ABIODUN NEJO
On October 16, 2018, Dr Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has yet another date with destiny as he will be inaugurated as governor of Ekiti State for a second time.
Fayemi, who was governor of Ekiti State between October 16, 2010 and October 15, 2014, won the governorship election conducted in the state on July 14, 2018, defeating Prof Olusola Kolapo, candidate of the sitting governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It is joy in many quarters in the state that Fayemi is coming back to the saddle as governor in view of his achievements during his first four years and the experience of the state under another governor in the last four years.
Expectations are high in the state, but Fayemi minces no words in assuring the teeming populace of better times in the next four years, saying with this new dawn, which his comeback to power on October 16, 2018 represents, the process of restoration of the state has come to stay.
Reflecting on his first four years in office, Fayemi said: “There is no objective observer of Ekiti State who ever said we did not do well in office. On the contrary, every serious minded assessor concluded we did very well in pushing our agenda of making poverty history in the state.
“There was no community that we didn’t impact in a tangible manner in the course of our time in office. Equally, independent statistics from NBS, UNDP confirmed that when we left Ekiti in 2014, the state had the lowest maternal and child mortality, lowest HIV prevalence, the highest school enrolment and the longest life span in the country”.
The Fayemi government is set to hit the ground running immediately after inauguration on Tuesday with Town Hall meetings with people of the three senatorial districts on Wednesday and Thursday with a view to finding out their specific needs and how government can come to their aid.
He said: “We must find the right balance between quiet efficiency and cheap populism. The important point is that we must not leave our people guessing. We must engage our people and ensure we do development with them and not to them and also ensure we communicate at every opportunity. That’s one of the key lessons of our past stewardship.
“One area that I admit we must work on is style rather than substance of governance. We are in an age where the works you do in the service of the people don’t often speak for you. You have to shout on the rooftop in order to ensure that people know what you’re doing. This I find somewhat problematic”.
Although he said the content of his administration’s eight point agenda during the first tenure would still be revisited just as the State Development Plan, which was developed in 2011 could be reactivated and reenergised, Fayemi said the focus of his second coming would be on agriculture and rural development; expanding social investments; promoting knowledge economy; and improving infrastructure and industrial development.
Chairman of Media, John Kayode Fayemi Inauguration Committee, Mr Yinka Oyebode, had during the Press Conference heralding activities for the inauguration ceremonies, hinted about the heap of problems in the state occasioned by the Fayose-led administration, assuring of solutions with Fayemi.
Oyebode, who said Fayemi’s inauguration would mark a new dawn, had said: “I know that there are challenges, but those problems are not insurmountable. Fayemi’s inauguration on October 16 will be a new dawn. We shall begin work on how best we can give our people values for their lives and how to ensure they take ownership of their own government”.
Among the problems he was referring to are unpaid salaries of about six months for workers, unpaid pensions and abandoned projects cum infrastructures, which the Fayose government had blamed on dearth of funds.
But Fayemi, who said he would first of all need enough knowledge of the finances of the state, explained: “Once we get in, we will undertake a forensic review of the state, including a staff audit and that will give us a more accurate picture of the finances and where to get money to offset outstanding liabilities. I believe our genuine, long suffering workers and pensioners will cooperate with us in addressing this issue”.
He assured that his administration would explore “a whole range of options that can help boost the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) whilst improving the ease of doing business in the state, including the elimination of multiple taxation. In the last four years, many key investors like Coca Cola, GTB and Ecobank left the state because of unfriendly investment policies and practices. We will embark on a massive investment drive,” adding that he has a track record for expanding the tax net without overburdening the ordinary citizens.
Fayemi said that the fact that Ekiti is a rustic, landlocked rural backwater should not be taken as a death sentence on the state, assuring that “a key vehicle for rapid transformation is the opening up of these rural backwaters through an effective internal and interlinking transport infrastructure.
“Interestingly our state is well positioned right in the middle between Abuja and Lagos and could provide an effective terminus on that journey. So, that’s a challenge that we must overcome and we started this during my first term in office.
“With the coming of the rail extension to Ekiti and our determination to reduce the journey time to Akure Airport by dualising the Ado Ekiti-Akure Road while improving on the fibre optic link in the state – something we also started in my first term – I’m sure our job is cut out for us. Investments will come to the state once we have addressed these challenges relating to ease of doing business for those bringing investments to the state.
“We plan to address the impediments against economic growth by also investing in the people and strengthening human capital through functional education and promotion of Ekiti as a hub of the knowledge economy, enhancing social investments while strengthening the agricultural base for food and job security,” Fayemi said.
