By Raphael Ogbonnaiye
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has assured Ekiti people that
his administration will not abandon projects inherited from previous
administrations in the State.
Speaking in Afao Ekiti today during his tour of The Gifted Academy
built by the Ayo Fayose-led government, Dr Fayemi stated that though
he may not agree with his predecessor on the rationale behind the
establishment of some projects, abandoning those projects would amount
to wasting the resources of Ekiti State.
The governor who re-echoed his administration’s perception of
governance in “the continuum frame” recalled that he completed
virtually all projects left behind by the Segun Oni-led government in
2010 because they were executed with public funds.
He explained that the tour was aimed at having a comprehensive
assessment of all projects.
“When I came as governor, I completed to the best of my ability
virtually all the projects left behind by the Oni administration. It
was my government that completed some of the roads started by Oni. It
was my government that completed Ipoti-Odo Owa- Ila Orangun road,
Otun-Osun-Iloro road, Isan – Ilemeso road, we completed the House of
Assembly complex. It has always been our intention to see governance
in a continuum frame.
“We don’t make discreet compartmentalization of governance but where
we are today, it is inevitable, we have to take a comprehensive look
at all projects whether we have the resources to work on them is
another matter.
“The important thing is these have been funded by Ekiti money not by a
particular governor who embarked on the project. I may disagree with
many of the things put in place by my predecessor but I don’t think it
is in my place to abandon them because I am abandoning the resources
of the State”, he said.
Governor Fayemi noted that it was his administration that facilitated
the World Bank support for the funding of the Gifted Academy though
the project was executed by Fayose hence the need to ensure that the
facility is put to good use.
The governor said though Fayose shut down the Federal Government
Girls’ College, Isan Ekiti, a similar project initiated by Fayemi, he
would not embark on a vendetta mission of cancelling the Gifted
College since it belongs to Ekiti people and not Fayose.
His words: “The gifted academy which was built by the last
administration as a SEPIP project and you may be aware that SEPIP
project was what I started and I got the money from the World Bank and
we have various DLIs and those were the basis for giving us the money;
you make some things happen and you got the money from the world bank.
“If you go to the Technical College in Ado, that is also a World Bank
project. It is good that we have this but it must be put to good use.
“We had a similar project in my own community but when the Fayose
government came, he shut the school down the Federal Government Girls’
College. In fact, the Principal had been appointed, students had been
admitted the whole place was ready but because it is in his
predecessor’s community, just as he attempted to cancel the College of
Technical Agric, Isan Ekiti, that probably the fear why he would want
a single student here despite that it was not academic session yet.
It doesn’t make any sense to have just a single student being taught
here by probably twenty or thirty teachers and a principal already
assigned. I don’t come from that school of thought that what’s not
mine must be destroyed. The school belongs to Ekiti and it is not
going to be cancelled or destroyed”.
While stating that the process of admitting students into the school
should be merit-driven, the governor said he would ensure that
government set “a very clear standard that will be adhered to in terms
of how this place will be run because it is a legacy for the future”.
Speaking on Ire Burnt Brick factory, Fayemi said the decision of his
government to revive the burnt brick factory was to demonstrate the
good “we can make of our natural endowment”.
While assuring that his government would ensure that the factory
continues to produce, the governor lamented the cancellation of the
contract for the rehabilitation of Afao-Ire-Ilupeju road by the
immediate past government; adding that the new government would
provide motorable road that would make the factory accessible.
“We will continue to do our best to ensure that the brick industry is
in its best condition to fulfil the dreams of its founding fathers so
that Ire can continue producing. It is not for it to be abandoned.
That road was awarded before I left and I don’t know what happened to
that contract. Yet you find places that have no commercial value which
we are expending huge amount of our resources. The important thing is
that access must be provided to enable the products to get out”, he
said.
