Prof. Adelabu

The office of the deputy governor became vacant following the death of Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, who died of breast cancer on April 6 at age 52.

The governor, in a letter dated May 3, 2013 and addressed to the Speaker of the Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, requested the lawmakers to consider Adelabu for the position of deputy governor.

It was learnt Adelabu, who will be 63 later in the month, was asked to be Fayemi’s running mate for the 2007 election but declined the offer because of her husband who was sick at the time.

After her husband died, she was appointed as SUBEB chairman in 2011.

Adelabu, a Professor of Education at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile –Ife, was Head of the Department of Education Administration and Planning of the institution before her appointment as the chairman of Ekiti State SUBEB in July 2011.

Adelabu, an Ado Ekiti princess was born on May 23, 1950 in Ado Ekiti to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Adepoju Adejugbe. She attended Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti (1962 – 1967) and Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo (1968 -1970). She holds a B.A. (Ed.) (1975); MPhil (1981); and PhD (1990), all from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife.

Adelabu started her teaching career as a graduate assistant in 1976 in the Department of Educational Administration and Planning, OAU, where she rose to become a professor in 2008. She served as Head of the Department of Educational Administration several times and also served as external examiner in some universities including the University of Ibadan; University of Lagos; University of Ilorin and Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.

She has served as council member of National Teachers’ Institute (2001 – 2003), council member, Christ International Divinity College (an affiliate of Acadia University Canada) Erinmo (2005 – 2010), member Planning and Implementation Committee Joseph Ayo Babalola University (2004 – 2005); and member of Council, Joseph Ayo Babalola University (2005 – 2010). She was also a foundation member of Ekiti State World Bank Assisted Poverty Reduction Agency (2000 – 2003) and member of Oxford Round Table, Oxford England, among other bodies.

She has been involved in consultancy work for the World Bank, Universal Basic Education Commission in Nigeria, United Kingdom Department for International Development and other international agencies.

-Punch

THE TASK OF THE LABOURER IS OVER: MRS. FUNMILAYO OLAYINKA

Today I am painfully sored. As I write this with grieving heart and from a broken heart on the passage to eternity of my dear sis, our own elegant stallion,heroine of repute, all of these epaulets and more well earned and deserved all through her sojourn on this side of the great divide.

The grim reaper has done its worst, leaving in its trail tears, wailings and grief! A devasted Governor, First lady,husband , children, parents, siblings and tens of thousands of political associates, friends and family.

As the flag of our state fly at half mast today signposting the demise of our deputy governor,sis mi as i used to call her most admirably and affectionately and she will reply “broda mi”, I have cause to revisit our time together through the struggle for the soul of Ekiti, she bore the struggle stoically and God rewarded her, us and Ekiti with victory after three and a half years, it was this that reinforced my strident defence when her death was first rumoured gleefully by politicians, but it never turned out so, we lost this battle, but Jehova knows best. Sis mi, Ma Yeside, Adunni, the story of the rebirth of Ekiti will be incomplete without you, on this we have won, death shame unto you.

Your task is over, the labourer is free from the earthly toils. Odigba. Beauty and brain.-

SIGNED: Hon Bimbo Daramola,
Representing Ekiti North Federal Constituency 1,
Dept Chairman, House Committee MDGs

Via Nation

It was learnt that the members sealed all entrances to the church and prevented worshippers from going in for service.

The tension was said to have been caused by the alleged demotion of the Vicar of the church, Rev. Mike Ogunniyi, by the Bishop of Ekiti West Anglican Diocese, Bishop Oludare Oke.

It was learnt that the demotion was caused by Oke’s opposition to the way the reverend administered a N5m donation to the church by Governor Kayode Fayemi.

The governor donated N5m to the church on January 25 during the funeral for the late Archbishop Abiodun Adetiloye, who was an indigene of the town.

Fayemi had said the money should be used for the furtherance of the gospel which Adetiloye lived and died for.

It was learnt that the bishop had ordered that the money should be deposited in a special fixed account, as an endowment fund.

The bishop’s order was said to have been given in anticipation that the money would yield an interest which would also be useful to the church.

It was gathered that Ogunniyi, in consultation with the leaders of the church, however, ignored the order and bought a N3m bus for evangelism, spent N1m on the renovation of the church and deposited the balance in the church’s account.

The actions were said to have provoked the bishop, who slammed him with a demotion from the position of archdeacon to a canon “for spending the church’s money without an approval”.

A source, who claimed to be a member of the church told PUNCH Metro in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, that the news of the demotion of the vicar prompted members of the church to seal the church and prevent worshippers from assembling for last Sunday service.

He said, “The crisis in the church also caused tension in the community. But some community leaders intervened before it could escalate.”

The church has, however, denied that the donation caused a crisis.

A statement by a member of the Church’s council, Mr. George Ogunjeta, said, “There is no crisis in St. Paul’s Millennium Anglican Church. Services have been holding in the church uninterrupted.”

Via Punch

The youths had alleged that the palace was unconcerned about the way some youths met their untimely death in the recent times. According to the protesters, no fewer than 12 youths had died this year alone, in rather strange circumstances.

While the monarch was trying to pacify them that the community would organise an interdenominational religious prayer session to curb the trend, the monarch was pelted with sachets of water and other dangerous objects while some of the chiefs received the beating of their lives.

Chiefs of the community were said to have removed their beads and found escape routes from the palace when the situation became uncontrollable. A prince of the community told newsmen: “I had to find my way out of the town through bush paths to nearby Ise-Ekiti community before I got a vehicle that ferried me to Ado Ekiti.”

The protesting youth were said to have listed several accidents that had taken the lives of young people of the town through motorcycle and sundry accidents, claiming that in the last two weeks, about 12 youths, who are indigenes of the community had died via road accidents.

They said: “Two undergraduates, who are indigenes of Emure-Ekiti died in a motorcycle accident in Ado Ekiti on Valentine’s Day; three persons also died in an accident on Ikere – Ise – Emure road on Wednesday when the vehicles they were travelling in had a head-on collision,” adding that “the three occupants of a Mazda salon car that collided with a Toyota Dyna truck died on the spot.”

Policemen that were initially drafted to the community were said to have been unable to contain the situation as the youths were said to have dared the policemen to shoot at them. It was gathered that the policemen “had to appeal to the youths to take things easy and allow peace to reign.”

The policemen were said to have come in two patrol vans.

Speaking on the protest, caretaker chairman of Emure Local Government Area, Mr. Adewale Febisola, said the protesters did not visit the council secretariat, but confirmed that they went to the palace and the market.

Febisola said: “I have met with them and told them to mellow down as the traditional council has assured that they will find a solution to the problem through prayer.” He urged the youths of the community and the entire council area to embrace peace, saying: “Only through peaceful means can we reach a lasting solution to the problem.”

Confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer of the Ekiti State police command, Mr. Victor Babayemi, said the incident “has been brought under control,” adding that “the police has restored normalcy in the town by preventing the escalation of the crisis.”

Babayemi urged the people of the town to go about their normal businesses, saying that the police were ready to ensure peace and normalcy in the town.

-Guardian

The governor made the donation at the ACN secretariat on Ajilosun Street in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the state, after meeting with the executive of the party led by the chairman, Chief Jide Awe.

Fayemi advised the leaders of the party to stand up and defend his administration by enlightening the people of the state on the reason why the government was implementing its policies.

The leaders of the ACN in the state, led by former Governor Niyi Adebayo, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin and the party chairman, have endorsed Fayemi for a second term in office.

The governor was endorsed on December 30 at the residence of Adebayo in Iyin-Ekiti, even as a member of the House of Representatives from the town, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, was rumoured to be nursing an ambition to run for governor in 2014.

Sources close to Bamidele told journalists that he would contest in 2014. But Fayemi and Bamidele have yet to declare their intention publicly.

Earlier Awe said the endorsement of Fayemi by the party’s leadership was based on performance and well earned by the latter.

Commenting on the recent dissolution of his cabinet, the governor said that there was nothing wrong in his action, adding that the time was already ripe for a review.

He said that he would consult widely before reconstituting the cabinet.

Also Fayemi dismissed the rumour that his deputy, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka had resigned her appointment, while denying that he was ferried out of the country in an air ambulance.

He described Ekiti as the number one rumour mill in Africa, saying that rumour-peddling must be discouraged in order to give room for more development in the state.

“We are about to enter a season of politics. It is the duty of the party’s leaders to defend the decisions of the government. They shouldn’t be the ones telling the people in the communities that he/she doesn’t know what is happening in the government,” he said.
-Punch

Findings by our correspondent on Monday showed huge police presence and checkpoints on some of the roads, especially on the Ado-Ekiti-Iyin-Ekiti Road.

Police sheds have also sprung up on the road, suggesting that their presence may not be short-lived.

Some of the patrol vans stationed at the checkpoints, were manned by riot policemen as well as other operatives from Federal Highway Patrol, Swift Response Squad and Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had on assumption of duty earlier in the year, banned police checkpoints across the country.

Some motorists, who spoke with our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, alleged that policemen at these checkpoints extorted money from them.

They further claimed that the return of checkpoints on the road was a violation of the order given by the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Mohammed.

Our correspondent also observed that youths with funny hair styles were being quizzed by the policemen at the checkpoints.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Victor Babayemi, said policemen were deployed in the areas to check the activities of bandits.

He said, “The men you see there are on stop and search to check the activities of bandits on the highways, especially on the Ado/Iyin Road.

“Also, there is an increased visible patrol to ensure hitch free festivities. No part of the Inspector-General of Police directive is breached. There is no roadblock but massive visibility patrol and thorough stop and search.”

The police had three months ago arrested a suspect, Dele Ajai, said to belong to a four-man gang that robbed at Akannasan, Iyin/Ado-Ekiti Road on May 18.

The gang was said to have snatched a Golf Volkswagen car at Akannasan and killed the owner.

A police officer, who was travelling to Iyin-Ekiti from Ado-Ekiti, was reportedly shot and wounded in the operation by the gang.

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Something is happening in Ekiti State that needs to be told. And I will, since I bear witness to it.

Quite a few folks, including my good friend and brother Femi Orebe and Sam Omatseye, both columnists in The Nation newspaper, have written volubly, extolling the “quiet revolution” going on in Ekiti State. It is difficult reading some of the stuff written by them and not think, ‘there’s some exaggeration afoot.’ I needed to be there to see with my own eyes.

I finally wrestled the demon of procrastination and made it to Ado-Ekiti last week, my first time there since Dr. KayodeFayemi became the governor two years ago.

Ekiti had really never been a favourite destination for me. Tucked within the heartland of the old West, it seemed its only distinguishing tourist feature was some “miracle of nature” somewhere in the denseness of the Ekiti forests at a village called Ikogosi, where cold and warm water springs out side by side from the ground into a running stream; and her only claim to fame was that old high school of excellence — Christ School, Ado-Ekiti — along with Ekiti’s renown as the land where every household has a PhD holder!

But, over the years, even those little graces had wilted and become virtually the stuff of distant memories. Ekiti land, with all its vaunted brains, had proved not immune to the malaise of a country gone to the dogs: although nature had remained faithful with its ‘miracle’ warm spring at Ikogosi, the forest had reclaimed its own and it would’ve taken a dare to venture there in a hurry (the way it was fun for me to do some 30 years or so ago). Christ School had become a sham, with neither ‘Christ’ nor ‘school’ in place. Gloom was evident all over the land, the roads were impassable, and even Ado-Ekiti had become no more than a glorified village!

In the few times I had strained to be in Ekiti in the last 10 years — essentially for one ceremony or the other of friends like the late Rufus Orisayomi and Akin Osuntokun — the experiences had been some ordeal.

But there was no mocking of Ekiti, the fate that befell her had befallen virtually the entire old West. Successive governments had been preoccupied with the glamour and self-opportunities of office. Lacking in depth, vision and commitment, governance was essentially cosmetic and nothing beyond how to share the monthly dole from Abuja between individual pockets and token gestures of attention to desolate infrastructure within a governor’s very limited horizon. Everything was about politics — politics of the stomach and of longevity in office.

I was in Ado-Ekiti last week at the instance of Governor Fayemi who rightly felt this old man has been unfair in not visiting Ekiti since he became governor, even when we shared some common history in the struggle against Gen. Sani Abacha and for the enthronement of democracy. Of course, Fayemi’s antecedent and role far outstripped mine in those years — be it as the brain-box of Radio Kudirat or as intellectual strategist for many global institutions and governments, having himself acquired a doctorate in War Studies from the prestigious King’s College, University of London.

Accompanied by my barrister son, Kunle, and my friend from way back in England, Taiwo Adedoyin, I was provided with a vehicle and guides (led by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, ex-PUNCHer Yinka Oyebode) to tour the state and go as I pleased.

For hours and hours, we drove with our mouths drooping in amazement at what we saw. The renewal of the urbanity of Ado-Ekiti as the state capital was clearly evident: arterial roads that had been half-heartedly begun by preceding governments have been widened and dualised, with streetlights installed all along the median. As old roads are being reconstructed and retarred to high standards, new ones are surfacing everywhere; city centre is buzzing with new energy — buildings wear new look, shops and petty businesses are all over; new impressive structures are springing up; an arcade here, a centre there.

But the development was not limited to the state capital. As we drove for miles and miles, we were stunned to find dualised roads running for long stretches and high-grade roads interconnecting most towns and villages. I learnt other governors wonder how Fayemi has been able to have so many roads done in just two years!

Our eyes connected with schools beckoning with renovated or new buildings wearing bright new looks and we are told about 100 schools have already benefited in the first phase and the exercise would continue until all public schools have been restored to their old glory.

However, even all would be nothing were they limited to these externalities. Truly concerned about the rottenness of the education standard, Fayemi has embarked on a holistic restructuring and restitution of education in the state: re-equipping the schools with appropriate furniture and sporting equipment, and starting the teachers on a whole range of training and retraining after the discovery that a scandalous less than 10 per cent of teachers in the state primary schools could pass a primary four exam!

At secondary school level, Fayemi has done something unprecedented, perhaps in the entire country. He has provided customised and solar-powered laptops to about 30,000 pupils and 18,000 teachers. The stunning achievement has encouraged the manufacturers of the computers — Samsung — to set up a computer engineering centre in Ado-Ekiti that would be a manpower training and development centre and assembly workshop for their computers! The buildings’ foundations have been laid and work is going on apace.

It is difficult, nay impossible, to write all there is to write about what Fayemi has done or is geared to doing in Ekiti State in just a thousand-word column. And yet, it is important to let the world know about every aspect of this amazingly resourceful and talented (genius, I’d say) governor’s programme in their uniqueness and developmental pace.

His style of government is similar to that of Fashola of Lagos State in intellectualism, seriousness and time management, shorn of frivolities and giving no room to entertaining jesters and debilitating stream of unhelpful visitors. And similar to that of Osun’s Aregbesola and Edo’s Oshiomhole in pace and vision.

Fayemi pioneered a Social Security Programme for the aged, paying a monthly stipend of N5,000 to all registered elderly people and provides free medical services for children, pregnant women and the aged.

His investment programme spans agriculture and industry. The moribund Ire Bricks Factory and Odua Enterprise Centre have been resuscitated. More spectacularly, he is developing a ‘tourism corridor’ around the Ikogosi Warm Spring, which is already redeveloped with villa chalets and an amphitheatre, outsourced to a top South African tourism company, to include vast stretches of game reserve, Disneyland type of amusement complexes, etc.

To be honest, I do not know and cannot even imagine how this guy does it. He says he has managed to raise the state’s IGR from a paltry N109m to N600m monthly, mainly by blocking existing loopholes in the tax collection and management systems.

Above all, I think what stands Fayemi in good stead are his frugality, integrity, intellectual base, and his vast international connections and credibility, all of which have been deployed in the race to making Ekiti a positive example in Nigeria, nay Africa.

Via Punch

Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the woman and her husband were arrested on Friday.

A source in the community said the cry of the baby in the bush attracted residents of the area, who alerted officials of Ikere Local Government Area.

It was learnt that Adejoke, 26, gave birth to the baby at home last Wednesday without anybody’s assistance because she could neither afford hospital bills nor patronise the local birth attendants.

She was said to have dumped the baby inside a bush in Ikere-Ekiti where the couple lives.

The woman reportedly blamed her action on poverty, saying the family was having great difficulty raising the three children they already had before the arrival of the new baby.

Ojo, a commercial driver, reportedly told the police that his wife did not inform him of her plan.

He claimed that he returned home in the evening and observed that her wife had given birth and asked her about the baby but she simply told him that the baby was dead.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Victor Babafemi, confirmed the arrest when he was contacted.

He said that the couple was arrested but added that the wife had since been released to the Welfare Department of the state Ministry of Women Affairs where she and the baby were being given treatment.

“The man is still with us but the mother and child are being taken care of by the welfare department. The authorities of Ikere Local Government Area and the ministry are involved. They will take over the welfare of the baby,” Babafemi said.

-Punch

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi
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Pandemonium broke out in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday when a young man, suspected to be a bomber, was arrested in front of the Ekiti State Government House.

Our correspondent gathered that the suspect was dropped in front of the Government House by a commercial motorcyclist.

The suspect was said to be making telephone calls, which sounded suspicious and attracted a civil servant identified as Johnson.

Johnson, who accosted the man, was said to have alerted security personnel in front of the Government House and the latter arrested the suspect.

Some persons, who claimed to have been present when the suspect was arrested, said no explosive device was found on him.

They, however, added that some charms and weapons, including knives were found on him.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Victor Babayemi, when contacted, confirmed the arrest of the suspect.

He also said no explosive device was found on him.

The PPRO said, “Somebody was just trying to draw attention to himself. No bomb or any explosive material was found on him. He only behaved curiously and that caused the suspicion that made people to raise the alarm. No doubt, he exhibited a conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.”

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, told our correspondent that the state government would wait for the outcome of police investigation on the matter before it would make any comment.

He said, “The matter is with the police and the outcome of the investigation would show the mission of the suspect.”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will on Thursday (today) begin hearing in the appeal filed before it by ousted governor of the state, Mr. Segun Oni, on his removal by the Justice Ayo Salami-led appeal panel.

Oni, who spoke with our correspondent through his media aide, Mr. Lere Olayinka, said the apex court would begin hearing the matter on Thursday.

The panel had on October 15, 2010 sacked Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party and declared Dr. Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress of Nigeria as the elected governor of the state.

Oni had challenged his removal at the Court of Appeal in Ado-Ekiti and lost.

Oni is now the National Vice-Chairman of the PDP in the South-West.

Via Punch