CITAD HOSTS CHAIRMAN OF THE NIGERIAN GOVERNORS’ FORUM, DR. KAYODE FAYEMI AS DECEMBER ILERIS GUEST

By
Zainab Aminu and Sagiru Ado Abubakar
In its bid to transform young people mindset to be great achievers, the Centre for Information
Technology and Development (CITAD) in its monthly Inspiring Leadership Reflection Interactive
Series (ILERIS) has on Friday 3 rd December, 2021 hosted the chairman of the Nigerian
Governors’ Forum (NGF), Executive Governor of Ekiti State Dr. Kayode Fayemi as guest speaker
of the month. ILERIS is an initiative of CITAD for about four years ago that invites a personality
monthly who succeeded in life to interact with its staff, friends and other youth with view of
shaping their lives. In his opening remark, the Executive Director of the Center for Information
Technology and Development (CITAD) said that CITAD came up with this initiative to inform
young people to know that their lives is about struggle. They should know that people achieved
successes because they identified what they want achieve. He added that today His Excellency
governor of Ekiti state is a subject of our discussion. We want be inspired with his stories, we
want know why people enter into active politics. Today we have someone who started as
activist and later transformed into politics. We want know what inspired him to become a
politician? How he made the transformation? All this is to have more Fayemis in Kano State.
In his presentation, His Excellency, Dr. Kayode Fayemi gave a brief background of his modest
upbringing and dedication to education, his successes and challenges while moving from
Student Union Government (SUG) in school to Starting up a Civil Society Organization and then
accidentally joining politics. He was the Director of CDD for the first ten years where he played
the role of advocating for a better Nigeria through agitating for policies and identifying areas
that needs attention in governance. “Leadership is influence and sacrifice” and all “services are
dedicated to the common goal of a better nation”. He encouraged the youth to be more active
in national building and politics because of the fact that the country belongs to us and we
cannot abscond our responsibilities. I used to always remember the words of late Dr.
Tajuddeen Abdurrraheem where he used to say that we must organize and stop agonizing. It is
from organizing that we could get a better Nigeria. This country belongs to us, not criminal
gangs, charlatans and those who seek to destroy peace.
While answering question on the role of Nigerian governors on proposed electoral bill on direct
primaries, the guest speaker said that there is misconception about the role of the governors
on the proposed bill. He said that governors are not opposing the bill, instead the bill do not
provide options to other political parties in the country that do not enough resources to
conduct direct primaries. Adding that you cannot have a single approach to one form of
primaries because there will be incidences that single option may crash to the extent that you
cannot achieve the desire goal. We are proposing to add consensus and anyone you choose
governors may have influence.

Since he was elected as the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, he declare free education for all
residence irrespective of people indigene ship from primary one to ss3 including paying of
WAEC and NECO fees. That’s why we are having highest enrolment of students at primary and
secondary schools level. In order to have inclusive governance, there is an office of PWD in Ekiti
State Government. A law is also constituted to enable all appointments to include 5% of PWDs.
He then argued that governors are against local government autonomy bill. He said that
according to Nigerian Constitution, each state has the right to determine the number of LGs in
its state. He finally assured the audience that since his inception into office he did not assign a
death warrant as he does not believe that will solve problems.