When Dr. Kayode Fayemi marked his two years in office on October 16, as the governor of Ekiti State, no one was left in doubt that his achievements in office speak for themselves. This is a state that was considered one of the most backward in the South West in terms of physical and social infrastructural development. Previous administrations in the state were all busy playing politics of acrimony to the detriment of human and physical development in the state.
But in the past two years, Dr. Fayemi has been busy, quite busy indeed touching lives, bringing hope back to the people; making the populace feel the importance of democracy. Obviously, the governor has the calling of a visionary, a sentimental leader of people who believes that once the electorate are properly catered for, there will not only be peace in the state, but the people themselves will often wear glimmer of smiles on their faces.
This is indeed the Ekiti State of today. As the governor and his team of committed lieutenants went about commissioning landmark projects in all the crannies of the state, what was uppermost in the minds of the rural people was how to make these legacies permeate the total psyche of the populace. “We are here to serve and help the governor achieve the dream of making Ekiti State one of the foremost in the country,” was how 79 year old Olayinka Ibironke, a retired teacher, described the situation. And he truly wore the face of a happy man in a new era of hope.
This happened at Omuo-Oke where the governor went to lay the foundation stone of an ultramodern Trailer park. “A park of this nature,” the governor noted, “would help to facilitate the movement of heavy goods from here to other parts of Ekiti State and the nation.” This was an assurance that sent breezy frenzy into the spines of the people who gathered to witness and cheer the governor. Like Ibironke, most indigenes of Omuo-oke, a quiet rural settlement, deprived of modernity for a long time, have been at pains to move goods like planks and woods and food items from their place to other points of need.
While the governor was in Iluomoba, another rural enclave to lay the foundation stone for Life Academy, his primary concern was to reignite the flame of good and sound education in the people. The Iluomoba academy is to give easy and accelerated access to education to the people long known for their love for civilization. “Education is our greatest asset and it is our prerogative to make it work, functional and effective,” the governor had said. Then what is education if it can not be made accessible to the people who not only need it, but crave to always make it their bedrock? With that notion in the hearts of the people, they warmly welcomed the prospects of having an academy that will soon usher in glorious moments into the lives of Iluomoba people.
A tour of most rural settlements in Ekiti State revealed that the people now feel a sense of belonging. The newly commissioned electricity project in Ilupeju-Ijan in Aiyekire Local government area which had no light for many years in the past, is a good demonstration of a leader who does not believe that darkness and light should meet. Light is good for the people. Even the Holy Bible ordered that there should be light so that the children of God have would be in good sheer here on earth. Light brings progress and encourages the people to feel at home with what they have. Indeed the Ilupeju-Ijan community can feel it.
The Ilupeju-Ijan project is an eye opener because it shows a governor who is not selective and partisan with the projects he delivers to his people. His mission has been quite purposeful; to ensure that development is evenly distributed and shared so as to discourage apathy in the thinking of the people. This approach has been largely successful because in every local government, the people have every good reason to sing the praises of the government. Good work, as it is said, is like a full blown pregnancy. No one can cover it with her hands. Fayemi’s achievements glow and illuminate and glitter in their droves, registering in stages and in different facets in people’s lives.
So far, the many colleges and primary schools hitherto abandoned and neglected in parts of the state have been rehabilitated for the good of the people. Some of the prominent ones are the Omuo-Oke Grammar School and Obada High School. The other one is the Africa Church Comprehensive High School, Ikere. These schools had for too long been left in the hands of people who did not manage them well. Today, the schools are back to what they used to be in the days of yore. The students and pupils of these schools are not only excited and happy to go to school, they cannot stop being grateful to a governor who is wholly people oriented and properly focused and well driven.
Travelling from one end of the state to the other now is easier and faster. The roads in most of the rural places have been retouched to meet the yearnings of the people. These roads include Erijiyan-Ilawe, Efon-Ipole Iloro-Ikogosi roads. Incidentally these roads lead to the famous Ikogosi warm spring tourist resort which has been renovated by the governor to boast tourism in the state.
Ikogosi is a visitor’s delight by all standards and the governor has ensured that the facilities there have been modernized to attract more visitors to the place. It is, in fact, one of the greatest natural gifts to this nation in terms of aura and beauty. This was why the governor took time to tare the roads leading to it.
Equally, the Ado-lyin road, the Ado-Afao road and the Odo –Owa Okeila road and more, all leading roads linking Ekiti State with Osun State have been reconstructed by the government of Dr. Fayemi.
The climax of these chains of achievements was coming back to life of the Udo-uro electricity project long abandoned for no just reason. The governor has not only revived it, it has also been commissioned to add value to the social lives of the people. Close to it also is the Efon water project, Okemesi water project, Ido-Ile water project, Ido-Ile basic health centre. Others are Iropora Skills Acquisition Centre, Erelu Adebayo Orphanage Centre, Iyin, all of which have been made to thrive again.
In truth, governor Fayemi is focused, he knows how to carry the people along. His avowed love for his people is never in question. This is why he does all he can to satisfy and please them.
Ademuliyi writes from Okemesi, Ekiti State.
This article was first published in The Nation on 06 November 2012.
Last modified: November 24, 2021
