In An Exclusive Interview With EMMANUEL ADENIRAN, the Commissioner For Information And Value Orientation in Ekiti State, Honourable Akinbowale Omole highlights some of the programmes and projects already executed by the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi and those still in the pipeline among other issues.
Excerpts:
Thanks for agreeing to speak with us sir. Our readers will like you to briefly dwell a little bit about yourself, your background, your academic background and your working experience.
Thank you. I am from Oye Ekiti, in Oye local government of Ekiti State. I was born at Owo in Ondo State. I started my Primary School at Akure, my parent later moved to Ikare Akoko and later to Ikole Ekiti. By the time I entered the Secondary School, we were already in Ikole Ekiti. I attended Egbe Oba High School, Ikole Ekiti, I later attended Christ School, Ado Ekiti for my Higher School (HSC) programme.
Thereafter, I went to the University of Lagos where I studied Law and graduated in 1991. I attended the Nigeria Law School in Lagos and I was called to Bar. That was exactly 28 years ago.
And after my NYSC programme, I later attended Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) again for my Master’s Degree Programme in Law. And I will say I also became an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN).
Do you wish to talk about your experiences in Law practice?
I practiced in Lagos as a junior in a Chamber and after which I later joined the Ministry of Justice in Ondo State.
Which Chamber Sir?
Kayoola Ayileye and Co at Obafemi Awolowo Road at Ikeja, it was from that place I came to Akure in 1994 and I joined the Ministry of Justice as a Senior Legal Officer. I was there briefly and I had to leave and start legal practice on my own before I came to Ekiti to contest for the House of Assembly in Ekiti State. I joined government as a Member of the House of Assembly in 1999 where I served as Majority Leader, first man for that matter in Ekiti State and after my tenure as a Member of the House of Assembly, I was a Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Special Adviser on Special Duties and a Cabinet Member between the year 2003 to 2006. I was the Special Adviser again in 1999 under the Interim Government of the Acting Governor Tunji Olurin then. I was a Director General under Segun Oni regime. That was in 2009/2010. I was also the State Chairman of the Labour Party in Ekiti State and among other things. And presently, I am currently the Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation in Ekiti State. I was appointed on the 24th August, 2020 and sworn in on the 31st of August 2020.
Sir, since you assumed the office and even before, can you highlight some of the giant strides of the Dr. John Kayode Fayemi-led administration in Ekiti State in the two years he has spent in this second term in the area of Education, Works and Infrastructures, Health and Agriculture.
How we started was to first emphasize on the fact that before October 2018, Ekiti was drifting to a level where it had become a great concern to an average Ekiti person. Our Values Systems had come down. Ekiti became a laughing stock in the Committee of States and all these are a lot of concern to the Ekiti people and that was the reason we came up with an idea of restoring our values and we have successfully done that in our two years now.
There are no more negative news about Ekiti State. And when we now come into the concrete issues that this government has achieved, we can talk about it in the Area of Education for instance, let me go to Primary Education for three out of the four years of the immediate past government. Like for example, before Dr. John Kayode Fayemi came up again for his Second Term as Governor in Ekiti State, none of the UBEC projects were executed and it was only when Governor Kayode Fayemi came into office that he paid the money we were supposed to pay for the counterpart funds for the UBEC projects. And since that time, that was how we started participating and today we have executed about 840 UBEC projects throughout the State.
Some of these projects executed include the Fencing of Primary Schools, Building of New Blocks of Classrooms in our Primary Schools, Renovation of Classrooms and Toilets. You can hardly see a Community or a Town in this State now that you will not see a UBEC project done there. Almost all the Schools are being touched by these projects and the only way you can really appreciate it is to visit these Schools and see things for yourself. There is also new Primary Schools that have been built in this regard and that is in the Area of Education.
If you go to the Ekiti State University (EKSU) for instance, when the Governor came into office; let’s talk about the College of Medicine for instance, there were some Students that had been enrolled in that School for about 10 years, they suffered the issue of accreditation of their courses, but when the Governor came back, all the necessary things needed to be done were done.
And accreditation was granted. Not only that, the Governor bought them the necessary equipments, bus and everything. And as I talk now, the Second Set at the College of Medicine graduated not too long ago.
I also want to talk about the College of Education. It has now been upgraded to a University status because of what we saw in that place. Some people are now asking how we are going to cope financing a new University when we say we don’t have money.
Previously, what the Ekiti State Government had been doing was that it entered into an agreement with another University, which is the UNN to be precise. Despite the fact that it was a College of Education, they have been running a Degree Programme there in collaboration with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). We discover that the number of those seeking admission for their NCE programmes has drastically reduced and the Students only apply there for their UNN degree programmes in Ikere Ekiti. And they have more than 70% competent lecturers with their Ph.Ds.
So, that is why we considered upgrading the College of Education to make it an independent Degree Awarding Institution. And also because, over time, the School Fees collected there used to go to the UNN. Only some peanuts and crumbs come here. So, these are the reasons that we had to look at this to give them autonomy and also upgrade them to a University so that, on their own, they can award Certificates in Degrees without having to rely on the UNN again.
So, it is not a question of trying to expand the School unnecessarily, but to give them the power to operate as a University. This necessitated for a bill which went through the Ekiti State House of Assembly before it was passed and assented to too by the Governor and the school was also renamed as the Bamidele Olomilua University, Ikere Ekiti.
For the Health Sector, if you go to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, it is now wearing a new look. All the facilities there have been upgraded and painted. The buildings have been rehabilitated and some new Departments have been created. You cannot appreciate what a new government has been doing if you did not compare it with the situation it was before. Where you are talking to me now was an abandon project of a government – this building and the other one that is next to it was an abandoned project and was recently completed by Governor Kayode Fayemi and also the new Oja Oba Market has been completed too and several other things that were abandon also completed.
In terms of roads, go to Aramoko and Erijiyan Ekiti. The government is working there on the road and also the new Ado Ekiti to Iyin Ekiti road, we are working there. We are also working on the Agbado Ekiti to Omuo Ekiti road, Ilupeju Ekiti to Ire Ekiti road. We are also working on the Igbemo Ekiti to Ijan Ekiti road. The other one is the Isan Ekiti to Otun Ekiti road, we are working there and several other small roads project that are going on within the Ado Ekiti metropolis.
These are the achievements of this present government in the area of road projects. Unless if there is any other specific areas that you want me to throw light into, I will do but what I want our people to always bear in mind is the revenue accruable and available to the State Government. If despite the little revenue that is available to the state government, the government is still able to achieve all these, you can know how prudent this government is.
Let me talk about Water. Presently, the Ekiti State Government under the Dr. John Kayode Fayemi led-administration is in collaboration with the World Bank. If you go to Iworoko Ekiti road, you will see a gigantic building and that is the headquarter of the new water board and every town you go, you will see someone digging to put pipe there so that every home will have access to water in Ekiti State. That is an ongoing project and before this government winds up, this project will be completed.
What about the Agricultural Sector?
On the Agricultural Sector, the State government has cleared a very large expanse of land, particularly in the Northern Senatorial Zone of the State and it is for every interested Ekiti people willing to farm. I want all our young boys to go into this to reduce the level of unemployment in the State.
What is the Ekiti State government doing about the activities of the Fulani herdsmen who usually destroy farm products?
You won’t hear that again because we have worked very hard to put a stop to all that now. One thing about us is that, these are not issues where a Governor will just come to radio station saying I was there myself and make noise, no. It is not about politicising everything, it is not everything we should turn into propaganda.
The issue is, it is the duty of the government to ensure that there is safety of life. We are working within the law and ensure there is safety of life, you won’t hear all this noise again, and this is because our Government is already taking full responsibilities for it.
Amotekun Corps have been launched in Ekiti State and they are in their stations working already. If you go there as I am speaking to you now, you will see them working day and night. So, it is only when we have some security breaches that we will now make some noise, but we go into preventive measures most of the times. When those things are prevented, you won’t hear any noise and life goes on.
Also, Sir, there was a time a crisis occurred in EKSU about getting subventions and the issues of salary payment of workers there. I will like you to briefly shed light on this.
One thing I know about EKSU is that there is much of Industrial crises there. The subventions are being paid, but if we say it is not sufficient to handle the issue, it will be understandable. But I want to tell you that the government is having issue with even how taxes are being collected from that place. Even on the IGR there, and you know those Public Institutions will want to claim autonomy and be financial independent. If they are financially independent, then, we have to consider issues about their revenues and expenditures but as far as the Ekiti State Government is concerned, we are still putting money there. The EKSU Authorities have to be accountable to the State Government concerning every Revenues, even the monies they collect from the Students there must be accounted for and I thinking there are internal workings that are going on there to regularize this accounting system there so that all parties can be happy and I can assure you that all these things will be sorted out soonest.
Also, Sir, recently, we learnt that there is a kind of fraudulent activities by some Staff members in charge of collecting school fees. We gathered that some Students went on the Social Media complaining that some of the Staff members there are collecting School Fees from them are diverting it to their personal pocket and asking them to repay. Your reaction to this Sir.
That question is better thrown at the Management of Ekiti State University (EKSU). I only Speak for the Ekiti State Government. EKSU is an Institution on its own. The University has its own Law precisely and there is a Vice Chancellor that Heads the place. They have autonomy and I cannot be talking about the internal happenings in that place.
Some of your people in Ekiti State have been saying that the Fayemi-led government is not tolerant of criticism… Do you wish to react to this?
That is not true, we welcome criticism. What can we do, it’s about democracy. It is a question of fun and that is the beauty of democracy. No government can be more tolerance than us in terms of how we handle the opposition.
On a final note, I will like you to let us know how the Ekiti State Government is tackling the issue of kidnapping… How has your government been handling this issue?
Those security issues are not something that are actually discussed in the public like every other thing. There is a limit to what I can say on the security issues.
Firstly, I am not an expert in that field. And secondly, we don’t volunteer much of information concerning security to the public.
All I can say at this level is the fact that we are taking drastic measures. We are making some efforts to ensure that the State is properly policed and guarded against any external or even internal attacks. It is also the duty of the citizens to give information about any threats to peace they observe in their areas or around them.
It is the duty of the residents – whenever they see a criminal around them, they should always endeavor to inform the Police in time. There must be collaboration between the government and the police and other security agents. As we speak, there is going to be a forum soon where a former Inspector General of Police will be in Ekiti State to talk to various stakeholders on how to ensure adequate security, community policing particularly in the whole community to ensure that we don’t abandon our responsibilities. It is one thing for the government to take some steps, it is for the people again to appreciate this and cooperate with us in ensuring all these things do not occur again in our State.
Your closing remark Sir…
The most important thing I will always say when we talk about government is that the government cannot exist without the people. It is the outcome of the election that puts the government in place and the work does not stop after the election. It is a continuous thing, that is, when the government plays their own role. The people must as well play their own role and it is the combination of these two roles that we can say we are having a government.
Every citizen must pay their taxes, it is not good to say that because I don’t work in government, there is no need for me to pay taxes. We don’t have to forget that it is not those who work in the government that tar our roads. We have taken some things for granted; we want to feel that government does everything. From where does the income come from? We should be educated enough and everybody must be interested, we don’t have to say that government must do this or that without our corresponding roles.
Our major roles should be how to pay our taxes regularly as good citizens. Also, we must always endeavor to obey the laws. The laws are not there for window-dressing and every effort of the government must be understood by the people.
