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Kayode Fayemi: Celebrating a man of history at 57

The life of the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, is an open book that is read daily by admirers and critics alike with passion and gusto depending on which side of the divide you are.

 

What you cannot take away from Dr. Fayemi is his steely resolve and passion to doggedly follow whatever he believes in especially when he believes that he is satisfying his convictions and conscience.

 

 

This has given him a place of history and honour in the annals of Ekiti State. This he has done from his formative years in Ibadan, the capital of today’s Oyo State where he was born to Chief Francis Falade Fayemi and Madam Dorcas Aina Fayemi (both of blessed memory) on 9th of February, 1965.

 

The two parents who were disciplinarians and devout Catholics never pampered the young Kayode, who was their last child, and did not spare the rod when the need arose the same way they raised his elderly siblings.

 

His parents sent him to Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, a school owned by the Anglican Communion, which he entered in 1975 at the age of ten and completed by the time he clocked fifteen in 1980 to imbue in him the essence of discipline, service, humility which later influenced his philosophy of life.

 

The governor earned his Bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Lagos in 1985, Master’s degree in International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in1987 and PhD in War Studies at King’s College, University of London in 1993. Having learnt the lessons of service, sacrifice, patriotism, altruism, diligence, compassion for others, generosity, giving much to others  and asking for nothing in return, all these virtues came to shape Dr. Fayemi’s public life in years to come.

 

In all, Providence has been so kind to Dr. Fayemi for all he has achieved which wouldn’t have been possible without God’s grace. He first mounted the governor’s seat at 45 left at 49 became a minister at 50 before returning to the governor’s seat at 53 which he will leave at 57.

 

Only God knows what the future holds for him but definitely he has other roles to play in the Nigeria project with his status as a national leader and a global citizen.

The ‘birthday boy’ had in the course of his public service career etched his name in gold and will be fulfilled to have earned an assured place among the very eminent statesmen in Nigeria at a relatively young age of 57.

 

To date, Dr. Fayemi is arguably the most decorated political star Ekiti has produced having had the privilege of being a two-time governor, a one-time federal minister and currently, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

 

Dr. Fayemi understands what governance is and he sees governance as a serious business and opportunity to better the lots of the people he leads.

 

Whether in office, at home, inside the car or while airborne, the governor attends to state matters, pays attention to details, holds consultations and gives directives to ensure that the wheel of governance doesn’t screech to a halt.

 

That explains why the Isan Ekiti born politician sleeps very late and wakes up very early in the morning in his avowed determination to live up to the expectations of the people who elected him.

Here is a man who goes with loads of files anytime he is travelling out of the state to ensure that they are treated with despatch in a bid to ensure that targets are met. Dr. Fayemi’s hard work has yielded dividends in his first and second tenures of office and he has policies and projects with which he will be remembered by generations yet unborn.

The entire landscape of Ekiti is dotted with projects which were products of interaction with the people in the grassroots as he goes to them at every budget cycle to ask from each village and town the projects they want budgets to take care of in the order of priority.

 

During his first term in office, Governor Fayemi executed some projects and policies which nobody believed could happen in a state like Ekiti which occupied and still occupies the lowest rungs in the nation’s revenue ladder. All these were made possible by his vision, determination and commitment to making the state an example of good governance.

 

He was the first governor to execute one laptop per child to pu-pils in public schools and was duly given an international recognition by electronics giants, SAMSUNG. It was after Dr Fayemi popularized this policy that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) commenced the use of Computer Based Test for its annual Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). Ekiti, under Dr. Fayemi, was also launched on the global map of development with a very novel Social Security Scheme for the Aged in which registered indigent old citizens not open to any form of pension receive monthly stipends to take care of their basic needs.

 

The policy is not the only the first in Nigeria but the very first in West African sub-region and was commended by the World Bank as a template for poverty reduction.

 

Also, Dr. Fayemi became the first governor in Nigeria to domesticate Freedom of Information (FOI) Law because of his belief in probity, accountability and transparency in governance and the law gives Ekiti citizens the legal weapon to demand information about how their resources are managed and how their projects are executed.

 

Very recently, Ekiti came second on the Transparency Index among 36 states of the federation because of the policy frameworks put in place by the governor to ensure proper and transparent management of funds held in trust for try he people of the state.

 

The area in which Dr. Fayemi has shone the brightest during his second tenure is boosting the industrial and investment profile of Ekiti thereby changing its narrative from a civil service state to an investment hub and there are evidences on ground to show for this

 

  • Ogunmola, who is Special Assistant  (Media) to the Deputy Governor, writes  from Ado Ekiti

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