To those who know Dr John Kayode Fayemi, the present Governor of Ekiti State, he is a man who has come to fulfill his destiny as an administrator per excellence and has been doing this perfectly well.
In addition, Fayemi is also a man who has, along the line, paid his dues and he also got himself ready for all the assignments fate has been pushing towards him since he became an adult.
Today, the leader of leaders has turned 55 years of age and he will tell whoever cares to listen that the ‘little’ he has achieve came from direct inspiration from God.
But how did the Kayode-Fayemi phenomenon emerge?
According to Wikipedia, John Olukayode Fayemi, born on February 9, 1965 is a native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government of Ekiti State, Nigeria.
He previously held the office of the Governor of Ekiti State between 2010 and 2014. He resigned as the Minister of Solid Minerals Development on 30 May 2018 to contest for the Ekiti State governorship election for the second time, an election perceived to be a battle between himself and his political rival, Ayodedle Fayose.
Earlier in life, Fayemi attended Christ’s School Ado Ekiti from 1975-1980 and received degrees in History, Politics and International Relations from the Universities of Lagos and Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and his Doctorate in War Studies from the King’s College, University of London, England, specializing in civil-military relations.
Kayode Fayemi is a former Director of the Centre for Democracy & Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa.
Prior to his establishment of the Centre, he worked as a lecturer, journalist, researcher and Strategy Development adviser in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
He was Strategy Development Adviser at London’s City Challenge; research fellow at the African Research & Information Bureau in London, UK, reporter with the newspapers, The Guardian and City Tempo, editor of the political monthly, Nigeria-Now, management consultant at Development and Management Consultants and lecturer at the Police College in Sokoto, Nigeria.
Kayode Fayemi has lectured in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has also served as an adviser on transitional justice, regional integration, constitutionalism, security sector reform and civil-military relations issues to various governments, inter-governmental institutions and development agencies. He was the main technical adviser to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel), which investigated past abuses and currently serves on the Presidential Implementation Committees on Security Sector Reform, NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals. He was technical expert to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on small arms and light weapons and United Nations Economic Commission of Africa on governance issues. He is also a member, Africa Policy Advisory Panel of the British Government. At other times he has served as a consultant to the OECD on Security Sector Reform and chaired the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s Committee of Experts on developing guiding principles and mechanisms of constitution making in Commonwealth Africa.[citation needed]
Kayode Fayemi is a Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan, Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., USA. He was also a Visiting Professor in the African Studies Programme at Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004. Dr Fayemi serves on numerous Boards including the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, African Security Sector Network, and on the Advisory Board of the Global Facilitation Network on Security Sector Reform and on the Management Culture Board of the ECOWAS Secretariat.
Fayemi has written on governance and democratization, civil-military relations and security sector issues in Africa. Among his recent books are: Deepening the Culture of Constitutionalism: The Role of Regional Institutions in Constitutional Development in Africa (CDD, 2003), Security Sector Governance in Africa: A Handbook (edited with Nicole Ball, CDD, 2004) and Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Nigeria (CDD, 2005).
After three and a half years fighting through the legal system, on 15 October 2010 the appeal court sitting in Kwara state declared Fayemi the duly elected Governor of Ekiti State, and marked the end of Olusegun Oni’s administration as the then Governor of the state. Daily Trust, a national daily, captured the electoral journey in its editorial, published on Friday, 22 October 2010 under the title, Closure to Ekiti 2007 Governorship Saga.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was on Saturday 14 April 2014 endorsed as the governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the state’s gubernatorial elections slated for 21 June 2014. The emergence of the Fayemi was preceded by congress held before the governor who had no contestant was endorsed as the flag bearers of their state in the governorship elections. Kayode Fayemi was defeated at the polls on 21 June 2014 by previous governor Ayodele Fayose.
Fayemi recontested for second term as Ekiti state governor under the platform of the All Progressive Congress in the 14 July 2018, governorship election after resigning as the Minister of Solid Minerals Development.
He was officially declared as the winner of the Governorship election in Ekiti state by the Independent National Electoral Commission on 15 July 2018. He won by 19,345 votes against the Peoples Democratic Party’s Kolapo Olusola Eleka who was second.[7][8] He was officially sworn-in as Ekiti State governor for the second time, on 16 October 2018, at the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion, Ado Ekiti.
In his tribute to his boss, Fayemi’s Senior Special Assistant on Policy, Strategy and Speech, Mr Gboyega Ajayi submitted that “Dr. John Kayode Fayemi is like the proverbial elephant being held at different sides by several blindfolded individuals. Each of them would describe the elephant based on the side they held. This truism suffices for our subject of celebration today. There is no word or phrase that can effectively describe JKF, as every encounter unfolds different sides to this iconic personality”.
Gboyega Ajayi continued in the tribute made available to Parrot Xtra/PMParrot.com “Within the academic, he is revered for his depth of mind and intellectual fecundity; within the social settings, he is a cautious dove who would always like to wade off attention. At the barricade of struggle, he is a warrior leading the intellectual wing of the agitation for the entrenchment of good governance and freedom from any form of oppression. Within the political circle, he is a maverick strategist and defender of the plight of common man. At home, he is a caring father and loving husband.
“This God given gift to humanity…is urbane yet humane, blunt yet harmless, shrewd yet patient, workaholic yet frisky, strict yet compassionate, assertive yet attentive, bold yet shy, accountable yet generous, finicky yet approachable, eloquent yet reticent and erudite yet respectful. He is what I called a total package.
“The hallmark of a great man is not measured in the number of castles he built but by the number of lives he touched. Working closely with JKF has both been educative and inspiring. I celebrate you today, as always. Happy birthday to a leader, boss and teacher in a million. May the years ahead be better than the previous. Congratulations sir”.
What else can we add here other than to wish the erudite Nigerian politician the very best in the years ahead. Happy, happy birthday to Dr Kayode Fayemi.
Packaged by Olayinka Agboola
