As the race to the All Progressive Congress (APC) primary election for Ekiti state governorship contest gathers momentum, John Ajayi who reviews the pre-primary political intrigues writes on the need to change the narration.
John Kayode Folorunsho Fayemi, minister of Solid Minerals and Steel Development, aka JKF, is an enigma. Reason? Ever since his first term tenure as the governor of Ekiti state between 2011 and 2015, he has remained a political colossus in the politics of the state which prides itself as the fountain of knowledge.
To be sure, anyone who is familiar with the pedigree of Fayemi, would readily attest to the fact that JKF is no stranger to struggle. An accomplished scholar and renowned human rights activist, JKF actually struggled hard to reclaim his initial victory at the polls through a legal tango with then rival and former governor, Oluwasegun Oni, hitherto of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in the state.
Upon securing his stolen mandate, he became the chief helmsman in Ekiti state. This call to service inspired governor Fayemi to put in his best while in the saddle. Available records reveal that his sterling performance and quality leadership turned around the fortunes of the state which was hitherto in a state of quandary with stunted economic growth and development.
During his tenure in office, he literally transformed and repositioned the state such that the state got high ratings in terms of efficiency, transparency and competitiveness amongst the states of Nigeria, even as the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business’ report put Ekiti among the five leading states that had made remarkable progress in all indices of doing business with ease.
While the state had been ranked 34th before his administration came on board, Fayemi’s midas touch gave the state the needed fillip that catapulted it to the fifth position on the progress index.
However, his re-election bid was thwarted by the “famous electronic rigging” that brought the current governor Peter Ayodele Fayose to power. Again, Fayose who had once served half term as governor of Ekiti under PDP, got his first term tenure truncated through an impeachment.
Now that the administration of Fayose is about to eclipse due to a pending governorship contest in the state, come July 14, 2018, JKF has again indicated his intention to recontest with the hope of finishing up the tasks he had earlier set for himself before the Fayose interregnum.
As it were, his attempt at a second coming has not only sent jitters down the spines of the opposition political party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, the expression of interest to contest the election has become a major ache for political rivals in the fold of the All Progressive Congress, APC in the state. Notwithstanding that JKF belongs to the same political party with his rivals, he has not been spared the bitter bile of political players in the state, many of whom saw him as a pain in the neck because of his political prominence and inimitable political structure at the grassroots level. It is in view of this that there have been strident calls on him not to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Whereas Part IIA, subsection 177 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 allows and qualifies JKF to contest for the exalted office of Governor of Ekiti state, most of his critics have been dubiously canvassing against Fayemi’s bid for a re-election. While not oblivious of the provisions of this aspect of the constitution, the political rivals of JKF, have since dominated both the social and traditional media in the desperate move to prevent or at best discourage the human rights activist-turned politician, from exercising his constitutional rights. What is most ludicrous about the arguments and explanations on why the self-appointed critics would wish JKF not to contest, is the fact that they love him so much and would not want him to be rubbished at the polls by the same Ekiti electorates whom JKF served meritoriously in his first term.
One of the critics once wrote in an mumbo-jumbo article, arguing that “each time I write, I never doubted the quality and competence of Fayemi to govern Ekiti State again and again, and that is never reflected in my arguments… I write this as someone who admires Fayemi and thinks he has had a distinguished career in the Nigerian politics”. Not done, the critic argued, “I have been particularly concerned about the timing (of recontesting) I see Fayemi as deeply soaked in hostilities this time around and a lot of arrows darted towards him and his ambition to govern Ekiti again. And I see Fayemi as too suave and too strategic but too naïve to face the attack. I therefore, strongly wish he doesn’t swim against the tide this time’’. Judging from the aforementioned, it appears most of the critics of JKF have no issues they could hang on his neck other than their hidden agenda to coerce and possibly force JKF into a lazy submission to their whims. Aside the mischief that hallmarks critics’ over-worn melodies that Fayemi should not contest, impeccable sources have revealed a deep seated fear and apprehension amongst some hitherto friends and ex-political aides who nurture the fear that JKF’s second coming will probably relegate them and permanently condemn them into political oblivion. The fear which those who are very close to JKF and his humane nature have dubbed unfounded, emanated from a series of betrayals and conspiracies which some of these old friends and associates had earlier wrought against their former principal and benefactor. Political pundits on Ekiti can readily attest to the politics of betrayals behind the under-currents of APC crisis in Ekiti state long before now.
The politics of betrayals began shortly after JKF ‘lost’ the re-election bid to Governor Fayose in 2014. Thinking that his loss in the contest would eclipse Fayemi’s political future and diminish his status, some of his ex-aides and associates jumped ship to partner his political foes. Fortuitously, rather than suffer political set-back, JKF’s political equity regained momentum with his appointment as the Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by President the Muhammed Buhari administration. With this ministerial appointment, JKF’s political status got a major fillip, as he was not just one of those ministers, but one with the “Royal blood” of PMB dynasty.
As the Minister of the Federal Government, he never abandoned his people at the grassroots, neither did he jettison his political structure in the state. He also never took the party for granted, as he continued to pay their salaries and attend to their welfare. This selfless and philanthropic gesture also endeared him to some members of the exco and a large majority of loyal party men. Although it cannot be safely said that the state excos are 100 percent loyal to him, yet JKF never gave up. He resisted all temptations and persuasions to get the state exco dissolved at all costs by desperate politicians who felt the party officials would be loyal to him. With the betrayals that have become the lot of JKF through a few members of the party and some of his ex-aides, it has become crystal clear to all doubting Thomases that indeed JKF is not a political push-over as he is ever focused and strategic.
Now that JKF has indicated intention to recontest for the second time, the naysayers should hold their peace. They should desist from engaging in unsolicited counsels and advise, after all there can be no good reason to cry more than the bereaved.
Why, for God sake, should anybody in his right senses be counselling JKF, the quintessential “Omoluabi” of Ekiti origin not to contest the forthcoming elections, when his popularity has continued to soar. His political brand equity has continued to grow, as can be attested to by the rousing welcome and the huge crowd that accompanied him to the APC secretariat at Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti on 14th April, 2018 when he went to collect his expression of interest form and declared his intention to contest the party’s primary election for the governorship election slated for next month.
It was a complete lock down in Ado Ekiti metropolis on that fateful Saturday, as thousands of party supporters and residents trooped out enmasse to accompany the “Great son of the Soil” to the party secretariat. Party supporters mobilised themselves from across all the 17 local government areas of the state.
How else can a politician’s popularity and acceptance by the electorate be measured than this? Which of the new and old entrants in the contest for the slot of Ekiti state governorship ticket can galvanise or mobilise such a huge crowd?
It is time to change the narration. It is time to engage on what will profit us as a race and not what will ruin us. The time is now. Let us all remember that we are a trustees of posterity. We need to work together to rescue Ekitiland from the brood of vipers. The time is now.
Kelvin Oke
