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How Nigeria can achieve greatness, by Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has said the country requires fundamental changes in its structure and management pattern for effective deployment of its potentials for greatness.

Fayemi said it was possible for the country to reverse its current bleak reality towards achieving a prosperous future.

He stressed that the needed change would only be possible with a modification of the people’s sense of value and leadership pattern.

The governor spoke yesterday at a lecture he delivered at Chatham House, London.

The lecture was entitled: “State governance, democratisation and development in Nigeria.”

The governor, who lamented the country’s inability to match its huge potentials with physical and economic development, argued that for the country to achieve greatness, “there must be a fundamental political transformation; then, good governance must become the underlying basis of political power.”

He cited the transformation his administration had carried out since its inception in 2010, and said such achievements were possible because of the many innovations his government introduced into the management of the state’s resources, both human and material.

Fayemi noted that positive changes could be achieved by any government without inflicting hardship on the people.

He said his administration was able to raise the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile in multiple folds from a measly N106 million ($650,000) a month, to over N600 million ($3,75m), and it is anticipated to hit the N1 billion ($6m)-a-month mark in the near future, without raising taxes and levies.

The governor claimed that growth has continued to elude the country despite its huge potentials, because of its current warped structure which allows for over concentration of power at the centre to the detriment of the states.

He also criticised the nation’s extant Constitution, noting that it was necessary for the people to be allowed to renegotiate the terms and principles that should guide their existence in view of the growing division among the federating units.

“The structural deformities of the Nigerian federation have circumscribed many of the possibilities of our state, and many other states in Nigeria and the country as a whole. It is difficult, if not impossible to sustain good governance at the national level in Nigeria because of the structural fatalities that I have mentioned earlier.

“The over-concentration of powers in the Federal centre must give way to devolution and decentralisation of power and authority. Therefore, a critical fundamental political restructuring of the Nigerian federation is an unavoidable step that must be taken to generate the basis for the creation and sustenance of a participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive national governance and one that is based on the rule of law.

“I am convinced that this can, and will definitely, happen in Nigeria at some point in the near future. Nigeria is a deeply divided, but immensely blessed and potentially great country. Why Nigerians and foreigners are often focussed on the deep divisions, little is said, for the most account, on our immense assets and potentials.

“What Nigerians need to do is to use our immense blessings, both human and natural, and transform our potential greatness into real greatness, in order to reduce our deep divisions and enhance or strengthen our unity.”

“With these, I believe that the question of deepening democracy and enhancing development would be largely resolved. Nigeria cannot achieve this without a national resolution by Nigerians to come together as one people with a common destiny.

“The true representatives of the various parts of Nigeria last met between September and October 1958 to agree on the ways in which the federation should be constituted. This was during the last round of the Constitutional Conferences preceding independence.

“Since then, neither the military regimes nor the civilian governments at the centre have allowed the Nigerian people to come together democratically and in all their diversity, to re-determine their common fate.

“From the insurgency in the Niger Delta to the extremisms in the far north, justice, equity and fairness can be used as the mechanisms of preserving and consolidating Nigeria’s national unity,” Fayemi said..

November 28, 2012
Fayemi, the pathfinder

In the 16th of October 2010, when a tumultuous crowd of Ekiti Indigenes took to the streets to celebrate the judicial pronouncement of the Appeal Court that declared Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the duly elected governor of the state, many thought it was all a part of politicking. Some critics even went as far as saying the crowd was rented to create an illusion of popularity for the new governor.

But for those of us resident in the state, Fayemi’s victory at the Appeal Court was a sigh of relief and a promise that better days were ahead for us. It was a clear proof that heaven had finally sated the cravings of the good people of Ekiti for a messiah.

Before Fayemi’s administration, the environment of Ekiti State was an eyesore. Ado-Ekiti, the capital was an Aegean Stable that would rank amongst the worst capital cities in the country. Major and minor streets in the metropolis were littered as virtually every available space had become a refuse site. Drainages were blocked, walls were defaced with posters of all sorts and the roads were in derelict conditions. The stench oozing from the heaps of refuse that had become a regular sight on almost every street was a constant source of worry for everyone but the government that was contended with turning a blind eye to the problem. So bad was the situation that visitors in the state who were not familiar with the nauseating smell would cover their noses while walking and driving on the streets.

Thankfully those days have become history that will soon fade from our memories as a people. The coming of Dr. Fayemi marked the end of that era of disorder in Ado Ekiti and other towns in the state. In just two years at the helms the governor has transformed the environment of Ekiti State for good. He has proved to be the pathfinder illuminating our paths out of the dungeons where his predecessors placed us.

It is to Fayemi’s credit that a town that was once an eyesore and held no attractions for anyone now glows and competes favourably with Ikeja, Asaba, Uyo and other capital towns in Nigeria.

In his quest to ensure that things do not remain the way they were before his time, the governor started the urban renewal initiative which seeks to revamp and beautify Ado-ekiti and other cities in the state.

The results are obvious for all eyes to see. With the re-introduction of the monthly environmental sanitation across the state, the governor is turning Ekiti into a decent and modern State. We now see colourful flowers and trees blossoming in places that used to be refuse dump sites. Drainages are flowing freely and roads that used to be decorated with filth are now being swept on a daily basis. The stench that hung in the air before now has also been replaced with an aura fresh air.

Any visitor familiar with the Ekiti State during the pre-Fayemi era would attest that the Governor has performed credibly well in such a short time. Ekiti now wears a new a look that is hard to deny.

For Governor Fayemi, it is not just about giving the capital city a face-lift. It is about meeting the people’s expectations, creating a platform for them to develop themselves and leaving something tangible for posterity. For instance, when one considers the ‘Lagacy Projects’ that were initiated last month when he marked his second year in office, it becomes clears to see that the governor is driven by a passion to make life better for the people by turning the state into an urban centre. He knows that a well kept environment will not only attract investors to the state but will also put the people in the right frame of mind to think and come up with ideas that will better their lives.

The projects which include a new Government House, Civic Centre (incorporating a library, museum and art gallery and a cinema), State Pavillion (something like the Eagle’s Square in Abuja, where parade and other activities will take place), Samsung Engineering Academy and Grand Tower Shopping Mall which will be incorporated by Shoprite will not only add aesthetic value to the state but also provide job opportunities for the people. Aside from that, it will also improve the internally generated revenue of the state.

The infrastructural development programmes initiated by Fayemi’s administration have also contributed immensely in transforming the landscape of Ekiti State. In fulfillment of his promises to connect all parts of Ekiti State through motorable roads, the governor embarked on massive road construction projects across the state. As at today almost all the major roads in the State have either been completed or nearing completion. Even the Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki Road which proved a difficult task for previous governments is almost at the last stage of construction. Without doubt, these projects have eased the burden of life and living for millions of the residents of the state.

The best thing about Fayemi’s environmental renaissance is that it has placed Ekiti state on the spotlight as a tourist destination. The massive investments at the famous Ikogosi spring which serves as the state’s tourism hub speaks volumes of what his administration wants to achieve. By redesigning the landscape, constructing villa chalets and an amphitheatre, the governor is looking to attract local and international tourists to our beloved state. For a state that is naturally endowed with some of the most picturesque landscape, beautiful mountains, and alluring valleys, tourism portends an economic boom for the people.

As an observer, I often ask myself why previous administrations did not do as much as Dr. Fayemi is doing now. If any of the governor priviledged to have ruled this state had done a quarter of what he is doing, our state will definitely be more developed than it is today. With the meagre resources coming from the Federal Government as monthly allocation and a lean internally generated revenue purse, he has been able to achieve so much. I have no doubts that by the end of his tenure as governor, Ekiti would be one of the most sought after states in this country.

• Omonigbehin writes from Ado-Ekiti.

November 22, 2012
How Fayemi is remaking Ekiti

When Dr. Kayode Fayemi marked his two years in office on October 16, as the governor of Ekiti State, no one was left in doubt that his achievements in office speak for themselves. This is a state that was considered one of the most backward in the South West in terms of physical and social infrastructural development. Previous administrations in the state were all busy playing politics of acrimony to the detriment of human and physical development in the state.

But in the past two years, Dr. Fayemi has been busy, quite busy indeed touching lives, bringing hope back to the people; making the populace feel the importance of democracy. Obviously, the governor has the calling of a visionary, a sentimental leader of people who believes that once the electorate are properly catered for, there will not only be peace in the state, but the people themselves will often wear glimmer of smiles on their faces.

This is indeed the Ekiti State of today. As the governor and his team of committed lieutenants went about commissioning landmark projects in all the crannies of the state, what was uppermost in the minds of the rural people was how to make these legacies permeate the total psyche of the populace. “We are here to serve and help the governor achieve the dream of making Ekiti State one of the foremost in the country,” was how 79 year old Olayinka Ibironke, a retired teacher, described the situation. And he truly wore the face of a happy man in a new era of hope.

This happened at Omuo-Oke where the governor went to lay the foundation stone of an ultramodern Trailer park. “A park of this nature,” the governor noted, “would help to facilitate the movement of heavy goods from here to other parts of Ekiti State and the nation.” This was an assurance that sent breezy frenzy into the spines of the people who gathered to witness and cheer the governor. Like Ibironke, most indigenes of Omuo-oke, a quiet rural settlement, deprived of modernity for a long time, have been at pains to move goods like planks and woods and food items from their place to other points of need.

While the governor was in Iluomoba, another rural enclave to lay the foundation stone for Life Academy, his primary concern was to reignite the flame of good and sound education in the people. The Iluomoba academy is to give easy and accelerated access to education to the people long known for their love for civilization. “Education is our greatest asset and it is our prerogative to make it work, functional and effective,” the governor had said. Then what is education if it can not be made accessible to the people who not only need it, but crave to always make it their bedrock? With that notion in the hearts of the people, they warmly welcomed the prospects of having an academy that will soon usher in glorious moments into the lives of Iluomoba people.

A tour of most rural settlements in Ekiti State revealed that the people now feel a sense of belonging. The newly commissioned electricity project in Ilupeju-Ijan in Gbonyin Local government area which had no light for many years in the past, is a good demonstration of a leader who does not believe that darkness and light should meet. Light is good for the people. Even the Holy Bible ordered that there should be light so that the children of God have would be in good sheer here on earth. Light brings progress and encourages the people to feel at home with what they have. Indeed the Ilupeju-Ijan community can feel it.

The Ilupeju-Ijan project is an eye opener because it shows a governor who is not selective and partisan with the projects he delivers to his people. His mission has been quite purposeful; to ensure that development is evenly distributed and shared so as to discourage apathy in the thinking of the people. This approach has been largely successful because in every local government, the people have every good reason to sing the praises of the government. Good work, as it is said, is like a full blown pregnancy. No one can cover it with her hands. Fayemi’s achievements glow and illuminate and glitter in their droves, registering in stages and in different facets in people’s lives.

So far, the many colleges and primary schools hitherto abandoned and neglected in parts of the state have been rehabilitated for the good of the people. Some of the prominent ones are the Omuo-Oke Grammar School and Obada High School. The other one is the Africa Church Comprehensive High School, Ikere. These schools had for too long been left in the hands of people who did not manage them well. Today, the schools are back to what they used to be in the days of yore. The students and pupils of these schools are not only excited and happy to go to school, they cannot stop being grateful to a governor who is wholly people oriented and properly focused and well driven.

Travelling from one end of the state to the other now is easier and faster. The roads in most of the rural places have been retouched to meet the yearnings of the people. These roads include Erijiyan-Ilawe, Efon-Ipole Iloro-Ikogosi roads. Incidentally these roads lead to the famous Ikogosi warm spring tourist resort which has been renovated by the governor to boast tourism in the state.

Ikogosi is a visitor’s delight by all standards and the governor has ensured that the facilities there have been modernized to attract more visitors to the place. It is, in fact, one of the greatest natural gifts to this nation in terms of aura and beauty. This was why the governor took time to tare the roads leading to it.

Equally, the Ado-lyin road, the Ado-Afao road and the Odo –Owa Okeila road and more, all leading roads linking Ekiti State with Osun State have been reconstructed by the government of Dr. Fayemi.

The climax of these chains of achievements was coming back to life of the Udo-uro electricity project long abandoned for no just reason. The governor has not only revived it, it has also been commissioned to add value to the social lives of the people. Close to it also is the Efon water project, Okemesi water project, Ido-Ile water project, Ido-Ile basic health centre. Others are Iropora Skills Acquisition Centre, Erelu Adebayo Orphanage Centre, Iyin, all of which have been made to thrive again.

In truth, governor Fayemi is focused, he knows how to carry the people along. His avowed love for his people is never in question. This is why he does all he can to satisfy and please them.

• Ademuliyi writes from Okemesi, Ekiti State.

November 6, 2012
Peer review: DFID, experts commend Fayemi

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Steering Committee of State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM) in Ekiti have commended Governor Kayode Fayemi on his commitment to transparent and participatory governance.

They gave the commendations at the launch of the State Peer Review Mechanism’s Technical Mission in Ado Ekiti last week.

Fayemi reiterated his commitment to social inclusiveness in policy formulation and implementation.

He added that though the report of the SPRM process identified challenges, the unwavering faith of the people in his administration “has made us to resolve to make the best of the transformational agenda”.

The South West Regional Coordinator of DFID, Dr. Sina Fagbenro-Byron, said the participation of Ekiti in the review programme is an indication of the “political will, progressivism and development-orientation” of the present administration.

Fagbenro-Byron described the subscription to the review process as “trajectory that a progressive Nigeria should be heading towards.’’

A World Bank consultant and member of the SPRM Steering Committee at the national level, Professor Oladipo Adamolekun, commended Ekiti for the production and submission of its self-assessment report.

The 280-page report, he said, “is very candid and well written.”

Adamolekun described the report as a baseline for the direction to which the present administration in the State is heading in the second half of the tenure.

He stated that the document was excellent in that it highlighted some of the achievements of the Fayemi-led administration as well as the challenges including bloated bureaucracy with poor work ethic, paucity of resources and resource utilisation, among others.

October 28, 2012
Fayemi urges states on peer review

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday urged more states to embrace the State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM).

He said the review programme is an invitation to all stakeholders to collaborate on a common platform to development their states.

Fayemi spoke at the presentation of the Ekiti State Self-Assessment Report to the SPRM National Committee in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

He said his administration will continue to run an inclusive and transparent government.

Fayemi said his administration embraced SPRM to institutionalise transparency and accountability in governance.

He said: “Though the report of the SPRM process identified challenges, the unwavering faith of the people in my administration has made us resolve to make the best of the transformational agenda.”

The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the SPRM Steering Committee in Ekiti and the national level hailed the state government’s commitment to transparent and participatory governance.

DFID Southwest Regional Coordinator Dr. Sina Fagbenro-Byron said the state government’s participation in the review programme is an indication of the “political will, progressivism and development-orientation” of the present administration in Ekiti.

He said participating states have more opportunities to attract development partners and investors to their states because the review mechanism sells them to the public.

World Bank consultant and member of the SPRM Steering Committee at the national level, Prof. Oladipo Adamolekun, said: “The 280-page report is very candid and well written, as it was prepared through a participatory process.

“It shows the direction the present state government is headed in the second half of the tenure.”

October 23, 2012
Fayemi, two years on

•Ekiti is witnessing a rebirth, even if there are always ways to improve

The most piquant thing about two years of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State is not what he has done or what he has not done. It is rather the perception of his mandate as that not stolen; and therefore has earned the right to rule. That is the power of legitimacy in a democracy – that your people have given you the charter to rule: with the proviso that that charter would be withdrawn if you did not rule well.

The mandate, like a sword of Damocles, which nevertheless comes down in a democracy, appears to be driving Ekiti. The result is obvious for all to see.

That Ado-Ekiti, the state capital and other parts of the state are one huge work-in-progress is apparent. In two years, Ekiti, under Fayemi’s charge, has constructed 103 kilometres of roads in 10 different parts of the state. That is remarkable and encouraging. But even more remarkable is that the roads come with standard specifications. They come with adequate drainage, setbacks, pedestrian walkways and even floral beautification.

That could be routine in other areas, but for a largely rural and sleepy state, this urban renewal is a sign of commendable modernisation. With improved road infrastructure, transportation receives a boost and the state economy receives a healthy jab in the arm.

But Fayemi’s focus has not been on road infrastructure alone. Indeed, that is only part of an eight-point agenda, the other seven being sane governance, modernised agriculture, education and human capital development, health care services, promotion of industries, tourism and gender equality and empowerment – empowerment including social security for Ekiti Elders, as a mark of the government’s recognition of their past services to the state.

Sanity in governance has come mainly from the frugality in managing public funds. Even with the state’s modest receipt from the Federation Account and equally modest internally generated revenue (IGR), the Fayemi government has made a laudable attempt at harnessing the state’s resources for maximal results.

This has been most remarkable in the Ekiti Elders’ social security programme where anyone from age 65 and above is given a monthly stipend of N5,000. It is the first of its type in the South West, though the State of Osun has followed in that direction, by putting in place a similar social security scheme.

Frugal management of resources is also apparent in tourism-driven investment in which the Ikogosi Warm Springs, the wonder of nature where there is confluence of warm and cold water, is being upgraded into a resort to attract global tourism traffic. This is another economic empowerment project to create jobs and rev up the state’s economy to drive prosperity.

The Fayemi government’s intervention in education is fundamental: by instituting periodic tests for teachers in the state’s employ, it is insisting on the basics – that teachers who teach our youths and will shape their future for good or for ill must be on top of their game. That is noble and legitimate.

The challenge, however, is that the programme must be served with utmost sensitivity and mass enlightenment. That would not only make the teachers buy into the scheme as part of their own much needed professional improvement, it would augur well for the development of education at the grassroots; and further consolidate Ekiti’s well-known love for education.

In two years, Governor Fayemi has put in place laudable pattern of governance – from an ethical campaign that strives to return Ekiti to its Omoluabi credo, to concrete strides in visible infrastructure. But the end, not the beginning, is the issue. So, the government would do well to be focused and consolidate its achievement, before the inevitable distraction, with the din of re-election.

October 17, 2012
Half way gone, Fayemi seeks special slot in history

Today marks exactly two years since Dr. Kayode Fayemi became Ekiti State governor. He has broken grounds. Like Oliver Twist, the people are asking for more. That means he has to break new grounds, surpassing efforts of the last two years, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU.

HIs father’s choice of a baptismal name for him is John, who, in Biblical times, was the pathfinder for Jesus Christ. So, when on October 16, 2010, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi stood on the dais, a Bible in one hand, the other up in the air, he pledged allegiance to the people of Ekiti State and his country, Nigeria, he knew he must find the path for his people.

The ceremony over, it was time to face the business of running a state, which had lost its glory as the home of the most educated and was occupying almost the least position on the revenue-sharing table.

When he quit his international engagements and flew back home, Fayemi knew his stint in political office would be tough. He now admits the situation was bad than he imagined.

He said: “I also had an advantage when I wasn’t in government. We had a split in the House of Assembly. So, my own colleagues in the House of Assembly always had information about what is going on in government, which we also worked on and prepared… But with all that, I didn’t realise the depth of the crisis. I didn’t realise that we had many abandoned projects, for example, or that we have that huge amount of money unpaid to contractors or vendors.”

The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was so small it could not add much value in an ocean of needs.

There were other challenges. The state capital, Ado-Ekiti, was not befitting; there were litany of uncompleted projects; schools were dilapidated; roads were death-traps; and things were generally in need of ‘surgery’ in the state of some 2.3 million people.

The people wanted action and no excuses. Fayemi knew this and avoided giving excuses. He got into action with his team of commissioners and Special Advisers, with the 8-point Agenda as their Bible.

The eight-point Agenda cover governance, infrastructure development, modernising agriculture, education and human capital development, health care services, industrial development, tourism and gender equality and empowerment.

How Fayemi runs the Fountain of Knowledge

To accomplish the task ahead, Fayemi, said an aide, does not have a definite closing time.

There are times he stays in the office till 1am or 2am. And by 5.30am the next day, he is up.

Aides said when there are emergencies, such as the night when fire gutted the School of Nursing, Fayemi was ready at about 5 am to attend to the matter. The day Ewi of Ado-Ekiti’s palace had a fire incident, the governor was willing to go visit the place, despite the fact that he left the office around 1.30 am.

He hardly attends parties or social occasions. The few social functions he attends are because of the nature of his work. On most public holidays, he could be found in his office.

The Nation learnt that when he has meetings to attend in Abuja, he prefers to return same day while his brother governors stay back. Despite the stress of travelling by road, he retires to the office to work. At times, he travels with “Ghana must Go” bags full of files, mails and other documents to treat.

A source said he is being so finicky because some civil servants deliberately stack up the files to block thorough scrutiny before approval. His speeches, no matter how busy he is, bear his imprints. He typesets his speeches on his laptop.

The Nation’s enquiries show that talent recognition and usage is a major factor in how Ekiti works under Fayemi. One area in which this is very evident is in the administration’s efforts at developing tourism. He identified an indigene of the state, Mr. Segun Ologunleko who had helped the Cross River State government to develop its tourism products, such as Obudu Ranch Resort and Tinapa. He appointed him Special Adviser on Tourism Development. Ologunleko has been of immense assistance in turning the Ikogosi Warm Spring into a tourism hub, among other efforts at increasing IGR through tourism.This approach of using talents appropriately permeates almost every area of development. The use of square peg in a square hole has led to the plugging of leakages in the system and increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

The governor also knows that the people matter. This, said a source, is the logic behind the village square meetings he has held with people in all the 16 local government areas. At the meetings, the people spoke their minds on what the Budget should look like. It was after the meetings that this year’s Budget was presented to the House of Assembly.

Though a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Fayemi has not allowed his affiliation to affect the growth of the state. Development, to him, knows no party affiliation. For instance, he has related well with the Federal Government, which is controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). From time to time, he has met with heads of federal ministries, departments and agencies as part of his campaign for federal presence in Ekiti State. On this issue, he has met President Goodluck Jonathan, Minister of Works Mike Onolememen, Minister of Water Resources Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Education Prof. Ruqqayatu Rufa’i, Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akin Adesina, Minister of Trade and Investment Olusegun Aganga and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, among others.

Fayemi’s meeting with Onolememen was to get the Federal Government to refund the money spent on the rehabilitation of the Ado-Ekiti township roads and the dualisation of Ado-Ifaki Road, which are parts of the 348km of federal roads in the state. The minister promised to refund the money.

The meeting with Rufa’i led to the approval to merge junior and secondary schools in the state, which were hitherto separated.

He got concrete outcomes from the others he met too.

Determined to deliver on his promises, the governor has also put in place the Office of Transformation, Strategy and Delivery (OTSD), with the mandate of co-ordinating and monitoring the transformational strategies of the administration. He identified a talent in the person of Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, a former Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, to run the office.

His use of talents also manifested in the economic team. He picked a 19-man team of talents. Their mandate: open up new avenues to finance the transformation agenda. The team is headed by Deputy Governor Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka.

The administration’s drive for qualitative education has also shown his knack for using talent. Shortly after assuming office, he set up a Task Force headed by Chief Deji Adegbite to look into the challenges facing the sector. It was this Task Force that paved the way for the Ekiti State Education Summit. The decay in the sector is being corrected with the outcome of the summit.

Working for 16 to 18 hours in a day means the governor does not have as much time as he would normally have with his wife of 23 years, Bisi.

Improving the finances

On assumption of office, after a long battle in the law court to regain his mandate, he pledged to restore some order to the state’s public finances.

The holder of a doctorate degree in War Studies says his efforts are bearing fruits.

Fayemi has started to tame government expenditure and make reforms. He has also tamed the patronage system, which squanders much of the revenue.

His room for manoeuvre has resulted in astronomical increase in the state’s Internally Generated Revenue. There is little doubt his success in getting more money for the state is a rarity in an environment where Federal Allocation is all many eagerly wait for every month. In October 2010 when he took over, the IGR was a paltry N109 million. At some point, it grew to N400 million. Now, it is 400 million. His target is N1 billion, which he had hoped to achieve by last June, but failed to. He has this last phase of his first term to actualise that.

He said: “The feat has convinced us that if we continue this way and block all loopholes and drain pipes, we can make more than that. This is in spite of the fact that we have not introduced personal income tax.”

The increase in the IGR is helping to tackle the huge recurrent spending that makes Nigeria’s government at state and federal levels one of the world’s most costly. Simply running the administration swallows a huge percent of income.

Fayemi’s reforms have seen him battle teachers, who found funny his insistence that they must take competency test. Ekiti, for a long time, was seen as the place with the most educated people in the country. This is why it is known as the Fountain of Knowledge. But, over the years things fell apart. Mass failure in public examination is now a norm in a state, which produced first professors in some disciplines. His own approach to making education functional is to ensure trainers are well-placed to do the job through the Teachers’ Development Need Assessment. The opposition dubbed it an attempt to sack teachers. Teachers too claimed that the policy was aimed at sacking some of them.

The state of infrastructure in public schools also called for concern. Schools had dilapidated walls with roofs blown away by winds and pupils sitting on the bare floor in the classrooms. They are now wearing new looks through the Operation Renovate All Schools in Ekiti (ORASE).

A renowned poet, Prof. Niyi Osundare, who is an indigene of the state, said public schools which produced great scholars and eminent personalities were in deplorable condition during his last visit to the state. He said he was pleased with the renovation works on public schools.

Osundare said: “Our state has changed. The last time I was at Amoye Grammar School, Ikere-Ekiti, I almost cried. I saw many classrooms without windows, the schools was in a bad state. Christ’s School is better because of the efforts of the alumni association. I am happy that renovation has begun there and in other schools. Laptop computers given to students, I read about it on the Internet.

“I have not come here to praise, people say scholars are critics but if you see something good, you have to say it. There is a lot to be done because a lot of damage was done in the past but we are on the right path.”

Correcting the damage of the past has turned the state to a huge construction site. Fayemi said: “We have turned this state into a huge construction site with road construction going on in towns, villages and remotest settlements in all parts of the state. Many dilapidated school buildings, which had not been touched for 40 years are being demolished and rebuilt with work at completion stage in various public schools.

“Work is going on in commercial agriculture, health, tourism and other sectors. Our indigent elders are receiving N5,000 monthly.”

Not in it for the money

Born February 9, 1965 in Ibadan, then the headquatres of the Western Region, Fayemi comes from a family of public servant and trader. After demonstrating his brilliance right from elementary school, he held his own at the Christ School, Ado-Ekiti. His records at the University of Lagos, University of Ife and Kings College, London, where he bagged first, second and third degrees, spoke of a man with purpose.

While studying for his doctorate in London, he was active in the fight to bring the dictatorship of the late Gen. Sani Abacha to an end. He was also involved in seeking a better life for the community he and his wife Bisi were staying in London.

At the risk to his life, he worked for the actualisation of the pirate radio, Radio Kudirat, which was a nightmare for the Abacha regime.

Fayemi, whose marriage is blessed with a son, Folajimi Amandla – according to those who know him–

has never been motivated by wealth. It has always been about service.

Like many who have been on the good side of life, he owns properties in Lagos, Accra and Kumasi, which he acquired before getting into political office. But, he does not flaunt affluence. By the standards of Nigeria’s champagne-swigging, sports car-collecting public office holder, he’s not extravagant. You can hardly catch him hiring helicopter or chartering an aircraft with state’s fund. You are not likely going to find him on overseas trips with many hangers-on. His mode of dressing is also such that cannot set tongues wagging. You hardly find him arriving or leaving events blaring sirens.

To some, he is an unassuming man whose quiet demeanour stands out in a nation where success is usually marked by talkative swagger; to the opposition, he is not good enough for the state.

For Fayemi, being in government should not turn one into a monster. “There is a lot of hallow around people in the executive arm of government… Of course, when you are in government, you get attention. But nothing has really changed about you. You don’t have two heads now. You don’t have four legs; you are still the same person. I think we need to begin to demystify power and casualise it in a way that we will not bend or turn those occupants into swollen heads and people who believe that they are the best things that have happened to the society,” he said in an interview.

He said his motivation for being in government is not to amass wealth but to leave the state better than he met it. The governor said: “Anytime we found ourselves at crossroads, God gave us direction and God has proved that help comes from nowhere but from Him. We solicit your ceaseless prayers for Nigeria in general and Ekiti State in particular for us to leave this state better than we met it.”

New grounds must be broken

Fayemi is yet to achieve his aim of increasing the IGR to N1 billion. He is also yet to start work on the building of schools, whose cases are beyond mere renovations. The urban renewal project is still ongoing.

The projects for which the state floated a N20 billion bond, such as the construction of Lagos Liaison Office, the ultra-modern market and the ultra-modern civic centre, are also areas many expect action in this new phase.

Many will also look forward to seeing the electronics giants, Samsung establish an Engineering Academy in Ado Ekiti, the state capital as part of its partnership arrangement with the state government.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed to that by the state government and the management of Samsung in Seoul, South Korea in September.

Fayemi signed for the state government, while Mr. Seongwoo Nam, Executive Vice President (IT Solutions Business), signed on behalf of Samsung at a brief ceremony at the company’s head office in Seoul.

The collaboration between Ekiti State and Samsung as agreed in the MOU, include e-governance, healthcare, technology park, smart city and safe city initiatives.

Fayemi said the partnership with Samsung would boost the state government’s ICT plans, especially its e-school, e-payment and e-government projects.

Not a few will also be watching out for what becomes of the state government’s Computer-per – child initiatives (e-School project), which is designed to put a laptop computer on the desk of every student in public secondary school by 2014. Already, 33,000 laptop computers of the planned 100,000 are being distributed in the first phase of the project.

Not a few also wait to see how he resolves the impasse with teachers over the compulsory test, which the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) is kicking against. The governor has withdrawn recognition of the union and decided to deal with teachers individually.

All in all, this latter-day ‘John the Baptist’ needs to break new grounds surpassing efforts of the last two years. Only then would he have proved right those who see him as the forerunner.

October 16, 2012
Fayemi inaugurates multi-million naira ward, ambulances

•Assures residents of improved health care

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi yesterday inaugurated a multi-million naira Accident and Emergency Ward, a Laboratory and a Male Surgical Ward at the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

He also inaugurated seven ambulances purchased for some secondary health facilities.

The ambulances were handed over to the officials of the health facilities and the representatives of the communities.

Fayemi said the projects would improve health care delivery, adding that the ambulances would ensure prompt responses during emergencies.

Restating his administration’s determination to deliver high quality health care and provide standard health facilities for the people, the governor said the funding of health facilities would be increased.

Fayemi said N12,082,859.64 has been released for the re-roofing of the State Teaching Hospital’s Theatre Complex.

He said earlier in the year, the government paid the N69,980,083 hospital bill of 94 indigent residents and bought equipment worth over N130 million for health facilities.

These, Fayemi said, were aimed at providing efficient services at the 35 selected primary health facilities rendering free services to vulnerable groups.

The Accident and Emergency Ward and the Laboratory, which are fully equipped, cost N190,534,025.60.

The newly renovated Male Surgical Ward cost N51,543,757.04 while the seven ambulances, which have state-of-the-art intensive care gadgets, cost N119,000,000.

October 16, 2012
Teachers’proficiency test, not about Fayemi

SIR: I first wrote about the Teachers’ Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) that has brought about different versions of fabled stories in Ekiti State when it was becoming an ill-used tool in the hand of political spin doctors. I stated the needs for it and urged the Ekiti State government to adequately allay the fears of retrenchment being expressed by the teachers.

In all sense of fairness, I dare say that the government has played its part well. What I find unacceptable is the continued seemingly non-negotiable stance of the teachers in preferring to stick to their guns, irrespective of interventions from almost all stakeholders. It may then not be too far-fetched at this point to ask what the agenda of these teachers is.

The Ekiti State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Kayode Akosile, says they are not scared to write the test as speculated in some quarters. Well, I say they are. No doubt, there are a few shining lights that one can be proud of, but most of the teachers cannot even eat what they sell.

Teachers in Ekiti State, and indeed Nigeria, know themselves and can readily, if they want, give you an objective assessment of one another. In fact, the competent and the objective ones will tell you we are truly on a downward slope and could soon crash. If a primary school teacher cannot read English text smoothly, what is the fate of the pupils under his/her care?

If a teacher of English language cannot differentiate between ‘tin’ and ‘thing’ in pronunciation, where then are we headed? If a so-called secondary school English teacher does not know the ‘h’ in ‘honest’ and ‘honour’ is silent, how can his/her student pass Oral English in their SSCE?

At first, I blamed the NUT leadership for its stance on the TDNA, but I have since stopped doing that. As a union, NUT must protect its own, good or bad. It also has a duty not to allow its dirty linen to be washed in the open. It must continue to find reasons for the teachers not to write the TDNA, even if the reasons are unreasonable and pointless.

And in trying to do that, Governor Fayemi has been demonised. But this is not about Fayemi or Eniola Ajayi. In four or eight years, Fayemi will be gone, Eniola will move on but Ekiti will be here. The children of the illiterate and the un-lettered, who cannot afford the luxury of private schools, will continue to attend these schools and trust me, ‘church’ will continue to be ‘shursh’ and ‘orange’ will always be ‘horange’.

At this point, let us push vain politics aside and join the government in ensuring that we get it right. Even if all the teachers would not write the TDNA, we must find another way to change our present course to salvage our future. We owe it a duty to our society and our children to build for them a foundation that could make them competent doctors, lawyers, activists, journalists, broadcasters, social commentators, policy-formulators and teachers of the future.

‘Dimeji Daniels

Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State

October 16, 2012
Fayemi : How the past molded a peoples’ governor

Fayemi is fundamentally changing the face of Ekiti

Time was about 11.45 pm in the sprawling Ekiti state governor’s office, which he derisively calls a football field, which he does not require to function effectively or efficiently, and quipped his friend of many years, the witheringly brilliant political scientist, Dr Abubakar Momoh: “Kayode, little did we know that God was preparing you for these days when we would, during our activist days in London , work until the wee hours of the following morning, quaffing coffee like it was going out of fashion.” I remembered Abubakar’s words sometime later after observing at close range, Dr Fayemi’s methodical and focused approach to governance, electing completely, not to be bothered with what the Yoruba would call the suffocating ‘ariwo oja’ –the market place noise, that the political opposition was spewing.

How miraculously God restored his Ekiti peoples’ mandate back to him, whilst the Obasanjos of this world were breathing down on all institutions of state, elicited indescribable joy, not only in the state, but across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But without a doubt, it equally brewed bitterness among the little colony of poll robbers who never thought the day would ever come when his mandate would be restored. Thus began a massive campaign of calumny, not much initiated by his main opponent at that election, but by a coterie of hangers-on, who, for reasons singularly unconnected with the welfare of our people, but their belly, embarked upon a proxy war to which the governor, characteristically, refused to invest even the minutest notice. The war has become largely muted today even though there was a time it looked like the demagogues were going to have it their way, given their cacophony and dexterity at concocting and weaving all manner of lies, even going as far as master-minding workers’ union revolts as we recently saw in the arrest of a lout who doubles as Press Secretary. Thanks largely to the incomparable, multi-sectoral achievements that have earned Dr Fayemi the prestigious ‘Leadership Governor of the Year’ award, an award for which many a state governor would have declared a state holiday to celebrate.

And they have not seen anything yet.

Back then to how his past, his multi-dimensional experiences, have served as the linchpin, the furnace and the crucible through which the peoples’ governor, was prepared for today. And there is no better place to go than OUT OF THE SHADOW’S, Dr Kayode Fayemi’s own book; his testimony and elegant historical capture of the events which shaped him at various stages of life up until he threw his cap into the political ring in his native Ekiti state. The intention here is not to re-write a book in which you have the author ‘writ large’ by our one and only Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. Rather, it is to showcase how very small, almost insignificant events, a nice word here from a father when merited, a flagellation by mum when necessary and the whole idea of not sparing the rod, if that is what the moment deserved, as happened when his father gave him 12 strokes of the cane for not meeting him doing his home work, all cumulatively molding the total person; one who from the unsparing but loving hands of Pa and Mama Fayemi of Isan –Ekiti, would later be divinely thrown into public service to make life meaningful and better for the greater majority of Ekiti people. Had I, indeed, been minded, to re-write the book, this entire newspaper would hardly provide the space.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS, a book which in the hands of Bishop Felix Ajakaiye, the Catholic Bishop of Ekiti, has since become, besides the bible, a standard reference book for sermons about sacrifice, hard work, the value of education, perseverance, the role of parents and calls to service, among many other lessons, is replete with examples of how the governor’s home training, in a committed Christian family, – his own father had barely missed being a Catholic priest – his education and background in general, taught Dr Fayemi great lessons on how to be prepared to stand up, stand firm and control his own destiny.

I recall for instance an occasion well ahead of the serially rigged Ekiti gubernatorial elections, when three of us, in company of Dr Fayemi visited a distinguished Lagos-based Medical doctor of Ijesha extraction who truly loves the candidate and was willing to be part of his preparations. The host decided to first treat his visitors to dinner at a high end Chinese Restaurant. In the course of dinner, and knowing the PDP as I do, I chipped in by predicting that they would rig the election and ask us to go to court as the ‘one-minute heroine and next-minute villain’ of a onetime Ekiti INEC Commissioner, would later contemptuously advise. The candidate’s short response was: “Then they will come to know that I am a long distance runner.” I soon got confirmation of how the governor’s past must have informed this response when, in his Foreword to OUT OF THE SHADOWS, Professor Wole Soyinka wrote as follows about the monumental struggle in which he had Fayemi as one of his most trusted young intellectual combatants, I quote him: “It is my hope that this –the book –has opened the way to the records of infamy that internal democratic movement had to overcome in its pivotal struggle –the betrayals, repeated and repeated betrayals (note the repetitions by the master), campaigns of discouragement and so on – by some of those who supposedly occupy leadership positions in society, be they crowned heads, prelates, business moguls, professionals, politicians, intellectuals or whatever.” Fayemi’s own list of caterwaulers will include even a head of state and judges who were bought for nothing more than mere pittance. But he was completely unfazed, and from court to court, from one tribunal to another and from there to the Appeal Court, he went serially and when ignoramuses sang songs to the effect that he should be going to court while they govern, he still treated them with benign disdain, paying them no attention, whatever.

For the umpteenth time, many have had running bellies over my writings on Dr Kayode Fayemi but not only has he justified my implicit confidence in his ability to run an efficient government, I can say proudly that in all that I write, I testify only to the evidences of my very eyes. The entire Ekiti road network may not have all been paved yet –he has done two years of only a first four – and you may actually not be picking money on Ekiti streets, but for a fact, Fayemi is fundamentally changing the face of Ekiti. No longer do you have T V pictures of a hungry-looking people at state events, surrounded every inch of the way by gun-totting police and soldiers in defence of a stolen mandate, nor do you any longer have un-cared for elderly citizens who haven’t the slightest idea where help will come from since Fayemi’s monthly social security money will come as certainly as morning follows the night.

Today, work is going on at a frenetic pace on the Rehabilitate All Ekiti Schools Project which saw 100 schools rehabilitated in the first phase as well as on roads – both by state and local governments, water projects, re-industialisation i.e resuscitating dead and moribund industries and enterprises like the Ire Burnt Bricks industry, ROMACO which is about being concessioned and the Farm Settlement at Orin which is now a beehive of activity after decades of total abandonment. The educated youth are aggressively being introduced into commercial agriculture through the Y-CAD programme which combines training with financial mobilization through the provision of seed money, farm implements and agro-chemicals. Even with all the opposition-induced teachers’ intransigence, revitalizing the state education system remains a core area of Dr Fayemi’s programmes. Only this past week, the SUBEB Model Nursery and Primary School, Ado-Ekiti was rated as the best school nationwide in the year’s 2012 President Teachers and Schools’ Excellence Awards just as Mrs Oluwafemi Olusola of St John’s Primary School, Erinmope-Ekiti won the 3rd best teacher in the country.

His love of education and single minded determination to leave it better than he met it in Ekiti derives from his home background where his parents taught him the value of education and sent him to the best schools. That will subsequently influence his own choice of higher institutions to attend.

At his present duty post, this arduous, work-in-progress of taking Ekiti out of the shadows, his past has been a constant companion. He had, in fact, been born during the tumultuous NNDP’s short-lived ascendancy in the Western Region, a period which so presaged the PDP days that the governor has very readily acknowledged a causality between the events leading to and during the year of his birth – 1965 -and the subsequent trajectory of Nigerian politics which has since been dominated by those the Nobel Laureate describes as ‘brigands, parasites and unworthy custodians of power and authority.’

At age 5, the young Olukayode made his first ‘political outing’, joining in welcoming General Yakubu Gowon to Ibadan and the fact of his father being an Information officer in government soon exposed him at a very early stage in life to newspapers, many of which he read daily, thus imperceptibly learning and internalizing lessons in current and public affairs, especially politics that today stand him in good stead as they all combined to shape his career choices.

Parental guidance and early public awareness together with sound religious upbringing combined to inculcate in him discipline ,steadfastness ,compassion, vision, and focus. However, while the place of home training may have been totally incomparable in this discuss, the role of education peerless, and his entirely risky RADIO KUDIRAT exertions occupy a pride of place, what seems to me to have best prepared the governor for today was his matchless experiences in the UK, especially as a young, newly married man, studying and working; a period that left him with multiple life experiences not available in white collar jobs or acquired through reading books. This period saw him exposed to the variegated danger workers, especially blacks, got exposed to in what he describes as ‘the London underground job market, as typified by his two robbery attacks at dagger point by purported passengers and to one of which he lost, not only money but his wedding ring.

In terms of developing empathy, love and compassion for the other person, indeed for humanity, the leitmotif for his social security policy to cater for elderly citizens in the state, I do not think that anything, apart from his wife’s towering and ever constant positive influence, would compare in the governor’s past to the experience he garnered in the course of his active engagement, during this period, in local political organisation and, particularly, his involvement in the regeneration of the then completely run down Milton Court Estate and the entire Deptford area in South-East, London.

Of the people living in the area, wrote Dr Fayemi in OUT OF THE SHADOWS, ’ close to 60 percent were on housing benefits from the government and over 50npercent of school age kids were on meal subsidy in schools. Drug abuse was rife and crime among the idle youth was commonplace; deprivation, he wrote, was simply staggering. So touched, and concerned was he that he immediately joined a minority of individuals working towards ameliorating these extant conditions and ended up serving as Chair of the neighbourhood tenants and residents’ association whose duty it was to tackle the social, economic, environmental and physical problems through not just improving physical conditions but also ensuring improving housing management, diversifying tenure, attracting private investment and creating opportunities for training and enterprise.

Without a doubt, all the experiences gained in that project must have coalesced in all we see today in his midterm report card as governor of Ekiti.

Not just in Ekiti, but all those who followed from far and wide on television networks, online and through newspapers, must have marveled all this past week, watching governor Fayemi commission one project after the other. He inaugurated ten major roads spread all over the state as well as five water treatment plants just as he laid the foundations of truly millennial projects such as the Samsung I C T Centre, the new Government House and governor’s office, the State Pavilion amongst many others. He also did not only sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Grand Towers Group of Companies but presented to its Chairman, the company’s Certificate of Occupancy at the signing ceremony. Among the enterprises the company will bring into Ekiti is the popular Shoprite Shopping Mall. He exuded such unbelievable vigor that all Chief Dele Falegan, a distinguished Ekiti elder and Chair of the state’s SURE-P Committee could do was pray that the good Lord ill continue to renew him. I simply crumbled, the only day I was on his all-week frenetic tour and that was when he visited my 2-part Local Government Area, having to address an appreciative and hugely turned out crowd at both Igede and Igbemo. As should be expected, both sides of the Local Government Area pleaded with the governor to split us into two local government areas.

This profile is, at best, a miniscule part of how Dr Fayemi’s past has shaped his persona; a decent, disciplined, caring, calm, focused and highly organized personality that Ekiti state could not have asked for more.

It is the reason he has aptly been named ‘THE ILUFEMILOYE 1’ -the chosen one -of Ekiti.

October 14, 2012