Fayemi should not fail Ekiti people

“I want to assure Ekiti workers that I am going to pay all their outstanding salaries and make life comfortable for them and their families.  My re-election as the Governor-elect of Ekiti State was not accidental, but divine intervention…  I want all the civil servants to note that my re-election was not to take vengeance, but to restore peace, transformation and development to the state.”

—Governor Kayode Fayemi at a news conference in Ado Ekiti on July 15, 2018

I heartily congratulate Governor John Kayode Fayemi on his inauguration on Tuesday! I welcome him back to his seat, vacated four years ago. Fayemi is indeed a man of destiny, an early achiever who not only excelled in academics but also in development work and governance. He is an academic, journalist, researcher, and administrator par excellence.

As he takes his oath of office again, the second time in eight years, at a colourful ceremony in Ado Ekiti, may I use this opportunity to remind him of his campaign promises and hope that he’ll be able to deliver on them.

I have followed Fayemi’s career in civil society since he was the Director of the Centre for Democracy and  Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa. I also witnessed his transition to politics in 2006 and I am happy that as a graduate of war studies in England, he has fought and won many political battles including the July 14, 2018 electoral battle in Ekiti.  I am glad he has discharged his responsibilities very well during his term in office first as a governor between 2010 and 2014 and until recently, as Minister of Solid Mineral Development from November 11, 2015 to May 30, 2018.

Thisday newspaper of July 4, 2018 had this to say while weighing his chances of victory at the governorship election that he won: “The social security scheme, where over 25,000 aged people above 65 years received N5,000 monthly stipends had been widely applauded across the country. It was the first of its kind in Nigeria… The Youth in Commercial Agriculture that employed 1,500 youths; the Peace Corps with 600 operatives; Volunteer Youth Corps, where unemployed graduates were put on a salary of N10,000 monthly for their upkeep; Operation Renovate All Schools, where over 1,000 schools were renovated; cash grants for community associations for the execution of about N1bn projects across towns; and conditional cash grants to cocoa farmers are among some of his projects that are being showcased at his campaign rallies.”

In a January 15, 2014 opinion I wrote on this page entitled, “Ekiti State and the politics of stomach infrastructure”, I reviewed Fayemi’s stewardship as enunciated on January 11, 2014 edition of Sunrise on Saturday, a Channels TV magazine programme. He had said in that interview among other things that his government had reversed the dwindling fortunes of Ekiti State in the education sector through strategic interventions of the state government. According to him, his administration refurbished all the secondary and primary schools in the state, and abolished all ‘miracle centres’ where mercenaries were hired to sit for examination for those who could afford to pay. His administration also declared free education in all secondary schools to complement the Federal Government’s free primary education policy.

According to Fayemi, when he came to power in 2010, Ekiti State was recording about 20 per cent success rate in the West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate examinations, by 2013, the state had achieved about 80 per cent success rate. His administration’s merger of the three universities in the state which he referred to as glorified secondary schools into one also yielded positive result as all the courses being offered by the state’s university were fully accredited by the National Universities Commission.

On the health sector, Fayemi claimed the state which has 16 local government areas has 22 General Hospitals with some communities that have a small population having Primary Health Centres.   Many of these hospitals were refurbished. Health services were said to be free for certain categories of citizens such as children from 0-5 years, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and adults that are 65 years and above. Ekiti State roads were said to have also received prime attention under his administration with some youths also having been engaged under the Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency.

Recall that on that TV programme, Fayemi’s Special Adviser on MDG described what was happening in the administration as Transformation 360 Degree. She spoke glowingly about the attainment of 30 per cent affirmative action by Fayemi’s administration, the passage into law of the Equal Opportunity Bill and Gender Equality Bill, the achievement of the two out of the eight MDG goals, and the government’s youth empowerment scheme.

I do not set out to make this piece a post-mortem of Fayemi’s first term in office. However, it is important to bring readers up to speed about the past achievements before I task the governor on what is expected of him in his second term which began on Tuesday.  I remember my visit to Ikogosi Warm Spring in April 2014 and my wonderment at the transformation that Fayemi did to the rustic environment.  My travelogue entitled, “A tourist impression of Ikogosi Warm Spring”, was published on this page on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. What I saw in Ikogosi confirmed what a former Commissioner for Tourism, Mrs. Ronke Okusanya, said during the above mentioned Channels TV interview.

Fayemi was able to deliver on his eight-point agenda during his first tenure so much so that he joked that his detractors could not fault him on infrastructure development except over his inability to share the state resources to some powerful interest groups.

Mr. Governor believes so much in his past performance that he promised to stick to his eight-point agenda which are:  Good governance, human capital development, infrastructure, tourism development, qualitative education, good healthcare delivery and commercial agriculture. Fayemi is very much aware of the parlous financial state of Ekiti State before throwing his hat in the ring to contest to be governor for the second term. He battled over 30 other aspirants to clinch the All Progressives Congress ticket in the primary. He also defeated 34 other candidates to emerge victorious in the July 14, 2018 governorship poll. Ekiti people will not want to listen to excuses on why he cannot deliver on his campaign promises. He must do all within his power not to let the good people of his state down.

Ekiti people look forward to accountable governance under Fayemi’s watch. He will do well to remember to learn from whatever mistakes he made during his first tenure and avoid such pitfalls again!