Full text of the Address by:
His Excellency
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria
Commemorating the New Year
2022 – OUR YEAR OF FULFILMENT*
Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State | Saturday, January 1, 2022
Ekiti-kete, I am delighted to congratulate you this morning and heartily welcome you to a new dawn – the Year 2022, Our year of FULFILMENT.I address you this morning with a heart full of gratitude to God Almighty for His benevolence over us. You would agree with me that we have more than enough reasons to appreciate God for His grace and mercy all through the outgone year, 2021, as we commit ourselves to Him in the year 2022.My address to you today is significant. It is as much the celebration of a new beginning, as it signals the countdown to an end. This is my eighth New Year address to you all, the fourth in this my second Administration. It will be my last as your Governor – because, as you know, this year is an electoral year in our dear State, and a new administration will be ushered in to continue from where we would stop.It is thus our collective responsibility at this point in the making of our history as a State, to evaluate where we are coming from over the past three plus years and work together to consolidate the grounds we have covered as we begin to wind down the tenure of office of this administration, and renew our commitment to finish strong, and finish well.The reality of how finite time is, and the enormity of our developmental challenges have guided this administration from inception and informed the sense of urgency we have demonstrated in the implementation of our policies and programmes.We have made deliberate efforts to ensure that every town, and indeed every indigene and resident, have been impacted immensely by our generic social welfarist programmes and policies, massive investments in infrastructure, closing observable gaps in our drive for sustainable development, and the enactment and enforcement of progressive laws. We also addressed community-specific demands that were made, in the spirit of equity and inclusive governance.We are proud that we have laid a solid foundation and raised the bar in governance and set a backdrop against which subsequent administrations would be assessed. We are proud that we have kept faith with the sacred mandate you entrusted to us and advanced the development of the State significantly in the outgone years.
Review of the Year 2021
The year 2021 was the most eventful in the tenure of this administration so far, despite the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and our dwindling revenue base brought on by contractions in the macro-economic environment. In all respects, 2021 was a year of Consolidation.We are pleased to report some milestone achievements we collectively accomplished in the past year 2021, categorised according to our five priority areas or pillars – Governance; Agriculture and Rural Development; Social Investment; Knowledge Economy; and Infrastructure and Industrial Development as follows:
a. Governance
i. Crucial to the attainment of good governance is an effective legal regime that responds to current social and economic needs of our people. To achieve this in concrete terms we concluded the review of the Laws of Ekiti State.
ii. In addition, towards enabling a seamless enforcement process, we have facilitated cooperation and collaboration between security agencies, the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary with emphasis on respecting and acknowledging their competences and independence.
iii. Of equal importance is the issue of access to justice. I am pleased to report that in the year 2021, Ekiti State was the first state to conclude seating of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into the Allegations of Human Rights Violations Against the Police, defunct SARs officers and Others. We further acted on the recommendations of the White Paper Panel by paying compensation to victims amongst other remedial measures. We remain committed to working with the Federal Government and other government entities to address the other far reaching recommendations.
iv. In order to bring access to justice closer to our people, we opened a novel Citizens’ Complaints Centre in Oja-Oba market. The purpose of the centre is to provide an easily accessible avenue for persons aggrieved by the conduct of government institutions and security agencies to seek redress. When fully operational the centre will provide efficient free legal advisory services with the possibility of referrals for legal representation in court.
v. Deepening of reforms in the Civil Service with the sponsorship of some Civil Servants to local, national, and international training programs, purchase of vehicles for senior civil servants, facilitation of car and housing loans for various cadres of civil servants, and payment of over 500 million naira in outstanding gratuities to pensioners.
vi. Prompt and consistent payment of salaries, and the offsetting of one month arrears owed by the previous administration.
vii. Completion and commissioning of two blocks of hitherto abandoned secretariat office buildings.
viii. Recruitment of about 4,000 new officers into the State Public Service.
ix. Creation of 19 new Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) to deepen good governance at the grassroots. This process was completed with the signing of the Creation of Local Government Law, 2021. I am pleased to update you that the respective LCDAs will become fully functional together with the existing sixteen (16) Local Government Areas with the forthcoming inauguration of Local government elected officials on January 4.
x. Just a few days ago, I signed the year 2022 Budget of Legacy and Consolidation which is a collective product of the various stakeholders involved in Ekiti project. You will recall that during the preparation of the budget, we embarked on our annual citizens’ engagement meetings around the State to secure the input of stakeholders into the annual budget.
xi. The year 2021 also witnessed the retirement of the former Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Retired Justice Ayo Daramola after 21 years in service as a judge, and the inauguration of Justice John Oyewole Adeyeye as the new Chief Judge of Ekiti State.
xii. Also, in the year 2021, in collaboration with the Ekiti State House of Assembly, we signed 21 new laws, to bring to a total of 73 laws so far enacted during this administration.
xiii. In 2021, Ekiti State was recently rated as the Second Best State in Nigeria, after Kaduna, in Transparency and Integrity Index (TII). This did not happen by chance, rather it is the result of our deliberate efforts at entrenching transparency and accountability in governance. Ekiti State is adjudged to be in compliance with laws that mandate us to disclose our activities proactively. We were the first state to sign up to Open Governance Partnership in the South West and our procurement processes remain open and transparent and published online for easy monitoring and verification. Many of these initiatives focus on how public funds are spent. Transparency and Accountability in the service delivery and budget fields can only be guaranteed through increasing access to information. Elements of social accountability in service delivery therefore overlapped from the start with developments in the Freedom of Information which we have domesticated in Ekiti State.
xiv. All the efforts of our Administration’s transparency have created opportunities for the people and government to interact constructively, contributing to better budget utilisation, improved service delivery, empowerment of our youth and women, and greater responsiveness to the needs of the people.
xv. We have also started implementing the autonomy of the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service, and also automated a significant portion of our revenue collection process. All these have helped to grow our internally generated revenues, and we are now on track to hit the N1 billion per month threshold regularly in our State’s history.
xvi. The improvement in internally generated revenues coupled with our modest and disciplined budgeting process also led to a budget performance of over 90% in 2020, a feat we are on track to repeat in 2021.
b. Agriculture and Rural Development
i. We provided funds and flagged off the construction of six pilot roads rural access roads under the RAAMP program spread across the three (3) senatorial districts of the State including: Iyin – Odo Uro – Aroto road, located in Iyin Ekiti, Irepodun/ Ifelodun Local Government (Ekiti Central Senatorial District); Ago Aduloju – Kajola Road, located in Ado Ekiti, Ado Local Government (Ekiti Central Senatorial District); FMS farm, Oke Ako road, located in Oke Ako, Ikole Local Government (Ekiti North Senatorial District); Itaji – Imojo – Orisunmibare, located in Itaji Ekiti, Oye Local Government (Ekiti North Senatorial District); Ogotun – Alagbede road, located in Ogotun Ekiti, Ekiti Southwest Local Government (Ekiti South Senatorial District); and Imesi – Kosomolate– Ipole, located in Imesi Ekiti, Aiyekire Local Government Area (Ekiti South Senatorial District).
ii. We mapped, cleared and allocated the needed land required for interested companies to thrive in Ekiti State without hindrance. The incentive to farmers have brought all our farm settlements back to life at Orin Ekiti, Ipao Ekiti, Iyemero Ekiti, Erio Ekiti, Eporo Ekiti, Osin Ekiti, Gede 1 and 2, etc.
iii. Through our Private Public Partnership in the Agric sector, we have attracted more than $300million worth of investment to Ekiti State which is already generating employment and will still generate more direct and indirect employment in year 2022.
iv. We also worked with various Local Associations of cash and food crop growers, like Maize, Cassava, Rice, Cowpea, Vegetables, etc.
v. We made significant progress with our legacy projects including the Ikun Dairy Farm with the delivery of 300 Jersey cows from the United States that have now been cross-bred with our local species. The facility is now producing 2,500 litres of milk per day and is well on track to achieve the target of 10,000 litres per day.
vi. We also hosted the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and other dignitaries to launch the Ekiti State Rice Pyramid Scheme aimed at empowering our local rice farmers to boost production and create more jobs and opportunities in the agriculture value-chain in the state.
c. Social Investments
i. We successfully renovated and equipped our Healthcare facilities. Most of our primary health facilities and our secondary health institutions and even the Tertiary institutions have all undergone a comprehensive face-lift, complemented by state of the art equipment in our hospitals.
ii. In the last one year we have worked to create an enabling environment in which the State’s health reform efforts can thrive and be sustainable. We enacted laws and policies to strengthen health service delivery, some of which include: Ekiti State Drugs and Health Commodities Management Agency Law (which will ensure that life-saving drugs are constantly available in the State at high quality and low prices); and the Ekiti State Mental Health Service Law (which will ensure persons living with mental health conditions are well taken care of).
iii. We acquired functional Molecular Laboratories for the testing of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
iv. We recruited healthcare professionals in various segments of the health sector to improve quality of care.
v. We made progress with the implementation of the Ekiti State Health Insurance Scheme which we launched in July 2020, which is projected to avail over 120,000 women, under-five children and elderly person’s access to a comprehensive package of health care services, with plans to further expand the coverage and scope of the Scheme.
vi. We remained consistent in our mission to cater for and meet the needs of the good people of Ekiti. The Ministry of Health runs a bi-annual medical outreach program that clears the hospital bills of indigent residents of Ekiti State. The recent outreach for the year 2021 was carried out last month where a sum of forty-seven million (#47,000,000) was paid to clear the hospital bills of indigent residents of Ekiti State.
vii. Ekiti remains the leading state in the promotion of gender equality and protection of women rights through policies and legislation as well as investments in the future of our women and girls. As a State, we have continued to enforce zero tolerance to all forms of sexual and gender based violence in our state. We have also ensured that the Sexual Assault Referral Centre – the Moremi Clinic established last year – is fully functional in providing psycho-social and clinical support to victims of sexual assault and gender based violence.
viii. Still on social investments, our relentless focus on protecting the elderly population has been further enhanced with the construction of an ultra-modern Senior Citizens Wellness and Recreation Centre with the support of the Federal Government. Working with the Ekiti State Council of Elders, we will put in place a facility management system that will ensure sustained maintenance of this state of the art facility which would soon be commissioned.
ix. In the last one year, we have also mobilised a good number of new partners to support the state’s health goals, an indicator of confidence in our achievements so far. Ekiti State is a foundation member-state of the NG-CARES (Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus) a World-Bank funded programme to expand access and livelihood support and food security services, and grants for poor and vulnerable households and firms.
d. Knowledge Economy
i. In addition to massive reconstruction/renovation of public schools, we introduced new incentives to enhance the performance of teachers and to make schooling exciting for the pupils.
ii. We enforced our free education policy, established new schools, procured educational materials for the schools, ensured prompt release of Running Grants to public schools, and employed more teachers.
iii. In our quest to further strengthen our legacies in the Education sector, we resuscitated and commenced academic activities at the Ekiti State Polytechnic, Isan Ekiti (formerly Ekiti State College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture). You would recall that we recently completed and commissioned two magnificent faculty buildings in the institution.
iv. We also established four (4) new model Secondary Schools in Ado Ekiti and named them in honour of four of our illustrious sons; Ayo Fasanmi Comprehensive High School, (Ilokun, Ado Ekiti); David Oke Comprehensive High School, (along Ikere road, Ado Ekiti); Banji Akintoye Comprehensive High School, (along Poly Road, Ado Ekiti); and Deji Fasuan Comprehensive High School, (along Afao road, Ado Ekiti). These Schools have been completed, commissioned, and made available for moulding the lives of our pupils.
v. We are set to commence and complete three new model colleges in Ado Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti and Odo Oro Ekiti in 2022. All our hitherto moribund and abandoned Technical Colleges are now strengthened and will all receive a facelift and necessary equipment to function more effectively and train our youth.
vi. You must have seen construction works in various schools across the State. Some are having newly constructed classes, boreholes, perimeter fences, and water system toilets, while some old buildings were also renovated. All the newly constructed and renovated schools were equipped with chairs / desks for Pupils and chairs /tables for the Teachers. Swings and merry-go-round playground equipment were also supplied for the early Childhood Education.
vii. We have been judicious in the payment of our counterpart funds for 2019, 2020 and 2021. It is on record that Ekiti was the first State in Nigeria to pay UBEC/SUBEB counterpart funds for the year 2021.
viii. The proactive step in the payment of matching grants, totalling N7.8Billion to UBEC has prepared the grounds for the ongoing massive rehabilitation of school infrastructure and construction of additional school buildings in the State over the past year.
ix. The infrastructure we have put in place in schools across the State has greatly improved the teaching and learning environment in schools. And we are already witnessing significant outcomes. In 2021, 70 percent of our students who sat for the 2021 WASSCE passed with five credits including Mathematics and English.
x. Ekiti Knowledge Zone, our proposed Special Economic Zone focused on attracting technology companies to Ekiti is firmly on course. We received a strong endorsement from the African Development Bank, who have approved a grant of $250,000 to conduct the feasibility study for the project. Once this study is completed, I am confident we will not only attract the investors required to complete the project, but also the companies whose operations in Ekiti will create thousands of jobs.
e. Infrastructure and Industrial Development
i. Completion of the renovation of the Ekiti Parapo Pavilion.
ii. Completion of two (2) secretariat buildings available for our civil servants.
iii. Completion and commissioning of the Oja-Oba Ultra-Modern market.
iv. Completion and commissioning of the Ekiti State Civic and Convention Centre, designed to house a shopping mall, Cinema, Arts Gallery, Museum, Convention Centre, and other modern facilities.
v. Rehabilitation of the Ero, Egbe and Ureje water dams that kick started the reintroduction of pipe borne water to Ekiti people after almost a decade.
vi. We completed the construction of a new Water Corporation headquarters and rehabilitated several water treatment plants across the state.
vii. It gladdens my heart to report here that we have completed and commissioned over 2,000 new projects within the past three years of this administration while some are still ongoing and new ones are being introduced.
viii. We completed and commissioned new roads across the three (3) senatorial districts; New Ado-Iyin and Aramoko-Erijiyan roads in Ekiti Central; Agbado-Ode-Isinbode-Omuo and Ilawe-Igbara Odo-Ibuji roads in Ekiti South; and Ilupeju-Ire-Igbemo-Ijan and Oye-Ikun-Otun – Kwara Boundary roads in Ekiti North.
ix. I am pleased to report that these major road projects have all been delivered and inaugurated, with the most recent inauguration of the Ado-Iyin Road.
x. The Ekiti State Smart-City Project is in full gear. You must have seen the surveillance installation in and around Ado Ekiti, the state capital and in other parts of the state. The Integration of Huawei Safe City IP-Surveillance Solution with NCC Emergency Communication Centre for Ekiti State has been installed. This is meant to secure Ekiti State and make it business- friendly for our investors and all residents of Ekiti State. This will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2022 alongside other security equipments.
xi. The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) of Nigeria, a federal government agency has commenced the construction of 7.5MVA, 33/11KV injection substation with an addition of 33KV/11KV & LT lines and installation of four 500KVA distribution substation transformer in Ido-Ekiti.
xii. Our concerted lobbying also resulted in the Federal Executive Council approval of the construction of two mega sub stations in Ilupeju and Ijesha Isu and extension of transmission lines from Ikere to the two new sub stations. This is going to be a critical game changer to the epileptic power supply situation in Ekiti State.
xiii. To further bridge the electricity deficit gaps, we also kick-started the construction 5MW Independent Power Plant. This Independent Power Plant project is a bold step towards making available energy to the proposed benefiting Government Agencies and public institutions. When completed, it will provide electricity to the Government House, the State Secretariat, University Teaching Hospital, Ekiti State University main campus, and the streetlights along the major roads in the metropolis.
xiv. Though the Ado – Akure road has been awarded for re-construction and dualisation by the Federal government, the pace of work at the site is not encouraging. We have engaged with the African Development Bank to structure the financing for the reconstruction. In addition, we completed the feasibility and environmental impact assessment studies necessary for projects of this nature. All of these have been provided to the Federal Government to fast track the financing close and ultimately, construction. We will continue to work with the Federal Government on the best way to solve the problem and accelerate the completion of the Road reconstruction.
xv. Also in the year 2021, we commenced the reconstruction of Ado – Iworoko road as well as Ikole township roads. The contractor has been mobilized to site and the project will be completed as scheduled.
xvi. In addition to the routine maintenance of our existing road networks, we are also working on some critical internal roads across the state. There are also many essential road projects being handled by various relevant government agencies.
2022 in FOCUS
This New Year, 2022, promises to be more exciting and impactful as we strive to strengthen the legacy and consolidate on our visible successes in order to finish well. The year 2022 Appropriation Bill tagged, “Budget of Legacy and Consolidation” is deliberately tailored to enhance the delivery of our promise to leave Ekiti State better than it was when we took over.The 2022 budget has been designed to help us achieve our goal of finishing well, by consolidating the gains of the last three years, and handing over an enduring legacy to the administration that will succeed us. It has been designed to ensure that we complete our capital projects, while also ensuring that the day-to-day operations of Government continue to run seamlessly.We are determined to complete all major projects including the Ekiti Passenger-Cargo Airport, the Ado-Iworoko section of the Ado-Ifaki Road, renovation of township roads, and finally commence the construction of our farms to markets roads across the State.This year will also witness construction and renovation of more schools, provision of learning materials for students, completion of the ongoing construction and equipping of our Intensive Care Unit at EKSUTH, as well as various ongoing projects in many of our secondary and primary health centres.We will continue to focus on the environment, by completing our erosion and watershed management project, while also consolidating on our gains in agriculture by investing in more Public-Private Partnerships, to deepen commercial agriculture across the State.This year, we will also accelerate our long term transformative projects like the Ekiti Knowledge Zone and the Special Agriculture Processing Zone- two projects that will eventually deliver large scale opportunities to thousands of our young people and give them ample opportunities to develop exciting careers without having to emigrate from our homeland.Last but not least, in 2022, we would work with the Ekiti State House of Assembly on its legislative scrutiny, we will become one of the few States in Nigeria that can take pride in having a set of current laws as opposed to laws inherited from colonial era.
Ekiti 2022 Gubernatorial Election
Ekiti Kete, as you know, the year 2022 is an electoral year for us in Ekiti. Beginning from this month, political parties will be conducting primaries to determine their respective flagbearers. Later in the year on Saturday, June 18, 2022, we would be going to the polls to elect a new Governor.I would like to use this opportunity to implore us, one and all, to conduct ourselves as the truly honourable people that we are and avoid stoking divisions and bitterness amongst us. This election is another opportunity to reclaim our reputation as decent people and correct the negative perceptions we were once smeared with because of the ignoble actions of a few of us in previous electoral cycles.I also want to use this opportunity to especially appeal to the political elite in our State across party lines, to eschew the use of violence throughout the process, and avoid the use of inciting words, cyber-bullying, and all actions aimed at causing crisis in the State. On our part, we will do everything to ensure that we hand over to a new administration in a rancour-free environment.As you all know, we as mortals can only put in our best efforts, but power ultimately belongs to God who rules in the affairs of men, and it is His will that will prevail in our homeland.
Thanksgiving
As I conclude, I would like to express my appreciation to you for the support you have so liberally given this administration. My heartfelt gratitude goes to all sons and daughters of Ekiti State at home and in the diaspora, for your love, tolerance, support, prayers, objective criticism, and suggestions. Our modest, but visible impact was made possible because you worked with us.I also want to appreciate the dedication and sacrifice of members of the Ekiti State Executive Council, the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Ekiti State Judiciary, and the Ekiti State Civil Service. The existing harmonious relationship among us has brought us this far. I appreciate you all and I look forward to us sustaining this momentum and finishing well. I also thank the Federal Government and its various agencies, development partners, and civil society organisations for their cooperation and support.I am very grateful to the Deputy-Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, for his dedication and deep commitment to service. He has been a reliable and dependable ally in our efforts to pilot the affairs of the State.I appreciate my wife, H.E. Erelu Bisi Fayemi, for all she has done to bring succour to the elderly, women, and vulnerable people in our State and for being a partner indeed. She continues to be my strong pillar of support, and I am immensely grateful for the daily sacrifice she makes for the cause and this path God has appointed us to.I urge you all to continue to stay safe and observe all established protocols for the containment of the spread of COVID 19. I pray for you all, that you and your families would experience sound health, good tidings, safety, security, and prosperity that will make the year 2022 remarkable and great for us as a people, State, and government.May the year 2022 be truly a year of fulfilment for each and every one of us.Happy New Year to you all. A se’yi, s’amodun o.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor
Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State | Saturday, January 1, 2022