Re: Fayemi and his ghoulish investment in Ekiti

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., you are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. I read the gibberish penned by Suyi Ayodele entitled, FAYEMI AND HIS GHOULISH INVESTMENT IN EKITI with utter dismay, not only because he wasted 1,827 words to promote falsehood but mainly because the shallow presentation contradicts his seeming nice profile.

I am more disappointed because of the display of gross bias in the said publication. Two similar headlines emanated from Ekiti State recently. The first was “Gov. Fayemi inaugurates ABUAD’s N50bn power project” and this was featured by all major news platforms in Nigeria. The second was “Fayemi inaugurates 260,000 capacity private cemetery”. While Governor Fayemi was physically present at one, his Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources represented him in the other. The power project in ABUAD and several other laudable projects in Ekiti State didn’t catch the fancy of Suyi Ayodele for obvious reasons. He mischievously analysed the  cemetery project as if it was the first or only project the Dr Kayode Fayemi government has inaugurated for private entities in Ekiti State.

Information is powerful. But it is how we use it that will define us. My brother, Suyi Ayodele needs to come home and get his facts right. You cannot be in Benin, Edo State and be talking about a colourful celebration that didn’t take place in Ekiti State. Where were you when some roads across the three senatorial districts were inaugurated for reconstruction? Where were you when Ikun Dairy Farm was resuscitated? Where were you when Promise Point was inaugurated? Where were you when Agbeja Snail Farm (the biggest in Africa) was inaugurated? Where were you when FMS farm was inaugurated? Within the last 30 months, about 50 privately-own projects/businesses have been inaugurated in Ekiti State under Governor Fayemi. The government’s huge investment in water provision in the state has led to the rehabilitation of Ero and Egbe dams which now have combined capacity to serve about 15 local government areas. While the writer may be ignored or forgiven for his crass misrepresentation of facts, it is however important to set the record straight in the best interest of the unsuspecting public.

It gladdens my heart that Ayodele confirmed that Fayemi scored high in the area of payment of salaries and pensions. Unfortunately he got swayed by the ranting of the opposition party. He said he aligned with the propaganda of the opposition. Such a level of naivety is inexcusable. What do you expect from an opposition party if not criticism, and in this clime it is more of baseless than genuine. Your power lies in your belief.

Perhaps I should take you down the memory lane. Fayemi lost his re-election bid in 2014 not because he didn’t perform to the admiration of well-meaning Ekitikete but because of people like you, who specialized in propaganda. One of the hallmarks of Fayemi’s first term in office was his ingenuity that ensured that every town and community in Ekiti State enjoyed dividends of democracy with multiple physical projects to showcase. He couldn’t be faulted on performance then, which was why you people came up with lies about a non-existent University in Ghana. Once beaten, twice shy! Before you confuse your readers, it is important to quickly educate you on the true picture of things in Ekiti State under Governor Fayemi.

It’s on record that no school project was done all through the four years that Fayemi was out of office (2014-2018). I challenge you to name any political ward or town and I will educate you with pictures of what the Fayemi government has done in the public schools within the ward or town in the last two years. In his characteristics manner of doing things, no community or ward is left out in his developmental drive. A total 716 school projects have been executed across Ekiti State within the last two and a half years. This is different from the newly inaugurated four world-class Model Colleges that were built and named after illustrious sons of Ekiti State – Banji Akintoye, Deji Fasuan, Ayo Fasanmi and David Oke.

Fifty-two of these school projects were executed in Ikole Local Government Area where you hail from. A visit to Ebira Community Nursery and Primary School in your hometown, Odo-oro Ekiti where a block of three classrooms was renovated by SUBEB is instructive. Similarly, Ekiti State Community and Social Development Agency (EKCSDA) recently completed the Odo-oro Multipurpose Town Hall. I am sure all these as well as other laudable projects and programs of the Fayemi government are news to you. You should be curious to know why no school project was done in four years and we have done these much in less than three years. This is not rocket science! What you don’t have, you can never give out!

You also talked about health care delivery. I am sure you read the news when Governor Fayemi inaugurated the 187 solar powered cold chain refrigerators for vaccine storage that the State Government acquired for its Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in the 177 wards of the State. It will interest you to know also that most of the PHCs in Ekiti State have been renovated and equipped to serve the people better. Despite the economic realities of the moment, the Fayemi government has continued to place the welfare and wellbeing of Ekitikete in the front burner. In Ekiti State, the belief is that we do not need magic to transform the world because we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. Go to Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital and see how Fayemi rehabilitated the internal roads. Fayemi is not only paying salary as you opined; he is also building legacy.

If Fayemi will be criticized, I do not think it should be on the mundane issue of ‘cemetery inauguration’. Why not challenge him on something more tangible and noble like the several agribusiness projects the Governor has inaugurated? You must be ignorant of the current status of Ero, Egbe and Ureje dams as resuscitated by the Fayemi-led government, and the ongoing World Bank assisted massive state-wide reticulation project. The government has also restructured and expanded the rice and cassava programmes through partnership with key private sector players like Dangote Farms, Jumlar Rice Limited and Stallion Rice who all set up rice mills in the State in 2020. Similarly, a number of cassava mills are also coming up–Promise Point, FMS Farms and Krest Farms are pioneers here.

The biggest snail farm in Africa with capacity to produce 3.5 million snails per year and slimes of export quantity for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries was equally inaugurated by Fayemi. Take a trip to the College of Agriculture and Technology, Isan Ekiti (where the government intends to train mid-level manpower in the agricultural technology) with its magnificent structures and you will appreciate the power of vision.

Suyi Ayodele (unfortunately an Ekiti man) was suggesting government should enter into Private-Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement to resuscitate Ikun Dairy Farm when the Fayemi administration had already effected the resuscitation of the once moribund farm by partnering with Promasidor who had injected $5 million to revitalise the farm. Already, dairy farm is at milk production stage with 10,000 litres daily milk production in focus. If Mr Ayodele is ignorant of this fact which is known to any primary school pupil in Ekiti, then one wonders what planet he lives.

In his quest to make life more comfortable for Ekitikete, Kayode Fayemi also inaugurated the construction of major roads that have been abandoned for years like Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo-Ijan, Agbado-Ode-Isinbode-Omuo, Oye-Ikun-Otun, Ilawe-Igbara odo-Ibuji and Aramoko-Erijiyan-Ikogosi. He also opened up new Ado-Iyin dual-carriage road. Some of these roads have been completed while others are in various stages of completion. This is in addition to the ongoing 1,000 kilometres state-wide rural roads to aid and enhance agribusiness in Ekiti State with the support of the World Bank Assisted RAAMP initiative.

The question may also be asked: What is wrong in Ekiti State having a private cemetery? Apart from the environmental advantage as analysed by the Honourable Commissioner, it also helps to address challenges of how and where to bury our dear departed. As a responsible and responsive government, Ekiti will always encourage and support genuine private investors. In this case, a private investor identified a social problem and decided to solve it. Ekiti State government will continue to appreciate every investment in the state because of its dual advantage of job creation and prospect for IGR.

You may not like Fayemi (you have absolute freedom to your likes and dislikes), but you don’t have to lie or take sides with propagandists to propagate and perpetuate falsehood to satiate your over bloated ego. Misinformation of this kind is most unkind to the reading public. Without being immodest, Governor Fayemi is in a class of his own and doesn’t need to copy anybody as you have insinuated. In the contrary his novel humanitarian and developmental ideas have been copied or remodified by other tiers of government in Nigeria. The global situation is not friendly but things are looking up in Ekiti State, against all odds. We may lack financial resources as a State, at the moment, but we are blessed with an administrator that knows how to make the best of the available. Fayemi is walking the talk and a better future awaits Ekiti State. A tour of Ekiti State project sites will illuminate your thought process about happenings in the state and also serve as a sure guide to you in your next outing. I will be glad to be your tour guide.

• Gboyega Ajayi is Senior Special Assistant to Ekiti State Governor on Policy, Strategy and Speeches.

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