Victor Ogunje, in this analysis of the second term tenure of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state which ends on October 16, 2022, says the regime failed to live up to the expectations of people in the state known as fountain of knowledge
On October 16, 2018 when the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, was sworn in for a second term tenure, the expectations were high and disillusionment was palpable due to the parlous state of the economy and mistrust between the populace and government .
The mood was saddening then in the sense that virtually all the sectors of the economy seemed neglected and disappointed due to dashed hopes and serious alienation they suffered in the hands of governments; local government, state and federal levels.
Before Fayemi’s enigmatic and wondrous return, the civil servants and pensioners were groaning under the pangs of irregular payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities.
During the maiden interface the governor held with the civil servants, it was revealed that a cummulative debt of N57 billion had been accumulated under this context.
At that point, reality dawned on the governor that leading Ekiti will not be bed of roses. This rests on the premise that the civil service is the engine room of the state’s economy and whatever affects that segment will trickle down to all strata of the state and that was exactly how pitiful and forlorn the situation was then.
Most disturbing was the youth restiveness that was gradually taking the centrestage due to alarming rate of unemployment in Ekiti state. Statistics revealed that as of 2017, Ekiti had one of the highest graduate unemployment rate in the country and this reflected in pervasive incidence of internet crime, kidnapping and ritual killings that crept into Ekiti and started spreading in alarming fashion.
Several groups; including artisans, farmers, traders and the private sectors, also felt a dose of uneasiness and excruciating pains in the system.
Under the immediate past government of Ayodele Fayose, banks like Guarantee Trust Bank and Access bank were closed down on the order of government for allegedly failing to remit expected taxes to the state. The banks, however, justified their actions citing cases of security threats and government’s suspected laxity to tame the raging monster.
However, as stroppy as the situation seems to be, Governor Fayemi was optimistic that all will be well. During his interface with the civil servants, the governor gleefully agreed to defray the N57 billion owed the workers and pensioners within a spate of 12 months. This impressive talk ignited wild applause and triggered high expectations within the civil service fold.
At that parley, the triumvirate of the Chairmen of Nigerian Labour Congress, Kolapo Olatunde; Trade Union Congress, Sola Adigun and Joint Negotiating Committee, Kayode Fatomiluyi, told Fayemi in clear terms that the only way for him to warm himself into the hearts of the civil servants is to defray this huge debt and rescue their colleagues from squalor and sufferings.
But reality later dawned on the people that Fayemi could only pay two months out of the seven months salary and pension arrears owed the local government staff and pensioners and two out of the four months indebtedness to the core civil servants. These the government hinged on the Covid 19 pandemic and dwindling allocations to the states.
This actually triggered disquiet within the ranks of retirees and workers. Their discordant tunes was largely and suspectedly responsible for the pattern of voting that dogged the outcome of the June 18, 2022 governorship poll, where the candidate of the weak Social Democratic Party, Segun Oni garnered an aggregate of 82,122 votes, to rank second ahead of the much stronger People’s Democratic Party.
As of today, the workers and pensioners have not readily forgiven Fayemi over their hanging benefits, particularly non payment of salary deductions to their cooperatives for loan opportunities.
Expressing their lividness and disenchantment over the hanging pension and gratuity, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Mr Olomi Akinola once threatened to sue the state government and secure a mandamus order to compel Fayemi to pay through any means.
Akinola said over 250 of his members had died within a spate of five years due to poor health conditions and lack of financial capacities to seek appropriate medication. The highly crestfallen pensioners’ leader added that as of December 31, 2021, the state government was owing them a staggering sum of N37.8 billion gratuity arrears, which, he said, further creates a lugubrious situation for members.
Akinola said: “We are not particularly happy with this government for not paying our gratuities. The last we received was in 2012 and many of us had died due to financial crisis. For how long are we going to endure this? If this is the way this government wants to continue, then we may have no choice than to sue them to fight for our fundamental rights”.
But as gloomy and bad the situation is, Governor Fayemi has a lot of good stories to tell to justify his actions. He didn’t waver in his insistence that his government has delivered on its campaign mantra to restore the values of Ekiti people and reclaim the land for progress and development.
Fayemi said Ekiti was still in the dungeon with a lot of challenges and that he had worked hard to reclaim the land for progress and development. He believes that four years down the line, he has discharged that duty to the best of his ability.
The Governor, who enumerated his achievements, explained that his administration had performed well in the areas of education, human capital development, health, social security, social amenities and infrastructural development across the State.
Knowing the venom and bad blood that exists in the civil service, the governor had at every opportunity defended his failure to defray the N57 billion salaries, gratuities and pensions arrears of workers and retirees as promised in 2018, hinging this on current economic downturn being experienced by the state.
Speaking sectorally during a thank you tour across the state, Fayemi stated that his government has constructed a total of 139 kilometres of roads in the last four years, while also undertaking some palliatives on the dilapidated federal roads to make them accessible for motorists.
Basking in euphoria that his government is “Finishing well”, the governor added that the current government had rehabilitated 14 general and state hospitals and had also initiated operation -one -primary -health centre- per- ward, in line with the design of National healthcare policy.
He said the parlous states of the federal roads in Ekiti was due to increased traffic from adjoining states, especially upsurge of haulage businesses and cross border trucks, which, he said, piled pressures on some of the highways to cave in.
Fayemi stated; “As of 2018 when I came on board, I had the intention of paying all these arrears. But budget support fund, Paris club, excess crude and other funds we were getting from the Federal Government stopped and we were only collecting monthly allocation. That was what actually stopped us from fulfilling this promise.
“We were still able to pay a part of it. We paid two out of the salary arrears. If our predecessor, who collected all these support funds could not pay, then we should ask questions. It is not our intention not to pay all these arrears. But we are glad that we have a government that is coming after us. If there are areas where we have not fulfilled our promises, the next government will start from there”.
Cataloguing the achievements of the present administration, Fayemi said: “Ekiti International Agro-Allied Cargo Airport is a dream comes true, not only for this administration, but also for Ekiti-kete and for the generation yet unborn. Though projected to be an Agro-Based Cargo airport, this does not foreclose commercial passenger operation.
“The Airport boast is CA5-9 4E category with capacity for Aircraft Boeing 747-400 and a runway length of 3.2km”.
Fayemi added that within the period under review, his government had completed projects which include dual-lane new Ado-Iyin road; construction of Ekiti State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja; reconstruction of Agbado-Ode-Isinbode road; construction of Aramoko-Erijiyan-Ikogosi road; construction of Oye-Ayede-Iye -Otun road and and; construction of Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo-road.
They include: Harding Memorial College, Oke-Isa, Ado-Ekiti. New SUBEB Headquarters, Secretariat Complex, Ado-Ekiti, EKZ Model School, Ijan-Road, Ado-Ekiti, Model School, Isan-Ekiti. Ekiti State Agro-Cargo International Airport, Ado-Ijan Way, Ado-Ekiti. Ikole Township Roads ((Bolorunduro Street—0.67km, Ave. width 5.7m; Olokonla Dualisation—1.6km, Ave. width 11.75m; Dualised road section—1.1km, Ave. width 12m”.
In the transport sector, the governor revealed that the government had constructed a Bus Terminal and Pedestrian Walkway/Drain Cover along Ijigbo-Okeyinmi Roundabout in Ado-Ekiti Central Business Area, while also making lives comfortable for the elderly by building Old people’s Resort, Ado-Ekiti.
Fayemi also disclosed that the government undertook massive renovation works at the General Hospitals in Emure, Aramoko, Ode, Oye, Otun, Ijero, Ikere, Ikole, Ise, Iyin and Omuo-Ekiti, to buoy healthcare delivery to the citizens.
He added that the state government is making efforts to tackle the menace of insecurity in the state, saying administrative bottlenecks was hindering the purchase of the much touted Drone to monitor the forests and checkmate marauding criminals.
The governor also rested his case by saying “whatever gaps we have left and rough edges to straighten, the next government will be formed by our party and I know that Biodun Oyebanji will perfect all our imperfections”.
As sweet and rewarding Fayemi’s scorecard seem to be, the opposition viewed it with a different prism. The opposition party’s State Publicity Secretary, Raphael Adeyanju in his rating, described the current government as a colossal failure.
Adeyanju said the parlous state of the roads, both state and federal owned ones, and failure of Fayemi to fulfil promises to workers and retirees, were enough evidence to prove that the current government has failed the populace.
He said the state has never been this terrorised by bandits and kidnappers in history adding that the state has become so unsafe to the extent that farmers could no longer go for farm, thereby causing skyrocketing prices of goods and agricultural products.
His words: “ This is the worst situation we have ever witnessed. Governor Fayemi collected over N150 billion in four years from the federation account, this is apart from the IGR, but he wasted the money on frivolities. The government didn’t do anything tangible that can benefit Ekiti.
“Many state owned roads like Aramoko-Ijero, Ikere-Igbara Odo, Ise-Ikere, Iluomoba-Ijesa Isu-Ikole are now impassable, while farmers in Oke Ako, Irele, Ipao, Ayetoro, Ewu and Orin Ekiti are afraid to go to their farms because of the fear of kidnappers and killers.
“Instead of fixing our roads, he was busy siting projects indiscriminately and misapplying our funds. Why should a governor set up another State Polytechnic when he could not pay the staff of the existing Ekiti State University? As of today, the EKSU workers only collect 60% of their monthly pay for the past two years. He only established the Polytechnic in his hometown to please his people, but not as a matter of priority.
“To show how insensitive Fayemi was, he disengaged his Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants and some board members and paid their severance allowances within a spate of three weeks even when some workers, who retired in 2012 have not been paid their gratuities. Was that what we call governance?”, Adeyanju asked.
Also espousing his views about Fayemi’s government, the Chairman, Trade Union Congress, Comrade Sola Adigun, said workers in Ekiti have been having a mixed feelings regarding what they experienced under the current government in the last four years.
Adigun said while the workers expressed ill-feelings over inability of the government to fulfil some promises, they however appreciate the governor for ensuring regular payment of workers’ salaries and implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage.
He said: “When Governor Fayemi came on board, our expectations were high. Our hopes were also raised when the Governor said he would defray the N57 billion salary, pension and gratuity arrears owed before he came, but this was not fully actualised and we can’t say we were happy about it.
“As of today, workers in the local government still have four months outstanding arrears of salaries. The same number of months were owed the pensioners, while the teachers and civil servants were owed two months. These were against our expectations that all will be paid in line with the agreement signed with the government.
“Even when we are happy that the N30,000 minimum wage was implemented to workers, but senior staff on grade level 15 and above have not enjoyed the consequential adjustment to their salaries. Again, we appreciate the government for implementing financial backing for the 2017 and 2018 promotions, but that of the 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 must be immediately effected by the incoming administration.
“As much as workers are not entirely happy over all our pending and unresolved payments, we have cause to be happy that we were able to realise some. The most interesting thing is that, while some states that have lesser issues were proceeding on several months of strike, we are happy that we have been cooperating with government despite our situation, because it is only under the atmosphere of peace that development can happen”, he said.
The State Commissioner for Information, Akin Omole, in his appraisal of the current government disagreed that Fayemi’s administration was a collosal failure.
Acvording to him: “The achievements of the present government goes a long way to disabuse the minds of skeptics that he has done well. The fact that his government was not collecting two allocations to pay one month salary was enough to rate him high. Fayemi has made the payment of salary a priority because Ekiti is majorly a civil service state.
“The legacy projects like the airport, social security scheme to elderly, construction of 139 kilometre roads, employment of over 5,000 into the service, implementation of N30,000 minimum wage, Obafemi Awolowo Civic and Convention Centre and others are evidence that Governor Fayemi is indeed finishing well”.
The reality now is that on October 16, the masquerade would be eventually unmasked. Whatever the people say afterwards would form the exact position about Fayemi’s performance, either good or bad.
