secondary and tertiary education and this is why he has expended a lot of money on computer literacy at the lower level of the educational ladder. I remember my nephew bringing his young Anglo-Nigerian children on holidays to Ekiti and staying in Ikogosi, Hot Spring Resort. I was pleasantly amazed and pleased by the comments of these young people about the environmental beauty of Ekiti and how they would continue to come to Nigeria on holidays to enjoy the goodness of the Ekiti natural environment. I hope and pray that the tourist attraction of Ekitiland would be properly harnessed beyond Ikogosi. All these would require funding and I know our cerebral governor must be addressing himself to this.