In a recent encounter with journalists during an inspection of projects in some parts of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Governor Kayode Fayemi was asked how he manages to raise funds for the numerous projects his administration is undertaking in the state. The reporter had asked the question upon realizing that the Operation Renovate All Secondary Schools in Ekiti (ORASE), which led to the renovation of the 183 public secondary schools in the state and the purchase of 40,000 units of furniture for teachers and students cost the state a whopping N2.5billion.
For a state that is ranked number 35th on the federal allocation ladder and gets a little above N2 billion monthly from the federation purse, the reporter’s concern seems apt, especially given the fact that the comprehensive renovation of public schools and the computer-per-child initiative of the administration are running side by side with other projects.
When the journalist was told that the state would soon commence the comprehensive renovation of all hospitals and primary health care centres in the state beginning from January, he simply retorted: “Your Excellency must be a magician!”
Fayemi had politely told the reporter that the passion to see poverty and sickness banished from the State and the determination to make the Ekiti the number one destination of choice for business and leisure remain the vital tonic that drives the developmental agenda in Ekiti and provides the creativity that unlocks the required funds. What perhaps is unknown to the journalist is the fact that JKF, as Dr Fayemi is popularly called, remains one of the few leaders in the country who view their call to serve as a privilege and therefore put in everything to ensure that they leave a legacy.
Caroline Mcloughlin, Executive Director of the Washington based Centre for Visionary Leadership, vividly captures the essence of visionary leadership in one of her works. According to her, “Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls from the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically.”
Mcloughlin’s definition, no doubt encapsulates those key attributes that have marked JKF as an innovative leader with a great ability to inspire others and an insatiable appetite for setting and attaining developmental goals. Through a combination of forceful imagination, prudent spending, compassion for the led and placing much premium on the concept of doing development with the people, JKF has, in the last two and a half years, been able to launch the state on an irreversible path of development.
His immediate concern include how transformational leadership can replace transactional politics. How institutions of state can be strengthened to ensure effective service delivery. How leaders and the led can work together to achieve common goals. What systems and processes should be put in place for genuine empowerment of the citizens towards the attainment of the good life for all. He believes that by providing the right leadership, excellence can become the habit of all.
In theory, JKF has espoused this concept of good governance and the concomitant empowerment of the citizens as well as the strengthening of the institutional framework at the various lectures and discussion groups he has participated locally and at the global stage. In practical terms, he demonstrates this in the running of the affairs of Ekiti State by laying emphasis on key elements of good governance including accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, responsiveness, the rule of law and forward vision.
JKF stated this much in his most recent publication – “Reclaiming The Trust”. He admits that what he has brought into governance in the last two years is the kind of trust that is based on and compels competence, openness, concern and reliability. “Trust is a public good; we cannot do great things collectively without trust. But trust has to be earned” he stresses.
Within two and half years, Fayemi has been able to place Ekiti on the centre stage, by re- awakening the Omoluabi concept in government and laying a solid foundation on which a more prosperous Ekiti would be built.
The Social Security Benefit Scheme which pays monthly stipends to indigent elderly citizens of the state; the computer- per- child initiative, where each student in the public secondary schools gets a solar-powered lap top computer are first of its kind in the country. The massive investments in industrial, infrastructure and tourism development in the state as well as diverse youth and women empowerment programmes in an atmosphere devoid of the brigandage and violence of yesteryears have greatly enhanced the profile of the state.
Perhaps this explains why the rain of endorsements of his person and leadership style continues to pour in torrents since the September 18, 2012 endorsement by a former Nigerian Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Alhaji Maitama Sule, at the Leadership Awards in Abuja and that of the 26 Pan-Yoruba groups under the auspices of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) in Ibadan, recently.
As JKF turns 48 today, the question is no longer about what he is capable of doing as a leader. For he has been able to demonstrate his capability as an imaginative leader. Rather, the question will be about what he would not do as a leader. Regarded in some circles as ‘an activist in government’, many believe that his past has adequately prepared him for the present and the future.
John Kayode Fayemi was born on February 9, 1965 into the family of the late Chief and Mrs. Francis Falade Fayemi. A native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local government, he had his elementary education in Ibadan before attending Christ’s School, Ado- Ekiti for his secondary education between 1975 and 1980.
He received his first degree in History and Politics from the University of Lagos in 1985, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in 1987 and a doctorate in War Studies from the King’s College, University of London, England in 1993, specializing in civilian-military relations and defence planning.
Prior to his active involvement in politics, Dr Fayemi was the pioneer Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa.
Dr Fayemi was a Georgetown University Leadership Fellow in 2000 and a Senior Visiting Fellow in African Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan and was on the Adjunct Faculty of the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, USA, between 2001 and 2005.
He was a member of the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, New York and African Security Sector Network. He was Technical Adviser to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (known as the Oputa Panel) and also served on three Presidential Advisory Committees on Conflict Management and Security Sector Reform; NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
An advocate of true federalism, Fayemi has written and lectured extensively on governance and democratization. He is also a recipient of several awards, fellowships and grants including the Ford Foundation grant on the Special Initiative on Africa and the Macarthur Foundation research grant. He was named Governor of the Year, 2011, by the Leadership Newspaper.
With forty and eight fruitful years in the kitty, the music has just started for Fayemi – the one Ekiti people love to call “Ilufemiloye ”.
By Olayinka Oyebode
Oyebode is Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekiti State.
Last modified: February 9, 2013
