2023: Issues as Fayemi joins the fray

KUNLE ODEREMI writes on the agenda of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, as he joins the race for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at a special declaration held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, last Wednesday.

The last few days have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of contestants for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for February 25, 2023 elections. The mode of declaration intention by most of the aspirants was almost similar, except for a few that chose either the conventional (traditional) media or social media platforms to unveil their bid.  However, Governor KayodeFayemi of Ekiti State, decided to raise the bar. He adopted a mode that had finesse all the symbols of intellectualism, culture and tradition, as well as excellence, panache and beauty.  He chose a process and approach that involved a direct, serious engagements with the citizens in the manner of bottom-up development strategy. Before an audience that cut across every stratum of the Nigerian society, he unveiled a comprehensive agenda that would form the compass of his administration if Nigerians give him their mandate. Dubbed, …,the agenda is multifaceted spanning all the critical sectors in the life of the nation and its people, in what he said was based on his determination to herald a paradigm shift from the era of abnormally and pretence of the past to a new dawn of progressive politics, sincere, purposeful and focused governance. His approach towards achieving the overall goal was encapsulated in his declarative speech and mission to run an all-inclusive government that centres the wishes and aspirations of the citizens. Thus, people from all walks of life were given the opportunity to interface with him, interrogate issues, present their demands and offer suggestions on matters of genuine national concern through what if you like, a village square meeting with shareholders. Of course, Fayemi was in his true and sincere element taking the time to painstakingly to explain, clarify, substantiate and provide answers to virtually all the questions and interventions that came from the large number of speakers from the audience that diplomats, top federal and state functionaries; , traditional rulers, artisans, to name  a few.

His speech on the occasion by Fayemi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) was illuminating and promising, as he gave the trajectory of his aspiration. He recalled his weeks of nationwide consultations with key stakeholders, among them, President MuhammaduBuhari, traditional rulers, labour leaders, market men and women, artisans on his plan to run for the presidency. Accordingly, his aspiration is a culmination of that effort and based on his vision and mission to foster trust and build bridges to carry Nigeria into a new dawn. The governor said he has the required experience needed for the presidency having occupied several political positions in the country. “Beyond my early forays into the public sphere as a student leader, my abiding faith in the oneness of our country has been further reinforced by all my subsequent engagements in national affairs as a scholar, civil society voice and institution-builder, community and political organiser with an unapologetic pan-Nigerian and pan-African outlook, tireless advocate for human rights and democratic governance, two-term governor, federal minister, a founding coordinator of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, and two-term Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Here then is my motivating testament and confession: I am a patriot born in these climes in the course of the first decade of our country’s independence, and I stake a bold claim to say that I am a full-blooded child of Nigeria. I grew up as did many of my generation socialised into the ideals of a united and virile nation. In my lifetime, I have witnessed some heart-warming moments of nation- and state-building that would make any citizen anywhere immeasurably proud.”

Like every mortal, he has he had his own trying moments in life. He has never allow such life encounters to dispirit him in his quest to create a positive impact in the society. his words: “But I have also seen some truly challenging days in our journey of nationhood which have tested our collective resolve and demanded the exercise of considerable political savvy by our leaders over the years. I have taken as a key lesson from the admixture of high and low points we have experienced as a country that when and where we are charitable to one another and allow our shared humanity, innate spirit of solidarity, hard work, perseverance and underlying patriotism to prevail, we always succeed in overcoming and thriving through adversity. Hope such as I offer with my candidature is premised on a shared vision on which we can all agree, and for which we collectively strive, of a nation that is more confidently and uncompromisingly at one with itself, serving as home for all of us regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, age, disability, region or religion.

“Being the coordinator of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) and two-time chairman of the NGF, I have been privileged to witness first-hand the underlying commitment and sense of solidarity which Nigerians from all parts of the country share about the promise of our fatherland.” Fayemi added that it is indeed a great  honour for him to have been an active part at various times with other compatriots from various walks of life labouring for sustained national progress. He said it was in such spirit of the abiding faith in the country and the promise of its unfinished greatness that he was seeking the mandate of Nigerians to succeed President Buhari at the end of his tenure. He declared: “This is not a decision which I have taken lightly. To arrive at this point I carried out a deep and long self-introspection with the help of my wife, Bisi, other family members, my friends, my political associates, and members of our great party. I have also traversed the length and breadth of our country to consult without esteemed elder statesmen and women, traditional rulers, a cross-section of party leaders and rank and file members of our party and various no partisan leaders of thought and opinion.embarked on these outreach visits without any prior assumptions of what they will yield nor with any sense of personal entitlements. I have been privileged to witness firsthand the underlined commitment and sense of solidarity that Nigerians from all parts of our country share about the promise of our fatherland.

It was yet another opportunity for the two-term governor to dissect the core challenges slowing down the progress of the country. he was of the view that decentralisation would help in achieving stability and unity in the country, promising to pursue a holistic agenda that includes fighting insecurity, providing jobs for the youths, broad reforms through diversification of the economy, enhancing productivity and expanding the scope of revenues. He described himself as a symbol of hope, observing that the country had a chance to make choices that will foster peace, unity and national prosperity. He advised Nigerians to turn the current situation in the country into an opportunity for fundamental national rebirth and progression and prosperity. To underscore his mission, he declared: «Prammatically, as the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I will be leading the implementation of a holistic and integrated response to the multifaceted security crises confronting us. To this end, the retooling of our armed forces, intelligence agencies, and border guards will be pursued in tandem with an overhaul of our policing system and the phasing in of bold universal social policies that will enable us decisively tackle poverty and upgrade human capital and security. In this perspective, the deliberate expansion of employment opportunities, youth entrepreneurship, skills development, and innovation, support to the weak and vulnerable such as we have done in Ekiti State for the elderly with Owoarugbo and Ounjearugbo and women’s socio-economic empowerment will be treated as just one dimension of our comprehensive response to the costly security crises that have destabilised us, as will the pursuit of broad welfare policies that are embedded into a new state-society bargain and the empowerment of citizens.”

The occasion was graced by Senator Lawan Shuaibu, Senator Ibikune Amosun, Ekiti State Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi, House of Assembly Speaker Funminiyi Afuye, former Senate President Ahmed Ebute, Ekiti APC governorship candidate Biodun Oyebanji, his running mate, Monisade Afuye, Deputy Governors Modupe Adelabu, and a former Oyo State deputy Governor Iyiola Oladokun, Onisan of Isan Oba Gabriel Adejuwon, Ewi of Ado-Ekiti Oba Adejugbe Aladesanmi, and Professor Banji Aluko.

Two documentaries were viewed by the audience on his profile as a journalist, pro-democracy crusader, politician, and administrator. Speaking, Senator Lawan praised Fayemi on his bid, whom he said is a serious-minded person, who is not given to frivolity, stressing that, the aspirant is a man of high integrity, an activist, administrator, bridge-builder, a pan-Nigerian and representative of the young intelligentsia. “Nigeria is for Fayemi and Fayemi is for Nigeria”, Lawan said.

During his engagement with members of the audience who had questions on major problems facing the country, Fayemi touched on security of lives and property; economy, food security, among others.it. celebrated broadcaster, Cyril Stober moderated the session. For instance, he saw a nexus between the decline of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists in the North-east and the resurgence of bandits in the North-West. “You need to tackle the forces of hunger, the forces of ignorance, the forces of inequality in our society that are responsible for these challenges. The North-east has witnessed a significant reduction in the insurgency—all commendation to the current administration. We have also witnessed almost simultaneously the surge in the North-west of criminality,” he said.

He promised to lead the “implementation of a holistic and integrated response to the multifaceted security crises confronting us.” On the economy, he said it is not the function of the government to provide jobs but to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and create the needed jobs, just he advocated technological development and innovation to drive job creation in the country.

“We cannot secure our prosperity without ensuring that our agricultural sector is able to deliver self-sufficiency in critical food markets, absorb an important swathe of the unemployed into gainful employment, feed our efforts at agro-allied industrialisation, reinvigorate the rural areas, foster the coordinated expansion of commodity exchanges, and boost the flow of foreign exchange into the economy.”

He added: “This country was able to recruit in an emergency manner in 1967, it moved to 250,000 from an army of 10,000 within a space of one year. Today, there are all sorts of bureaucratic impediments that have not allowed us to expand our men and women in the armed forces and police. Fayemi, who will round off second term as governor in October, added that if the country is unable to recruit, then it should draw from the ‘reserve’, mainly retired armed forces personnel.

So far, some observers have been able to identify no fewer than 10 items in his agenda as he seeks the highest elective office in the country. these include implementation of a holistic and integrated response to the multifaceted security crises confronting us; upgrading and expansion of  infrastructure through public investments and partnerships with the private sector whilst simultaneously ensuring that we enforce accountability and get much greater value for money; initiating a major rescue and investment programme for the education sector, the health system, the civil service, and the local government system; ensuring that our agricultural sector is able to deliver self-sufficiency in critical food markets, feed our efforts at agro-allied industrialisation and thus meaningfully enable the transformation of the unemployed into gainful employment, reinvigorate the rural areas, foster the coordinated expansion of commodity exchange.