Time to transform Ekiti State

I am not a fan of Ayodele Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti State. But for two things, he merits praise; he rallied senators from Ekiti State to support Dr Kayode Fayemi as a federal minister even though they are of different parties and attended the inauguration of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the governor of Ondo State, saying, “This is a Nigerian affair. When a governor is sworn in, we have to support him. We are talking of regional integration and unity and Akeredolu is one of us. We have to support him, electioneering has come and gone and a winner has emerged, we have to work together in the spirit of the people of our region.”

Fayose understood the age-long advice of “understanding the mastery of the tribe for the benefit of all. I hope Dr Kayode Fayemi, the new governor, does not go about playing the politics of vendetta against the former governor instead of settling down to work. That is the Nigerian way; we go about talking to pull the wool over the eyes of people instead of working.

The former governor was guilty of same and the people of Ekiti State suffered under his watch; he loved to attack the Federal Government without fail, many said it was based on conviction not one borne out of hatred. Regrettably, I did not see what he did as a democratic sport.

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His party is not even a better option for the re-birth of Nigeria at the moment? It was under the watch of his party that militancy started in the Niger Delta. In 2014, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the then finance minister, asked Nigerians to brace up for hard times. I wondered why, since Nigerians never enjoyed gains of the oil boom. The recession we found ourselves in at a time, was foretold before now without plans to cushion the effect on Nigerians by his party.

Even though propaganda is a tool in politics that must be honed, propaganda works best with parties that have yet to taste power. Those that have tasted power need to reinvent their parties to reclaim power and not engage in needless propaganda which, to me, is a wasteful anachronism.

Synergy on specific issues is needed for the growth of a country. The new governor should tackle the government on the need to mine the bitumen in nearby Ondo state to provide jobs and to establish coal-burning power plants in the east and other fourteen states where coal is found in Nigeria, together with plant pollution control mechanism

The fight against corruption shouldn’t be viewed only from the lenses of a political party. As a nation we cannot succeed if some, people purloin our patrimony and prevent us from living up to our God-given capabilities.

The future can only be built if Ekiti State is part of it. The future can’t be built with bridges to the past. Great leaders make their tomorrow today. No nation develops without the humanism of the collective man.

Simon Abah,

 Abuja.