Ekiti: The Challenges before Fayemi
The outcome of the governorship election in Ekiti State, penultimate Saturday, is a verdict between reality and assumption, thus presenting the real challenges before the incoming governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Victor Ogunje writes
Ekiti State’s July 14, governorship election has come and gone with the winner and loser identified. The state now needs to contend with some of the reasons behind the change of guard, which include progress and development. The election did not evolve like a passing phase as often with most other elections in the country. The poorly rated candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, defeated the combined forces of the hitherto generalissimo of Ekiti politics, Governor Ayodele Fayose and his anointed candidate, Prof Kolapo Olusola. It is public knowledge that Fayose has carved a niche for himself as a vociferous politician with huge clout and cult-like followers across the state and even beyond. His track record in retail politics is unique to him and people define him based on how he has demystified the highly dignified governorship seat. These grassroots supports fondly give him that bravery to confront the power-that-be as evidenced in the way he had taken on President Muhammadu Buhari since assumption of office. Before the election, Fayose had boasted at different times that APC would get a bloodied nose by re-enacting what he did to the party in 2014. Fayemi lost in the 16 local governments to Fayose in that election. This formed part of why the former Minister of Mines and Steel Development’s triumph was confounding in a sense. Fayemi’s victory sparked up wild ecstasy and wild jubilation among the ranks of the APC, both at home and beyond. This was not unconnected to the fact that APC never expected to stage a quick return to Ekiti Government House. They viewed Fayose from the prism of a hard nut to crack personality, who was politically invincible. But the loss suffered by the PDP penultimate Saturday had dismissed this mystical posturing. However, a week after Fayemi’s victory, APC is now confronted with the reality ahead. The joy that accompanied the victory among APC members and sympathizers in Ekiti is gradually waning. The members are now looking at how they could get political reckoning in terms of appointments as well as how best they could serve Ekiti for the party to recover the values lost in the outgoing era, if it too must make the state its stronghold. Observers therefore charge that Fayemi must not be oblivious of one fact: his second coming is not about vengeance or vindictiveness, because in politics, there is always another day.
The APC itself did not shy away from this reality as a political party. Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Jide Awe, while congratulating Fayemi, said the electorate had voted for the candidate of their choice, who they considered as having a proven track-record of performance and integrity, and who would bring about the kind of turnaround the state deserved at this crucial period, through focused leadership, good governance, restoration of cherished values and multifaceted development
Indeed, most of the pundits, who gave predictions about the election, thought that Fayemi might not be able to rise to stardom again taking cognizance of how he fell. Rather than be decimated, his political profile has soared better afterwards.
But after his loss, he started to work harder with other progressives to ensure victory for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 presidential poll. This, of course, earned him the ministerial position he resigned to contest the governorship seat. If the profiles of those considered gladiators in Ekiti politics are dissected today, Fayemi’s records are unsurpassable and these conferred on him the legitimacy and moral burden to be fair to all, regardless of political leaning.
The way the APC members reacted fiercely and taunted the rival PDP after the results were announced by INEC, lent credence to the fact that Fayemi might be put under intense pressure to deal with the opposition.
The derisive position Ekiti finds itself today doesn’t deserve any governor coming on board to start engaging in political vengeance that could further exacerbate the already pathetic situation of the people. Ekiti is ranked the most educated state. Paradoxically, it is deemed to be having one of the highest incidences of youth unemployment in the country. This alone suffices to give any serious-minded government headache than to pander to any pedestrian vindictive tour that could turn the state to a battlefield.
During the electioneering, Fayemi said something that made the Ekiti situation appear disturbing. According to him, over 40,000 persons had been disengaged from the safety nets like Social Security Scheme and Youth volunteer Corps as well as other people-oriented programmes he initiated while he was governor.
The governor-elect has a lot of issues to deal with. The ultimate goal for him is to put the state on the path to progress and development.
Unemployment is biting pretty hard in Ekiti. Many graduates have no jobs and this had made the politics more dangerous and intriguing. Poverty level had risen exponentially, which gave potency to the stomach infrastructure policy of the outgoing administration.
In 1999, elderly persons were firmly in control of politics even up to the councillorship level. Today, youths have taken over courtesy of unemployment and most of the restiveness during electioneering was caused by these unengaged youth population.
Apart from the concept of stomach infrastructure, every other facet of the Ekiti economy has collapsed under the present government. Workers and pensioners have not been paid for between five and eight months in a largely monolithic civil service state.
The internally generated revenue that was undulating between N400 and N500 million under Fayemi has nosedived to below N100 million. Intervention funds from international organisations to fund Agriculture, education and cooperative societies are no longer operational. All these are issues that are begging for attentions from the coming government.
During the Fayemi’s first coming, he facilitated over N2 billion from the African Development Bank to fund youth in Agriculture. He initiated process for a grant from World Bank to establish and bankroll a strong scholarship scheme in the state among other memoranda of association his government entered into with globally respectable bodies to fast-track development. Sadly, all these have gone into extinction and needed to be reignited with a focused government in place.
What, however, makes the gloomy situation somewhat promising is the fact that Fayemi too has realised the weight of the task ahead. Reacting to his victory, the former Minister catalogued those areas, where Ekiti has been lagging behind and these he said would be quickly addressed to launch the state back into reckoning and make it an enclave of dignity and honour.
Fayemi said he saw his reelection as an honour and that when people of Ekiti spoke, their voices were heard resoundingly. He said what Ekiti did was in tandem with the finest traditions of democracy and determination through the ballot box to change the course of one’s destiny for good.
He said he was particularly elated that the victory attested to the resilience of the people of Ekiti, whose brightness and hope never dimmed in the face of untold hardship and all forms of indignity under the PDP leadership that had ruled them like a conquered people.
The governor-elect saluted the courage of fellow candidates for enriching the process and for their civility and patriotism in accepting the outcome of this exercise, stating that he looked forward to consulting them all to secure their input as he fine-tunes governance for the years ahead.
“As we look forward to the inauguration of the new APC administration on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, I offer my assurances that we will not wait till then to bring immediate succour to you. We will proactively explore all avenues within the limits of the law, especially through the Transition Committee to be set up very soon, to ensure the outgoing administration prioritises the payment of the backlog of salaries to all categories of workers and pensioners,” he said.
With these comments, Fayemi himself knew Ekiti had never been this divided. He knew proactive steps must be stepped up to unify, mend all fences and make the state a potent force in the South-west and a leading light in the country.
Director General of his campaign organisation, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele reasoned along the patriotic line that Ekiti needed urgent unification.
In a statement issued from London, where he is recuperating, Bamidele said Ekiti people had made clear statement by Fayemi’s victory and that the APC must up the game to give them the required democratic dividends lacking under the PDP reign.
“This victory is sweet, but it is not the end to it, because the change of guard in Ekiti governorship status was a clear statement by Ekiti people that they needed to be better governed, that their welfare should be better catered for and that pose serious challenges to our party. With this, it was evident that we have to roll up our sleeves and be prepared to hit the ground running as soon as we assume office on October 16, 2018,” Bamidele said.
he APC itself did not shy away from this reality as a political party. Chairman of the party in the state, Chief Jide Awe, while congratulating Fayemi, said the electorate had voted for the candidate of their choice, who they considered as having a proven track-record of performance and integrity, and who would bring about the kind of turnaround the state deserved at this crucial period, through focused leadership, good governance, restoration of cherished values and multi-faceted development.
With all these, time has come for Fayemi and his party to face the reality. They must project into the future and ensure they hit the ground running from October 16, for Ekiti to get the much needed lift in all spheres of her social, political and economic life.