Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has begun his bid for a second term in office with a mega rally in Ado-Ekiti. SULAIMAN SALAWUDEEN reports that eight governors from the All Progressives Congress (APC) were among the large crowd that attended the event.
The Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, had throbbed and quaked in the presence of thousands of supporters and admirers of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, as he flagged off his campaigns for re-election as the Ekiti State governor last week.
The event was attended by eight All Progressives Governors (APC) state governors including Alhaji Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), represented by his deputy, Elder Peter Kishira, Alhaji Yori Abubakar (Zamfara), Owelle Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).
Others in attendance were the former Ekiti State governor and APC Southwest National Vice Chairman, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; former Governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sherif; Senators Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central); Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North); Tony Adeniyi (Ekiti South) and five House of Representatives members from the state including Hon. Robinson Ajiboye; Hon. Bimbo Daramola; Hon. Oyetunde Ojo; Hon. Ifeoluwa Arowosoge and Hon. Bamidele Faparusi.
The lawmakers were joined by their colleagues from Ondo State including Senator Ajayi Borofice and many others. Many other political functionaries equally made it a date at an event which officially signified the commencement of campaigns by the APC Governorship candidate in the June 21 election.
Also in attendance were the traders associations among which the market women and artisans featured prominently, student groups, and many more. The official outfit of Ankara on which the picture of the Dr. Fayemi as his party’s candidate was boldly printed, was worn by a minimum of 80 per cent of those who attended the event, including his colleagues from eight other states.
Also on the campaign ground were a whole horde of notable figures from the nation’s entertainment industry, including high flying actors, actresses, musicians, alongside a motley line up of comedians. Fuji maestro, Adewale Ayuba and traditional music exponent, Elemure Ogunyemi dished tunes in timed turns as the event progressed.
Some others, however, appeared in vests, donned fez caps and other wears, all branded boldly with the name Kayode Fayemi for Second Term and the logo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as every other item within the stadium including the various objects ballooned high up in the sky and visible even to those located elsewhere outside the stadium, urging people to ‘Vote Dr. Kayode Fayemi for Second Term’.
As early as 9am, the stadium, now endowed with various colours reflective of the ordained duty it must undertake in the course of the day, had started receiving visitors as the gates were thrown open for party members and admirers who came in all manner of vehicles. It was gathered that representatives of the APC came from all the 16 council areas of the state and elsewhere. Entry into the stadium was initially not restricted, but the story changed later when it was apparent the spaces within the sprawling enclosure had been filled up.
By the time the event officially kicked-off around noon, it was not sure again how many music bands were on hand, but it could be ascertained that they were more than one. Tunes upon tunes and beats upon beats spiced the event all through with each new magnificent entry and every new voice at the massive speakers got heralded by musical sounds in rather quick turns.
It would be difficult to ascertain by how much the maximum number of 15,000 official capacity strength of the stadium was overshot. But, modesty assisted by objective imagination would suggest that rough estimates be fixed at double the official capacity fixture, given the fact that every available space within the stadium was filled, while hundreds of admirers and party faithful had no option than to stay outside, watching the event being beamed life on massive TV screens strategically positioned at several places outside the stadium as within it.
Elsewhere around the stadium stood massive portraits and several posters of Governor Fayemi, commending his achievements and urging the electorate to re-elect him for the sustenance of the developmental strides which his administration had instituted in the state in three and a half years.
Vehicular and pedestrian operations across the capital were also not free as major streets, especially those which bother the stadium, were guarded by fierce looking and heavily armed security personnel.
Within the stadium and around were a complete line up of security and para-military personnel, including men of The Nigeria Police (NP), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), the State Security Service (SSS) and others, who were engaged all through in controlling the ever surging crowd.
Urging the electorate to see the coming election as an opportunity to assist the state with a credible leadership which had proven sincere commitment to its development, Fayemi maintained that “no one can deny the achievements I have made in the three and a half years of this administration”.
According to him, the coming election was not about him, but about “consolidating his achievements and ensuring that the state does not go back to the dark days of one week, one trouble, violence and looting of public funds”.
He equally warned the electorate not to be deceived by the wrong propaganda of the opposition politicians that he would ban commercial motorcycle riders and sack teachers if re-elected.
Said he: “They know we are the state of teachers. They are trying to poison the minds of teachers. Fayemi will not sack teachers. Fayemi will keep employing more and more teachers. Fayemi will remunerate teachers. We are the only state that pays 20 percent rural teachers allowance in Nigeria.
“We are also the only state that pays 20 percent core subjects allowance in Nigeria. If you are a core subject teacher including English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, you are also receiving 20 per cent of your monthly basic salary on top of your normal salary. There is nothing that is independently verifiable that they can use against us with teachers and the teachers know better”.
Debunking the claims of opposition parties that he would demolish markets if re-elected, the APC candidate said administration had in the past months been busy constructing ultra-modern markets across the communities in the state.
Fayemi spoke further: “There are people who will come and promise heaven and earth. There are people who will tell you what they want to do. The advantage that I have as your son, as your brother, as your leader, is that I can tell you what I have done on education. I can tell you how I have made the lives of our elderly people better in Ekiti and how I have banished poverty in the lives of our elderly.
“I can tell you what I have done in the area of infrastructure. I can tell you what I have done in the health sector. I can tell you what our women have benefitted by having a gender-sensitive leader. I can tell you what is happening in tourism in Ikogosi. I can tell you what we have done in reviving industries. I can tell you how we have made lives better by creating jobs and empowering our people.
Even Governors extol Fayemi’s virtues
Other Governors, including Wamakko, Nyako, Abubakar, Rochas, Ajimobi, Amosun, Aregbesola, spoke in turns, extolling the virtues of Governor Kayode Fayemi and urging the electorate to see in him an advantage to sustain the development process he instituted in the state three and a half years ago.
Rochas Okorocha urged the electorate to see the governor as a man ordained by God himself to institute change in Ekiti, adding that “If Fayemi contests as governor in other states in Nigeria, he would win”. According to him, PDP means People Destroying People in English and in native slang it is ‘Papa Destroying Pikin’.
Okorocha warned the electorate to be wary of a party whose 15-years reign has brought nothing to the country in terms of development, saying “If you want to measure their performance, remember what they did to our youths in Abuja stadium and other stadia across the country. Nigeria, under PDP, has become a country of no roads, no electricity, no jobs for the unemployed, no this, no that”.
He said: “That is why we are bringing change with APC. Let me assure you that Fayemi’s victory in the next election has been signed sealed and delivered. Fayemi has the entire people of the state behind him. We should all support Fayemi with everything that we have. He also asked ‘How many people here will give Fayemi N100 for this election?’
“If Fayemi contests as governor in another state, he will win. This is a young, handsome and ever articulate man. I tell the Ibos in this state to queue behind me as the Owelle Indigbo, Commander of the Masses. I am directing you as your leader to queue behind me. Speaking briefly in Hausa language, he said, all Hausa community should also queue behind our other governors here. This is where we are going and should go. Thank you”.
Ibikunke Amosun said, Dr. Fayemi had worked for the people of Ekiti State and that all the things his predecessors in office said were not possible had been done for the people of Ekiti to see and feel. He said unlike before, Ekiti State now have good roads, social security for the elderly citizens and many other life-enhancing programmes.
“Ekiti people should not allow deceivers to plunge them back to the dark days. Everyone agrees that Fayemi has performed. The other parties don’t have anything. All they want to do is to rig. We should all be ready to say one man, one vote,” Amosun said.
Speaking in Yoruba anecdotes laced with admirable rhetorical questions, Ajimobi maintained that Ekiti is a land of intellectuals, who should not be allowed to be governed by those who lack that quality.
Also speaking, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, assured the electorate of the readiness of the party to ensure a peaceful election, saying APC does not need any external forces to win the June 21 election as it has Ekiti people on its side.
Said he: “Despite the threats and portents of coercion against the re-election of Dr. Fayemi, the people of Ekiti have already made up their minds to re-elect him (Fayemi). June 21 will bring to them (the opposition parties), the evidence of their losses.
What campaign issues will Fayemi promote for his re-election
According to the Director-General of his Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, the issues which Fayemi will bring up would centre round the familiar 8-Point Agenda which has been responsible for his (Fayemi’s) achievements so far.
Daramola noted that there was no way any campaign would happen and the accomplishments of the state government around good governance, health, agriculture, education and human capital development, tourism and others would not be mentioned.
Said he: “When we say issues will form the fulcrum of our campaigns, we mean accomplishments of Fayemi regarding road construction and rehabilitation, the Social Security Scheme, the massive employment and empowerment of several sections of the populace, the renovation of the Ikogosi Warm Springs and the wholesale renovation of entire 20 state general hospitals and 183 secondary schools in Ekiti.
“Fayemi has an opportunity to continue all these great works and we are seeking the approval of the populace for that opportunity. That approval will surely come on June 21,” Daramola said.
