Untwisting the twisted chronicles of Kayode Fayemi at 57

How we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives. – Annie Dillard.
Our future is created from choices we make every minute. – Deepak Chopra.

The above statements define the life of a diligent man, Mr, Adereni, the Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo recently talked about. According to Osibajo, Prince Bola Ajibola, a Judge of the World Court at The Hague in the Netherlands, one day called and asked if he could recommend a good Secretary who is hard working and could do long judgments. “I had three options, the chief typist, the senior or the junior typist, but the junior typist at the time had only school certificate, he didn’t have any other qualification but I chose him. He got to The Hague, and typically worked hard and diligently. Every Judge in the court wanted him to work with them. He later moved his family over to The Hague and got degrees and made a good living for himself. One day he remembered me and actually sent me a car,” the Vice President said.

There are three protagonists in the above narrative: Mr. Adereni, Prince Bola Ajibola and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. While Adereni’s striking diligence prepared and marketed him for the fulfilment of his destiny and Osinbajo, who identified and appreciated Adereni’s talent, served as the bridge to his success, Ajibola served as the purveyor of Adereni’s path with destiny. These three are the protagonists in Adereni’s success story but, arguably, the hero is Adereni himself.

This simple story encapsulated the elevation of Adereni through dint of hardwork. He didn’t rest on his oars after his impressive recommendation but rather he continued to develop himself and even surpassed the expectations of his benefactors. He was exceptionally good; a flourished plant waiting to blossom.

When you love your work, you will be exceptionally diligent in what you do and you will excel in delivering both quality and quantity. ― Dr. Prem Jagyasi. The quality and quantity of his outputs made him!

The journey of life is interdependent. We all have one role or the other to play in the fulfilment or actualisation of each other’s dream but none of us is supreme to the other. No one, no matter how magnanimous, can help you succeed if you are not ready or prepare for success. The number one key to your own success, therefore, is your own inner will. Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. – Alexander Graham Bell. The diligent Adereni in Osinbajo’s story was a junior typist.

There are also Executives and Heads of multinationals who are diligence personified and urbane to the tilt. One of such is Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Ekiti State. Before his foray into partisan politics in 2005, JKF was the pioneer Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD), 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 had also worked as a Lecturer, Journalist, Researcher and Strategy Development Adviser in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He worked as a Reporter with some British Newspapers like The Guardian and City Tempo and the Editor of the political monthly, Nigeria Now, as well as a Management Consultant and Lecturer at the Police College in Sokoto, Nigeria. He also played key roles in sending the military out of the Nigerian political firmament and was responsible for the founding and management of the opposition radios – ‘Radio Freedom’, ‘Radio Democracy International’ and ‘Radio Kudirat’. The irrepressible politician also played a pivotal role in the opposition’s diplomatic engagements in exile.

It is incredibly empowering to know that your future is in your hands. – Keanu Reeves. Fayemi is therefore not an accidental public servant and definitely not made by anybody. Providence and patriotism played major roles in shaping his life and prepared him for whatever roles God has saddled him with, or will still saddle him with.

Ekiti State has continuously been in the news since he was sworn-in on October 16, 2018, albeit for positive reasons. This is not happenstance, but rather a product of purposeful leadership and patriotic service to his people. The once strange routine of Governor Kayode Fayemi has now registered in my consciousness as his norm. It was strange seeing him working in his office from morning till the wee-hours before going to bed, only to be back at his desk again by 9 a.m. attending to State matters. Here is a Governor that will not allow a file stay on his table for more than twenty-four hours, no matter the circumstance. It was indeed a very strange routine that JKF has already gotten accustomed to. This allows him to multi-task and function effectively without impediment.

Does this man sleep at all? That was the rhetorical question I asked myself some years back when I failed to deliver on a task until the midnight of the deadline. I sent the 18-page document with an apology for not delivering it earlier. By 2.26 a.m. the document was returned, approved for its purpose. To my utmost dismay, almost all the paragraphs were touched, thereby increasing the pages from 18 to 21. As if that was not enough, he was on phone with me by 9am, telling me what to do with the final document. I was baffled and rattled by this uncommon passion. That was my first vivid encounter with the inner workings of the Ekiti-born policy encyclopaedia and master strategist. Now that it has been a routine, my perception of him has been radically altered. It is amazing having such a striking personality within such a tender frame.

John Kayode Fayemi epitomises the saying that successful people are not gifted, they just work hard, and then succeed on purpose. You may not like him, you don’t have to, but you cannot objectively fault his restoration agenda in Ekiti State. He is making the best of the mandate freely given to him by his people and managing their commonwealth effectively with life touching and life changing programmes, policies and projects. Governance is an act, you either know it or you don’t. Luckily for us in Ekiti State, we have on the wheel one of the finest of men the nation has produced who is imbued with a thorough knowledge of global best practice and engagingly deploying it to reshaping the governance system in the state.

Fayemi didn’t become this enigma by a sudden flight. There is a saying that what comes easy won’t last, what lasts won’t come easy. To assume his enigmatic status, therefore, Kayode Fayemi has toiled and paid his dues. All the hard work, all the sacrifices, all the sleepless nights, struggles, ups and downs, are his combined arsenals to political stardom. He is bringing his experience to bear in Ekiti State. Ekiti is currently on the move and things are getting better. Indeed, Fayemi n se Bebe l’Ekiti!

In the words of JKF, “the resources of Ekiti State, natural and human, are limited but our resourcefulness is unlimited’’. This is evinced by how he has been managing the available resources of Ekiti State. It’s what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future. – Paulo Coelho. Despite the depleted revenue accruable to Ekiti State occasioned by the global economic meltdown, education, health, agriculture, water, electricity, roads and other infrastructural development have been getting appropriate attention of the government with feasible impacts to make life more comfortable for the generality of Ekiti people. Several legacy projects inherited and new, have been completed with the assurance to complete the Ekiti State Passenger/Cargo Airport before October 2022. He has even defrayed some of the salary arrears inherited from the previous administration, despite the economic reality of the moment. He is doing this much with so little resources because he knows how best to manage and prioritise the little available resources, meeting the peoples’ needs and yearnings.

Fayemi is not perfect and like all humans, he has his own frailties. However, it is unarguable that he possesses the right mind, the international exposure, the needed reach, the can-do spirit and above all, the flair needed in the modern day politics and governance. These are the uncommon attributes that have really helped him to excel not just as the Governor of Ekiti State but also as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Holding such a Forum together, in a multi-party system with all its interest, is not only a proof of his large-heartedness, but also a pointer to the obvious fact that he is a bridge builder. We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. – Franklin D. Roosevelt. JKF is one of the youths of his era that was built by providence for the future, and the future is now.

Gboyega Ajayi writes from Ikoro Ekiti and can be reached through gboyeajayi@yahoo.com