JKF’s second coming: Pathway to unfinished business

“A great man is a torch in the darkness, a beacon in superstition’s night, an inspiration and a prophecy”.

Above quote by Ingersoll, foremost orator and Civil War Union Army Officer best illustrates the objective reality of the evolving political personae of the governor-elect of Ekiti state, His Excellency Dr. John Kayode Fayemi aka JKF as he once again assumes the mantle of leadership in the Land of Honour. Indeed, his inauguration for a second term tenure of office as the Executive Governor of Ekiti state is consequent upon his victory at the last governorship election held July, 2018 where he defeated the People’s Democratic Party candidate and incumbent Deputy Governor, Professor Olusola Eleka.

Reflecting on the roads travelled so far before the Tuesday, October 16, 2018 inauguration of JKF as governor of Ekiti state, both the Ekitis and indeed its new helmsman cannot but marvel at the hands of Providence in both the historical political trajectory of the state and indeed the place and fate of the new Governor as a major political avatar and a gladiator of note within the last one decade. Notwithstanding the partisan divide a critic may find the immortal words of Robert Green Ingersoll, born in Dresden, New York and who lived between 1833 and 1899 to surely serve some prophetic admonitions to the Ekitis and its political actors, and most notably JKF who gets set for yet another term in office.

To be sure,JKF’s second coming is a deserved new lease of life for the good people of Ekiti State, the Fountain of Knowledge. Reactions attendant upon his victory at the polls have shown that indeed, Ekiti people have found their mark and are resolute in once again planting their feet on the path of progress, honour and the time-tested values and progressive traditions which over the years have defined the Ekitis and the Yoruba race.

Now that the years of the locust are over, it is time to set hearts and minds to the task of lifting Ekiti from the cul de sac which it found itself in the last four years, to the highway of development and progress. This indeed is the historic conjuncture that the prophetic recharge of Ingersoll finds a fitting metaphor.

The unfinished business

It should be recalled that in his declaration speech at his country home in Isan Ekiti, JKF stated that he had ‘unfinished business’ in Ekiti government house. He said he was persuaded to seek the number one job in Ekiti State once again to put an end to regressive governance and once again rally the people under the banner of progressive and good governance as encapsulated in his 8-Point Agenda.

In an interview published by one of the national dailies in Nigeria, Fayemi lamented the sorry state of some of the laudable and monumental strides achieved during his first term, hence the pressing need to come back, right the wrongs and finish the good business he started. He said: “I feel a sense of unfinished business. Unfinished business in the sense that all what I did in office had gone pear-shaped in this state. May be some infrastructure have been sustained. At least, you can still see the street lights, you can still see the Government House on top of the hills, you can still see some of the physical things; but our efforts in the area of human capital development, entrepreneurship, tourism development, healthcare, have actually been severely damaged. I give you a couple of examples to demonstrate what I mean by that. Over 40,000 people benefitting from our various social investment schemes have been put out to hang and dry.”

In a paper on his thoughts and blueprint for the development of the state, Fayemi tersely encapsulated his 8-Point Agenda in the following words, “I do think the only way to avoid crass and opportunistic state privatisation of the type we are witnessing is to ensure that there is a platform sufficiently strong to ensure that those who run for office in Ekitiland subscribe to a minimum, irreducible agenda. An agenda that does not denigrate the importance of education in Ekitiland, one that assures the culture of freedom of movement, speech, worship, association, respect for traditional institutions and distinguished citizens of the State and an economic strategy that outlines a planned approach to a market society rather than a hapless submission to ‘cash and carry’ market forces. It should also be a platform that subscribes to and promotes a code of ethics in elections. In short, it must articulate a fast-track approach to development in Ekitiland through regional integration, rather than a dependence on federal allocations.

“By the same token, the agenda must place merit at the heart of the Ekiti project and must not seek to create an artificial divide among Ekiti indigenes, irrespective of where they live. I have no doubt that excellent people come from all parts of Ekitiland and they can be convinced to stake a claim in a manner that they are the product of a collective decision, rather than products of political jobbers and moneybags.

More importantly though, the goal of a collective rescue mission should not be merely to capture power, but to tap into the progressive traditions in Ekitiland which are ideologically coincident with what I have outlined above. Many people that I know in Ekiti have often stood with other progressives to wage common struggles for the future of Nigeria.”

In this second coming therefore, JKF should bearmed and ready to hit the ground running. Armed with the experience of a first term in office and the advantage of national service as Minister of Solid Minerals Development with the attendant network and influence, Ekiti State’s march to development should be seen to have been assured under the leadership of JKF through the instrumentality of his well thought out ‘8-Point Agenda’. This Agenda covers pivotal sectors like: Good Governance, Infrastructure and Human Capital Development, Integrated Health Sector, Tourism Development, Qualitative Education, Improved Agriculture and the Economy.

Good Governance

Aimed at  enhancing democratic governance and accountability at all levels,  the administration should put in place  policies that will  engender participatory governance and accountability, democratisation of the governance process, enforcement of the rule of law and fundamental human rights, ensure a professional, well trained and highly motivated civil service, institute a culture and process for long term development planning, improve the internally generated revenue base of the state by 50%, establish a framework for fiscal sustainability and improve on ongoing budget process reforms and ensure budget security on sustainable basis. Government should also work to ensure reduction in the percentage of those living below the poverty level from 70% to 20%, strengthen institutional capacity of state’s civil service for improved service delivery, accord traditional institutions appropriate advisory role in governance, ensure value re-orientation and participatory citizenship and work for a regional integration plan with South Western states and cordial relationship with Federal authorities.

The success recorded in this respect in his first term; for instance, increase in Internally Generated Revenue from less than N100 million to as much as N550 million monthly, should serve as a starting point for accelerated success.

Infrastructure Development

Motivated by the desire to establish optimum communities that will improve the quality of life of citizens and attract maximum investments – with provision of electricity, well maintained roads network, potable drinking water, affordable shelter and security for all Ekiti citizens, Fayemi had earlier vigorously pursued this goal such that in the annals of the State, he remains the best governor in the area of road construction. Under his government, every local government enjoyed five kilometres of road yearly and this lasted for the four years he was in the saddle. Fayemi dualised Atinkankan – Post Office – Baptist road in Ado Ekiti. He also laid asphalt on the dual carriage way from Ikere road-Ijigbo-Ojumose-Basiri.

He constructed the 12,000-capacity state pavilion along old Iyin road, the new governor’s lodge built on Oke Ayoba Hill in the government house, the uncompleted N2 billion worth civic centre, Ilawe-Erinjiyan road, Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki road, to mention but a few. He completed the State House of Assembly that was initiated by Oni’s administration and the second phase of the state Secretariat in the capital city.

In his second coming, Fayemi should be determined to perform better than his first term record in the area of infrastructure development in Ekiti State. He is set to make water dams in Ekiti functional to increase water supply by 80%, develop well-appointed and serviced Rural and Farmsteads development, optimize productivity from all government assets strategic investment in infrastructure to stimulate economic growth and jobs, Deploy Public-Private-Partnerships especially for independent power projects, Continue the implementation of the State’s Water Resource Master plan and Establishment of the Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ) as well as execution of the Digital Transformation Programme (DTP)

Qualitative Education and Human Capital Development

To improve access to and provide quality education in Ekiti State towards the creation and consolidation of a knowledge economy, the governor-elect has been unequivocal. The success in this regard in his first term led to Ekiti State coming first in NECO examinations in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

In this second dispensation also, the governor-elect should be determined to do more; this will be achieved through: ensuring computer and computer based education, free and compulsory education up to secondary school, strengthening Vocational Education to build a functional cadre of highly skilled workforce, special initiatives for physically challenged students, promotion of indigenous language as the medium of instruction in schools, establishment of institute of science and technology, promotion of Adult Literacy and creation of state sports academy for gifted youth.

These should be complimented by educational infrastructural development and upgrade, capacity building for teachers and educational administrators, scholarship and proper funding.

The Social Security Scheme initiated during his first term, where poverty-stricken elderly people above age 65 got monthly stipends of N5,000 which now has the buy-in of the federal government should be resuscitated.

Other schemes like the Youth in Agriculture programme popularly known as YCAD. Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA) Ekiti State Peace Corps are expected to be re-introduced.

Agriculture Impact

The realization that making agriculture a viable source of revenue and sustainable livelihood by ensuring suitable employment, food security, provision of industrial raw materials and poverty alleviation is a faster road to self-sustainability, especially since over 60 per cent of the state’s population are involved in peasant farming, Fayemi should further revive cocoa plantations to make Ekiti a world leader in cocoa production again, continue commodity-based value chain approach to agricultural development, ensure that agriculture contributes 50% of IGR, expand commodity chains to include Cocoa, Timber, Oil Palm and Rice, build capacity in mechanized agriculture towards food security.

The YCAD programme that ensured increased poultry and food productions to the extent that Ekiti had enough and was selling to neighbouring states should be brought back bigger and more elaborate.

Health Sector

Fayemi knows that it is only a healthy people that can be a productive people. Hence, he aims at prevention as the key goal of Ekiti Health Service under his watch and will seek to ensure the provision of holistic and comprehensive healthcare services and facilities for the people of Ekiti. To this end, he has assured the people of Ekiti of free medical services for children, pregnant women, the physically challenged students and senior citizens. He should also ensure the establishment of Health Centres in all localities, increased focus on primary healthcare delivery system, increased immunization coverage, improved integrated public health education and enlightenment and sustained social protection and safety nets programmes.

Tourism Potential

Making Ekiti, with its abundant tourism potential, a tourists’ destination of choice in West Africa has never been lost on JKF.  To achieve this, he has concluded plans to expand the scope in the sector and launch Ekiti to stardom through aggressive development of its tourism potentials. Fayemi is therefore determined to optimise government’s investments in the flagship tourist destinations especially, the Ikogosi warm spring, Build a heliport, identify and evaluate all major festivals and strategically integrate them into a yearlong source of traffic to the state, build and encourage the development of world-class hotel and accommodation facilities, create activities and media attention around our natural endowments to drive traffic to the state and develop Efon, Okemesi, Ikogosi, Ipole Iloro tourism corridor. These are expected to stimulate local participation in the tourism industry and ensure continuous expansion of tourist destinations in the state.

As any follower of the State will know, Ekiti’s tourism sector recorded its peak during the first term of Fayemi as governor. With his second coming, tourism will have another lease of life.

Gender Equality and empowerment

Promoting gender equity and empowering women by maximizing the potential of half of the population of Ekiti has been aptly demonstrated by JKF as he was the first Governor in Ekiti State to have two female deputies. As he did in his first time, he is expected to increase the number of women in the political space by ensuring that at least a third of political appointments would be women, immediate establishment of community fund for women development, sustaining and institutionalizing current gains, sustained promotion of the security, health and safety of Ekiti women, prioritize programmes and policies that will uplift Ekiti women out of poverty and faithful implementation of all laws and execution of policies formulated for the empowerment of women.

This is Fayemi’s promise, his offering and the creed that will guide governance in Ekiti State in the next four years. The task, as can be seen, is beyond an individual. In order for Ekiti state to regain its lost glory and fast track its development, there is the need for the confluence of brilliant minds that earned the state the credo of being the, ‘Fountain of Knowledge’. This is the next civil duty of the people of Ekiti and the chief servant of the state who had said that before now. In his words, “This is my modest agenda for a collective rescue mission in Ekitiland. We must discourage personalised agendas and pursue a collective struggle in other to rescue Ekiti State as well as provide a mechanism for monitoring governance over the long term.” 

 Ajayi, FNIMN, NGE, is a veteran journalist, public commentator and Publisher/CEO of MARKETING EDGE MAGAZINE, a leading marketing and advertising publication based in Lagos State.