by Michael Orodare
Fayemi has failed the teachers, the entire state workforce, the students and even the artisans, so who else is left in the state to give him the votes he needs for his second term ambition.
I am not a prophet. I didn’t write this to proclaim what God has not told me, it’s a reflection of what any close observer knows would happen in Ekiti state 2014 governorship election.
Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections are political battles to watch out for in 2014, those elections will prepare us for the 2015 general elections and to some extent, serve as another litmus test for the Prof Jega-manned INEC. As observers have predicted, the outcome of the 2014 elections would mark the end and the beginning of a new political era, not only in Nigeria.
In Ekiti state, although the incumbent governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has not officially declared to run for second term, but it is expected of him to try his luck. Unlike in Ondo state where the incumbent, Dr Olusegun Mimiko triumphed after a tough political battle, recent developments from Ekiti have also revealed that the Ekiti governorship election would be a strict contest among the three major political parties in the state, the ACN, Labour Party and the PDP, as it was in Ondo; but Fayemi will not win.
It’s so unfortunate that barely three years of Fayemi in office, the tides have changed. It’s now so clear to all that he could not live up to the hype he received when he was sworn-in as governor of the state some years ago, judging by what is happening in the state now. Looking back at October 2010, when he was sworn-in, it’s quite evident that he has fallen short on the people’s expectations.
Fayemi has betrayed the trust reposed in him by Ekiti state people, and the people are so eager to show him the way out of the government house come 2014. Good for him, he knows how to use the media for propaganda, he can’t afford to fail in that area, with his background in media practice, especially during the Abacha days. Alas, gone are those days when propaganda wins election. If elections were won with propaganda and media onslaught, then the ACN shouldn’t be a regional champion, it ought to be controlling all the states in Nigeria; if it is by propaganda, then Mimiko shouldn’t have been re-elected as the governor of Ondo state, with the media onslaught unleashed on him by the ACN, before, during and after the Ondo governorship election.
We are now in the age where people don’t just consume what they hear or see on the pages of newspapers and Television, we now verify information before consuming them. No amount of propaganda can deter the people from making their choice.
Fayemi has failed the teachers, the entire state workforce, the students and even the artisans, so who else is left in the state to give him the votes he needs for his second term ambition. Is it the local government and primary health workers who recently embarked on a-two-month strike because the governor failed to implement the payment of the N18,000 minimum wage? While a neighbouring state like Ondo is already paying N22,000. Or the teachers he forced to take a competency test for reasons best known to him alone? To mention but few.
The governor was swift to commission projects during his second anniversary, but majority of these projects were projects which have been completed some months before he became governor, some of the road projects featured in the newspapers and other media were already being used months before he came into office.
Lately, Governor Fayemi has been exhibiting some traits of a failed and sinking government; political intolerance, which is inimical to his second term ambition. If he truly believes in his performance as he has claimed, then why the frequent political war with members of opposition parties and even within his own ACN.
Now that the die has been cast, there is no better time for the LP to win Ekiti state election, than in 2014, the song on the lips of the majority of Ekiti residents is; ‘go to Ondo and see the wonders their governor is doing,’ Mimiko has laid the foundation, it is now left to the leadership of the party both at the state and national levels to build on this solid foundation already laid by Mimiko.
Kudos to President Goodluck Jonathan for restoring hope in our electoral process, now the richest party with a wrong candidate can lose woefully in an election. It’s now about the will and choice of the people. If elections were to be won with money, I mean huge amount of money in billions of naira, then Governor Mimiko wouldn’t have won the last election, considering the billions of naira allotted to the ‘capture Ondo State’ mission of the ACN in the October 2012 governorship election in Ondo State, which ended as a total fiasco.
The LP might not be as financially strong as the ACN, but it has all what it takes to wrest power from the failed ACN government in Ekiti state, if the Mimiko’s already laid foundation is properly utilised.
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Michael Olanrewaju Orodare has worked in the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the Ondo State Governor as a Media Assistant. He has garnered experience writing in the The Nation Newspaper working with the paper’s Sunday Desk. He blogs at www.michaelorodare.blogspot.com and tweets from @MichaelOrodare
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
You may be right but Fayemi seems to be more intelligent than you can imagine.He will create a scene and before you know it, he is in his second term in office.Shine your eyes.
This man is out of job and is on a desperate 'notice me' mission so his former boss can engage him as an online rascal. He knows he could not perform as a media aide working with Mimiko and is ready to settle for engagement as one of the purveyors of lies ahead of the 2014 Ekiti elections – the only qualification for that is to prove your nuisance value.
Your postulations and predictions Mr. Man are so shallow that it can't alter the convictions of the generality of Ekiti people who have tasted tangibly what good governance is – it is sweet in the mouth of the students who enjoy free education up to secondary school level, it is sweet in the mouth of over 400 thousand people that have been covered under the free health missions as well as the women,aged and children who enjoy free health, it is free in the mouth of over 20thousand aged above 65 years old who receive 5thousand a month under the social security program, it is sweet in the mouth of all the businesses springing up and thriving due to improved road infrastructure, streetlights etc, it is sweet in the mouth of people in Ekiti and not yeye people like you.
Fayemi has done in Ekiti what no one before him has done. He has shown capacity to understand issues and deploy well thought out responses that would stand the test of time. Unlike Mimiko who embarks on 'projects for show', lavishing Ondo's tremendous resources, Fayemi manages the meagre resources Ekiti has to get the greatest bang on the buck. While Mimiko would spend huge resources for a single health project with limited coverage, Fayemi would spread resources over all the health centres all over the state to ensure they are functional. So while Mimiko would bring people to come and see his 'American wonder projects', the people in the localities are excluded due to distance and other factors. On the other hand, Fayemi is making all health centres functional because he knows what Mimiko, a trained doctor doesn't, the greatest impact a government in developing economies can have is on primary healthcare – once you get that right, you have fewer people needing tertiary healthcare attention. All this is probably too much for you to understand, just get the current sub-national healthcare indices and other HDIs in Nigeria and do an analysis of the impact of Fayemi's administration, you would become gentle. I wish I had more time to bash you yeye boy who ran away from his master and is seeking a humble return. Yeye dey smell for your body
What a bias reportage!You're comparing Ondo with Ekiti,u are a disgrace to all my people in Ekiti state,except those that have been blindfolded by political inclination that do not seen anything good in what JKF has done so far..If Mimiko cannot complete less than 3km Arakale road in almost four years he has spent.Why can't you give it to d person of JKF that have completed alot of roads projects within 3yrs.Both Iroko and Fayemi are working,but their programmes are different.Had it been that Ekiti is the one collecting what Ondo is getting from federal allocation,including 13% derivation,I wonder how Ekiti would have been by now.
" If elections were won with propaganda and media.
onslaught, then the ACN shouldn’t be a regional champion, it ought to be controlling all the states in Nigeria; if it is by propaganda, then Mimiko shouldn’t have been re-elected as the governor of Ondo state, with the media onslaught unleashed on him by the ACN, before, during and after the Ondo governorship election".
You didn't even pretend to mask your malice against ACN. Though I think your regional champion status hauled at ACN because they haven't won all the 36 states there are is quite myopic. I sincerely believe objectivity should form the soul of articles of this nature. You should be witty enough to tilt the sentiment of your reading audience towards the idea you are selling. Nothing wrong in calling out a party's pitfalls, but you gotta write in such a way to lead the audience to draw up the conclusion.
That said, I think you can do better next time, meanwhile I think Ondo state is working.
@countproject
Thanks for your dubious and lie write-up Mr. Michael. I m also an Ekiti man, living in Ekiti right frm many years and I have seen and witnessed different govenment regime in Ekiti with their achievements but so far so good Mr Kayyode Fayemi has worked perfectly than any previous govt in Ekiti State. Talk abt development in Education-scholl renovation and computarization, politic, infrastrutural dev., health sector, agriculture, econimic. Also, there is an accountability and transpperency, and so many develpoment dat I can't even mention. I read your write-up with a great amazement bt I m nt suprise at all to see such ppl like you saying such just coz u don't benefit personally frm his govt which has succeded over politic of chop make I chop politic of ppast administrations. All of us shall be alive to see wot would in Ekiti State come 2014. I thank you so much coz I believe ur write-up will also bring a positive gain to the ppresent govt to achieve more by God Grace come 2014 u are talking abt. Forward ever for Ekiti State backward never.
Thanks for your dubious and lie write-up Mr. Kayode. I m also an Ekiti man, living in Ekiti right frm many years and I have seen and witnessed different govenment regime in Ekiti with their achievements but so far so good Mr Kayyode Fayemi has worked perfectly than any previous govt in Ekiti State. Talk abt development in Education-scholl renovation and computarization, politic, infrastrutural dev., health sector, agriculture, econimic. Also, there is an accountability and transpperency, and so many develpoment dat I can't even mention. I read your write-up with a great amazement bt I m nt suprise at all to see such ppl like you saying such just coz u don't benefit personally frm his govt which has succeded over politic of chop make I chop politic of ppast administrations. All of us shall be alive to see wot would in Ekiti State come 2014. I thank you so much coz I believe ur write-up will also bring a positive gain to the ppresent govt to achieve more by God Grace come 2014 u are talking abt. Forward ever for Ekiti State backward never.
Nice one, I will just advice Fayemi to just shelve any plan of 2nd term he might have, cos we won't vote him. @ Lanre Oluwaseun, pls do you live in Ekiti and we would appreciate if you can just bring out the lies in the article.
apparently, a lie laced article written by a Mimiko agent.