For the wife of Ekiti State governor, Chief (Mrs) Bisi Fayemi, assuming duties as the First Lady of the state after the landmark judgement of the Appeal Court declared Governor Kayode Fayemi the duly elected governor of the state, comes with a lot of responsibilities. She realised right from the onset that the administration would only meet its set goals, as contained in the governor's eight-point agenda, when all the citizens male and female, old and young- play their roles. Mrs Fayemi, who is the President of African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) has chosen to deploy her wealth of experience in women's development, social entrepreneurship, social justice and human rights towards complimenting her husband's efforts at taking the state to the next level.. Her concerns include political and social empowerment of women, economic empowerment, access to health care and promoting the needs of young people.

In the short period that her husband has been in office, Mrs Fayemi has endeared herself to women young and old across the state, and is often referred to as the 'Amazon of Ekiti' due to her commitment to promoting the rights of women.

Advocacy and influencing policy

In November 2010 Mrs Fayemi led an advocacy visit to the heads of the three arms of government- the Governor of the state, the Chief Judge and the Speaker of the House of Assembly. The advocacy visit was part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based violence which is celebrated by women's movements all over the world. She was accompanied on the visit by officials of women's Non-governmental organisations, including the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), female politicians, professionals, activists and market women leaders. Through the advocacy visit, women in the state, demanded that government should demonstrate political will so that there will be zero tolerance for all forms of violence against women and provision of adequate human, technical and financial resources to support women to deal decisively with the issue.

Governor Kayode Fayemi, while receiving the women group in his office, promised to maintain his pact with Ekiti women, which, according to him, is to ensure that women are no longer relegated to the background in the scheme of things. At the Ekiti State House of Assembly, the Speaker, Hon. Tunji Odeyemi also pledged the full support of the House to activities of women in the state as they recognise the importance of women in the society. The Speaker said the Ekiti Assembly had passed three women -related bills and the Child's Rights Bill and promised to give accelerated passage to any bill on women. He advised them to package their requests in form of a bill and promised to give it special attention.

When the group visited the then Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Silas Oyewole, at the state high court complex, he pledged the support of the judiciary to speedily determine cases relating to violence on women. Justice Oyewole said state judiciary has established Family Courts which will soon take off. In addition to advocating or legislation that will stop the abuse of women, the First lady was also instrumental in setting up of the Multiple Births Trust Fund. This new fund will take care of women who give birth to twins, triplets and quadruplets. Scientific findings have established that multiple births are common in Ekiti State. Many times, the joy that comes with multiple births had turned to sorrow because of poverty. There had been reported cases of men deserting their homes after their wives gave birth to twins or triplets. With the setting up of the fund, adequate care will now be given to women in multiple birth as well as the children.

As a demonstration of Her Excellency's commitment to social justice, Mrs Fayemi affected the release of five inmates of the Ado-Ekiti prison in December. The inmates included four male and a female, had served prison terms of between six months and two years for their inability to pay fines, some of which were as low as N5, 000. The First Lady paid fines (amounting to about N100, 000) on their behalf and got them released and rejoined with their families ahead of the Christmas celebration. She is also working with Justice, Development and Peace Commission, Ekiti State (JDPC)some organisation to ensure that they are fully entrenched into the society through gainful employment and vocational trainings.

Ekiti State Action Committee on HIV/AIDS

The First Lady, in her capacity as the Chairperson of the State's Action Committee of AIDS marked World AIDS st Day 2010 with a number of activities which included a press conference on December 1 2010. She also led a HIV/AIDS awareness march, which saw her and her team on major streets of Ado-Ekiti educating residents on how to prevent the disease. Part of the enlightenment campaign is also to educate Ekiti on the danger of stigmatising People Living With HIV/AIDS. Whereas HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Ekiti is put at one percent, according to Mrs Fayemi, this is still very high and unacceptable. Hence her decision to step up the AIDS awareness campaign and take it to every corner of the state.

The Office of the Wife of the Governor also initiated and carried out many enlightenment programmes for the women, including political and voters awareness programmes, where women are encouraged to show more interest in politics and governance.