THE July 14 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State promises to be interesting. The number of contenders for the office of the governor has significantly increased from what obtained in 2014. Prominent among them are the incumbent Deputy Governor, Professor Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Dr Kayode Fayemi, the immediate past governor of the state who is running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Others include Chief Segun Adewale, popularly known as “O sha pra pra”, Reverend Tunde Afe of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), two former deputy governors to Ayo Fayose in his first coming, Abiodun Aluko and Bisi Omoyeni, among others.
The two main political parties, the PDP and the APC are already at daggers’ drawn to make it a battle royal as it appears that the contest is really between the candidates of the two parties.
Dr Kayode Fayemi’s emergence as the candidate of the APC has been greeted with mixed reactions among the Ekiti electorate. The word on many lips is that he is coming on a vengeance mission, banking on federal might to influence the outcome of the election and consequently to avenge his loss of the 2014 election to the incumbent, Peter Fayose whose victory many members of the APC continue to believe was assisted by the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government. Of course, Fayemi has denied having any such agenda. Unfortunately, many of his supporters have done more to reinforce this impression through many unguarded utterances postulating that they would stop at nothing to see Fayose hounded to jail on completion of his term.
On their part, many of the local people have not forgotten how aloof and distant from them Fayemi was when he was in office. His greatest undoing in 2014 was his inability to connect his projects with the common people. His lieutenants were no better as a significant number of them never settled in Ekiti. For this reason, many people in Ekiti believe that Fayemi’s gaffe was Fayose’s opportunity. As someone put it, it was not Fayose’s victory but Fayemi’s loss.
Fayemi is a very cerebral intellectual whose conduct and agenda resonate better with the elite. In fact, the major plank of his rejection at the polls in 2014 is the general belief among the locals in Ekiti is that he ran an elitist government. This they claim is evidenced by the fact that as soon as the election was lost, most of his key men literally disappeared from the state only to reemerge with the emergence of their principal as the party’s standard-bearer. Fayemi’s government recorded some appreciable achievements but his major headache was his inability to connect the people with his agenda. Consequently, many of them could not relate with the direct benefits derivable from the projects. He has said his proposed second coming is to correct the blunders of his first coming. It remains to be seen if the electorate will take his word for it.
Professor Kolapo Olusola (Eleka) has been Governor Fayose’s Deputy since the inception of his current tenure. It is a plus to him that Fayose has not changed him. This is quite a feat considering the fact that within the less than three years that Fayose spent in office in his first coming, he replaced his deputy twice. A press-shy individual who prefers to work behind the scenes, Eleka has been able to avoid the limelight and comes with no known baggage apart from the fact that he is Fayose’s choice for succession. For this reason, the word in the opposition’s camp is that he must be a stooge and a decoy for Fayose’s “third term.” What many do not know, however, is the fact that what seems to be Eleka’s weakness may actually be a veil for his strength. He comes with an unassuming mien that belies his strength of character and intellectual profile. For this reason, he has been able to enjoy the trust and confidence of his boss.
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Professor Olusola is an accomplished scholar and Professor of Building Technology. He was a lecturer in the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State before his current role. While in secondary school, he was the best student in his school from the time he entered till he finished. As an undergraduate in the Obafemi Awolowo University, he also topped his set. Upon completion of his NYSC, he was retained by the University as a Graduate Assistant and rose through the ranks to become a Professor. With over 50 academic publications to his credit, Olusola has paid his dues in the academia.
Until 2014 when he was made deputy governor of Ekiti State, he spent a significant part of his working life in a university environment. The opposition has harped so much on this aspect of his career and use that to reiterate the opinion that he has no political experience and so may not be a good governor. The question that would readily come to mind about this would be, “After almost four successful years as deputy governor to one of Nigeria’s most controversial governors, what more experience does anyone need in politics?”
Even if the idea of political inexperience was to hold water, there are precedents in our polity of people who had little or no political experience before assuming positions of leadership in their states. A case that readily comes to mind is Babatunde Fashola (SAN), current Minister for Power, Works and Housing and immediate past governor of Lagos State who was the Chief of Staff to Senator Bola Tinubu. There is no doubt that Tinubu saw in him what many others did not see. This was probably why he insisted against all odds, that he wanted Fashola to succeed him. He was proved right. Fashola’s sterling performance in office became the model of governance that endeared his party the ACN and later the APC to the Nigerian electorate.
It is noteworthy too that Fayemi came into governance as a political rookie who had neither held any political office nor served under any government until he became governor of Ekiti. He rode on the crest of the waves of Fashola’s model. It took the sagacity of Tinubu to see the potential in both men and to back them up for governorship. Without his backing, it is doubtful if any of these two people would ever have been the governor of their respective states. Perhaps that is what Fayose is doing in and for Ekiti. Whatever happens, July 14 is less than a month away and the electorate will have the final say.
- Bukola Aroge, a public analyst, writes from Ado-Ekiti
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