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Ekiti: Fayemi rounds off tenure with thankyou visit to residents

ADEWUMI ADEMIJU reports on the recent tour of the three senatorial districts of Ekiti State by the outgoing governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to thank the people for their support for his administration in the last four years

 

 

The outgoing Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, will on October 16 hand over to his successor, the Governor-elect, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji. Fayemi assumed office as governor for the second term in 2018 after he succeeded Ayodele Fayose. He had earlier governed the state between 2010 and 2014.

 

At the inception of his second term in office on October 16, 2018, Fayemi said his main focus was to reposition the state by restoring the core values for which Ekiti people are known and to lift the state in terms of socioeconomic, infrastructural and industrial development.

He said despite the economic downturn with low revenue of the state, he was highly determined to turn things around for impactful governance and dividends of democracy for the people of the state. As part of activities to signal the end of his tenure, the outgoing governor on September 26, commenced a thank-you visit to the people of the state in appreciation of their support for him and his administration in the last four years.

The visit captured all the three senatorial districts in the state and also scheduled as part of activities leading to the inauguration of the Governor-elect, Oyebanji. Earlier on September 23, a press conference was conducted to herald the activities for the dual events, being the first time in the history of the state that an outgoing administration would install a successor.

At the media briefing the state Commissioner for information and values Orientation, Hon. Akinbowale Omole, highlighted the achievements of the Fayemi administration in terms of dividends of democracy. “We are witnessing the first intra-party seamless transition of power in Ekiti State, and we have God Almighty and Ekiti-kete to thank for this indelible feat.

As a government, we are grateful that the media have supported us by accurately reporting the developments in the state and reflecting the true pictures at all times. We are grateful that you stick to the ethics of your profession, in these days of fake news and the penchant for some mischievous persons to deliberately mislead the public with false and distorted news.

 

You are most appreciated,” he said. The commissioner stated that the landslide achievement recorded by Fayemi administration informed the theme of the 4th anniversary, which is “Finishing Well.”

His words: “This theme is very apt considering the progress we have made and the successes we have recorded. The fourth year of this administration was devoted to ‘finishing well bowing out gracefully.’ “Our governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, upon assumption of office for the second term on October 16, 2018, was conscious of the limited time of the tenure with much to be done. He, therefore, hit the ground running from day-one, leaving no stone unturned with purposeful and impactful agenda.

In retrospect, considering the realities of the period, we can confidently and comfortably declare that, indeed, he has finished the race well with legacy policies, programmes and projects. “This government deliberately ensured that every sector of our social life and economy received adequate attention. Despite the daunting challenges of the period under review, the government delivered on its projections for policies, programmes and projects execution, and achieved very tangible outcomes.”

Part of Fayemi’s milestone according to the Commissioner was the establishment of a cargo airport in the state which would also be taking passengers on board. “Ekiti International Agro-Allied Cargo Airport is a dream come true, not only for this administration, but also for Ekiti-kete and for the generation yet unborn.

 

Though projected to be an Agro-Based Cargo airport, this does not foreclose commercial passenger operation. The Airport boast is CA5-9 4E category with capacity for Aircraft Boeing 747-400 and a runway length of 3.2km.”

He added that some roads were constructed while others ongoing. “Completed projects include dual-lane new Ado-Iyin road; construction of Ekiti State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja; reconstruction of Agbado-Ode-Isinbode road; construction of Aramoko-Erijiyan-Ikogosi road; construction of Oye-Ayede-Iye -Otun road and and; construction of Ilupeju-Ire- Igbemo-road.”

He stressed that the Fayemi administration has laid a legacy of project continuity that would erode project abandonment in the state. “We put structure in place to end the menace of projects abandonment in Ekiti State. With the Ekiti State (Transition) Law 2019, we have made sure that even in cases where there is a change of baton from one political party to another, succeeding administrations would have enduring templates that ensure seamless continuity of the vision, the completion of projects, and the upholding of commitments validly entered into.

“We crafted a 30-year State Development Plan 2021-2050, which would serve as a critical road map to successive administrations and ensure that regardless of electoral outcomes, Ekiti would always win. “We also implemented a number of successful public-private partnerships deeds such as the Ikun Dairy Farm now being run by Promasidor Ltd, and the Ire Burnt Brick which has been revamped now and being run by a competent core investor operator, among others.

These companies are functioning well and created jobs for some of our people. “As a pre-requisite for enlisting in the RAAMP initiative, each State government is required to construct some pilot roads for the Project. Consequently, we provided funds for the construction of the six pilot roads.

The six (6) pilot roads, Iyin-Odo Oro- Aroto road and Ago Aduloju-Kajola Road (Ekiti Central Senatorial District), FMS farm, Oke Ako road and Itaji – Imojo- Orisunmibare (Ekiti North Senatorial District) and, Ogotun – Alagbede road and Imesi – Kosomolate – Ipole (Ekiti South Senatorial District), are spread across the three (3) senatorial districts of the State and they are in various stages of completion.

“We increased our capital budget for health by 200% to invest more in healthcare and epidemic preparedness/response. This enabled us to renovate 14 general and state specialist hospitals with the provision of relevant and modern equipment. This development has resulted in increased demand for services, improved quality of services  and boosted staff morale. Most importantly, these facilities are now model referral centres for the State’s network of primary and basic healthcare centres.

“We have successfully implemented the policy of, at least, one Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) per ward in line with the Primary Health Care under One Roof (PHCUOR) policy. All the 177 wards in Ekiti State have, at least, one functional PHC,” Omole said. He stated that the Fayemi administrator made special efforts to boost school enrollment in the state and that the effort has helped uplift the standard of education in the state.

He said: “The number of enrolment in public schools in Ekiti State keeps increasing yearly since the inception of this government due to the continued human and material investments in the education sector. In the year 2021, for instance, total enrolment in Ekiti State public primary was 141,982, but it increased to 145,323 in 2022; total enrolment in public secondary in 2021 was 109,140, it increased to 113,464 in 2022 and; total enrolment in technical colleges in 2021 was 2,021; it increased to 2,505 in year 2022.

“As a government, we recorded significant milestones through the knowledge economy and the fourth year was remarkable with indelible impacts. Within the period under review, the government completed 274 projects through UBEC/ SUBEB intervention.

The projects so far completed include: construction of 19 new blocks of classrooms, construction of fence for 13 schools, construction of water system toilets for 30 schools, renovation of 169 blocks of classrooms and drilling of boreholes for 43 schools.” During his visit to the three senatorial districts, Fayemi solicited the support of Ekiti people for the Governor-elect,  Oyebanji, to enable him on concentrate on effective service delivery which would benefit the entire populace of the state.

 

At Ekiti North and Ekiti Central Senatorial districts, Fayemi, who was accompanied by Oyebanji and other chieftains of the APC in the state, urged the people to support the incoming administration. Residents at Ido-Ekiti (North Senatorial district) and Aramoko Ekiti (Central District) received the governor’s team with outlandish reception.

The outgoing governor in separate remarks at the two venues gave the assurance that the state will witness massive infrastructural development as the incoming administration will consolidate his achievements. He promised that Oyebanji will ensure the sustenance of good governance in the state. He appealed to those he might have crossed their paths in the course of his administration and begged for forgiveness.

He reiterated that his administration had provided infrastructural facilitates that would enhance socio economic activities of the state and expressed confidence in the ability of the next governor to move the state to enviable heights. Fayemi thanked the people and party leaders for giving him the opportunity to serve, promising that he will continue to render selfless services for the development of humanity.

His words: “Really, it is a moment of gratitude, you have stood by us as a party, you have worked hard for the success of our government, you have sacrificed in order for us to maintain the developmental pace that we have witnessed in the state. We could have done a lot more, but we never envisaged that there will be something called Covid-19 pandemic when we came in in 2018, but by March 2020, Covid-19 had come and it locked us down for at least 18 months before life started returning to normal.

“But we did not let that deter us, we still tried as much as possible to fulfill the promises we made to our people either in terms of our education, healthcare, infrastructural development, women empowerment or agriculture. We tried to maintain all of those improvements that we promised our people. Whatever is left, our government, our party is still in office.

“And we also have a governor who had institutional memory of what happened up till now, not just from the last 8 years of my own tenure, he also had the benefit of even being there when our leader, Otunba Niyi Adebayo was governor between 1999 and 2003.

So, in terms of institutional memory, he is even better placed than I was placed when I became governor in 2010, he would be able to continue seamlessly when he gets to office and in the areas where he still requires advice, assistance, support, I can assure you that he has nothing to fear, we would continue to be there for him.

 

“I want to also seize the opportunity to thank our party leaders, they have worked hard in order for us to gain the support that we have had at a very difficult time, it is not easy for a government or party that is in office to win an election because whatever is wrong in that society would be blamed on the party and the fact that you worked hard in order to retain us in office is not a mean feat at all and I must thank you from the bottom of my heart and also pledge to you that I am not running away from the party, I’m going to be fully involved in the party, we would all work with him to ensure that the party delivers on the expectations of party members and the larger Ekiti population.”

 

Representatives of the 10 local government areas in the two senatorial districts spoke passionately about the achievements and personality of Governor Fayemi and his wife, Bisi, for driving the state to safe abode and repositioning the state to make it top in the committee of states of the federation. They affirmed that the governor will be leaving a legacy that would remain indelible in the heart of the people of the state for a long time.

 

The governor’s visit to Ekiti South was also graced by prominent people among whom were the deputy governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi; Speaker House of Assembly, Hon Funminiyi Afuye; Governor elect, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji; his wife, Dr (Mrs.) Olayemi Oyebanji; Deputy Governor-elect, Mrs. Monisade Afuye; state chairman the APC, Barr Paul Omotosho; Olowuro of Orun Ekiti, Oba Aderounmu Adewumi; Olukere of Ikere Ekiti Oba Ganiyu Obasoyin and other government officials, party leaders and members.

 

The outgoing governor, who enumerated his achievements in the region to the admiration of the cheering crowd, explained that his administration had performed well in the areas of education, human capital development, health, social security, social amenities and infrastructural development both in the southern district and other areas of the state.

 

According to him, “it is easy to forget that when we embarked upon this journey four years ago, Ekiti was still in the dungeon we had a lot of challenges and we promised to restore the value of our people and reclaim the land for progress and development and I believe four years down the line we have discharged that duty to the best of our ability.

 

“I think we can thick the box in all of the areas in which we pledged to make life better for our people whether in education, human capital development, with knowledge economy in our mapped pillar or the area of social investment where we pioneered owo Arugbo, ounje Arugbo and support for the weak and the vulnerable in our society or in the prosperous development, you can refer to so many roads that we have done leading up to the economic active of the state.

 

“Whether the Aramoko, Ikogosi or you talk about Ilupeju, Ire, Igbemo, Ijan or you talk about the one in the south senatorial district, Ikere itself, Emure, Agbado, Ode, Isinbode obo, and several of other infrastructural development here in the south, we fully reconstructed and rehabilitate the Egbe Dam, supplying waters to at least four of our 16 local governments, and a number of other local governments in our neighboring Ondo state.

 

“We have upgraded the college of Education here to the University of Education, Science and Technology and named it after our revered leader Bamidele Olumilua to complement the work of our other State, Federal and Private universities in Ekiti State.

“The airport and the Knowledge Zone are actually in the southern district, it goes as far as Ise, Ijan, Igbemo, Afao, and Araromi Obo in addition to being in Ado Ekiti.

 

You can see that the airport is extensive and the Knowledge Zone that is linked to is going to constitute in the near future an airport city because of a lot of development that will happen there will be to the benefits of this new conglomeration of activities we are going to be having in that sector.”

 

Expressing gratitude to the people, Fayemi noted that the privilege to serve as Governor in the state gave him the chance to become Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and President, Forum of Regions of Africa (FRAS).”

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