Roadmap Vol 1 No 2 by Ekiti State

Newsletter of the Office of the Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria. | VOL 1, NO 2, SEPT. 2012

THE ICT REVOLUTION IN EKITI SCHOOLS RES ARTIFICIAL FAYEMI PROCUID NT VICTIM LIMB FOR ACC E

CANDID

Future Leaders

SHOTS

People’s Governor

Right bargain

Helping Hand

INSIDE JKF ICT REVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS 1500 JOBS FOR EKITI YOUTHS UNDER YCAD LIFELINE FOR 5 YEARS OLD CANCER PATIENT OILING THE PINCHES OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES HIT 20,000 IKOGOSI RESORT: MAKING OF A GLOBAL BRAND WWW.EKITISTATE.GOV.NG IS NUMBER ONE IN NIGERIA HOW FAYEMI SAVED MY LIFE

6 11 13 16 25 26 39 40

BP TO PARTNER EKITI ON BIO-FUEL, POWER INITIATIVES kiti State and the British Petroleum (BP) are set to partner in the area of bio fuel as well as crude and refined oil products. This is the outcome of a meeting between Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Managing Director, BP Nigeria and West African Sub region, Mr. Olakunle Gidado, in Ado-Ekiti recently. Other areas of collaboration between the state and the British Oil and Gas giant include the power sector initiatives. Speaking after the meeting, Governor Fayemi said the Fountain Holdings- the business concern of the state government- would partner BP in the area of crude and refined products. He said the state is particularly interested in ethanol (bio-fuel) because of the global biofuel initiative and the power initiative of the company. He added that the state is also willing to partner with other notable companies and institutions in the area of agriculture, in a bid to industrialise the state. Gidado, an Ekiti indigene hailed the Ekiti State government for putting in place relevant laws to safeguard investment and investors in the state,. He said the British firm is set to do business with the Ekiti in the areas of bio fuel and power initiatives. Fayemi, who thanked the BP boss for the visit, described him as one of the young men and women doing the state proud in their various fields of endeavour. “We are proud of him as an indigene of Ekiti State who has risen to that level and we encourage other highly placed indigenes to see the government as one interested in active involvemen t of its citizens in its develop mental efforts.”, the Governor added.

JKF welcomes the Managing Director, BP Nigeria and West African Sub region, Mr. Olakunle Gidado, to the Government House, Ado-Ekiti.

EKITI IS

POLIO

FREE kiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has declared the state free of polio virus just as he lamented that some Northern States in the country still harbor the deadly paralytic virus. Speaking at the Fajuyi Memorial park, Ado Ekiti venue of the Governor's Stakeholders' sensitization forum on polio eradication in Ekiti State, Dr. Fayemi assured that his administration would leave no stone unturned towards maintaining the state's current polio- free status through prevention by immunization. Fayemi explained that his government aimed to use the forum with the theme “Community Leaders Against Polio (CLAP)” to sensitize the people through respected leaders in their respective communities.

Stressing the importance of the efforts at eradicating polio, the Governor said that the disease which is capable of rendering otherwise healthy children crippled and reducing them to dependent individual for life, has no known cure while the children who are paralyzed through it would be crippled and carry the stigma for life. According to him, the only way to prevent the devastating effect of polio on the community is through vaccination which he said would protect potential victims “from the attendant long life effect on their wellbeing, their families and the society at large” The Governor, who reiterated the commitment of his administration to the general well being of the citizenry, stressed that health care service as enshrined in the 8-point agenda of his government remains a priority. “This programme is therefore meant to emphasize our commitment to the protection of our children and by extension, the preservation of our future generation in Ekiti State. “The only way to protect all our children against polio forever is to ensure that every child under five years of age receives the polio vaccine during every immunization plus days campaign and during routine immunization at the Health Centers”, Fayemi stated.

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Fayemi is Leadership

Governor of the Year

….as Danjuma, Tambuwal, Dangote others are honoured

L-R: Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, receiving the Leadership Governor of the Year 2011 Award from Alhaji Maitama Sule in Abuja

At a time like this, we need leaders not looters, not rulers. We need leaders with the fear of God, those who will not lie, leaders who will accept in public what they can accept in private; leaders who are not corrupt; leaders who will not steal; leaders who look in the eyes of the common man with compassion and not eyes of the privileged few. May I congratulate you on behalf of the nation because the nation needs leaders like you” These were the words of elder statesman and former Nigerian Representative at the United Nations, Alhaji Maitama Sule, as he presented Governor Kayode Fayemi the

ACN National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; JKF; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Osun Deputy Governor, Otunba Grace Laoye

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'Leadership Governor of the Year 2011 Award in Abuja on September 18th. Renowned for his forthrightness, Alhaji Sule's comment was greeted with a thunderous ovation by the audience, as Governor Fayemi, supported by his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi stepped forward to receive the “Governor of the Year 2011 award at the colourful ceremony. Speaking shortly after receiving the award, Governor Fayemi said that the nation needs a movement beyond parties and platforms so as to rescue the country from bad governance; stressing that all Nigerians have a “generational responsibility to make this country a better place.” He urged Nigerians to stop “agonizing and start organizing more desperately than we are doing now”; adding that the opposition as well as those who want a change cannot afford to stand aloof and expect a change from the bad governance that the country

Publisher, Leadership Newspaper, Sam Nda Isaiah; Speaker, Tanbuwal; Gen. Danjuma and JKF

experiences. Fayemi who spoke on behalf of other awardees, commended the management of Leadership newspaper for the honour given him and the 18 others. He stressed that the award is a recognition of the contributions of the recipients to the development of the nation and its citizens. The rich cultural heritage of the Ekiti people was put on display at the Ladi Kwali Hall, Sheraton Abuja, venue of the event as the state cultural troupe and other groups put up spectacular performances to the admiration of the guests who came from far and near to witness the occasion.

Ekiti Moves To Stop Road Accidents As EKSTMA Begins Operation etermined to curb cases of avoidable accidents on roads within the state, the Ekiti State Government recently rounded off training for newly recruited field officers of the State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA). The well-kitted male and female officers were subsequently deployed to major roads in the Ado-Ekiti metropolis and other major roads in the state.Governor Kayode Fayemi, while addressing the 300 field officers of the Agency, during their passing out parade in Ise Ekiti, urged them to be alive to their responsibility of ensuring that commuters comply with traffic rules and regulations so as to prevent cases of road accidents. Dignitaries at the passing out parade include Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, The Governor who described the agency as “an agent of the rule of law, a guard shepherd, conductor, teacher, manager and above all the image of the government” challenged them to increase the effectiveness of traffic management and control for efficient transport service. Fayemi expressed optimism that the agency was up to the task of facing the traffic challenges on Ekiti roads given the trainings they had received; adding that the traffic situation of the state could be harnessed to improve the socio-economic

Chief of Staff to Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu and Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi, at the presentation of Operational Vehicles to Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency (EKSTMA).

development of the State and positively impact on the lives of the people. “The various activities and lectures you have been exposed to are necessary to prepare and equip you for the herculean task ahead. They are for the purpose of controlling traffic and enforcing State and National laws that govern the safe use of vehicles on roads in Ekiti State, deterring and apprehending road offenders, conducting highly visible day and night traffic patrols to ensure traffic rules and regulations, reducing the incidence and severity of road traffic accidents”, he said. Fayemi however reiterated his administration's disapproval for corruption, saying that any of the officials of the Agency caught in any act of corruption would be made to face the wrath of the law. “You are therefore advised to leave above board and shun corruption

in all ramifications, rather to be positively and productively engaged at all times because the idle hand is the devil's workshop”. He said. In his remarks, the General Manager of the State Traffic Management Agency, Mr. Charles Fasuba, said the field officers would begin work in Ado Ekiti, the State capital, to attend to the recent heavy traffic jam that now characterizes the state capital, while others would be deployed to Ikere and Omuo, which are gateway towns in the state. Fasuba added that within the 21 days, the agency would have rid the state of traffic problems which it now faces. Roadmap can confirm authoritatively that the EKSTMA officials are living up to expectation as the traffic situation in AdoEkiti and other major towns have improved tremendously. Many indigenes of the state also attest to the agency's efficiency especially in the speed at which they move to accident scenes, and the professional way they tow trailers and other long vehicles anytime they park illegally on the road and causing pains for other road users.

Officers and Men of EKSTMA with their newly acquired Operational Vehicles

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empower them to compete favourably with their colleagues in other climes with a confidence to outshine them.. Meanwhile, Samsung West Africa Limited has agreed to establish a Computer Assembly Plant in the state dedicated to the sustainability of the scheme and ICT goals of the administration. With the realization of the goal, Fayemi said that the move to make Ekiti the ICT Gov. Fayemi, Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, SSG, Dr. Ganiyu capital of Nigeria has Owolabi, Speaker, EKHA, Rt. Hon. Adewale Omirin, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu at the Launch of the Computer per-child Innitiative (e-school project) in Ikere Ekiti. commenced to complement the launch of Ekiti Digital Platform, biometric payroll, epayment IGR system and laying of fibre-optic cables in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. He said, “Our government has gone this far to ensure that everything is done to make us stand shoulders higher than other …. as Fayemi flags off Computer per child initiative states by recreating our feat in the areas of 33,000 LAPTOPS FOR EKITI STUDENTS, IN FIRST PHASE academic excellence that our land was in the time past identified with. ... 11,000 FOR TEACHERS “The benefits will not be immediate but we have absolutely no doubt that it is a istory is being made in Ekiti project. Having spent N2 billion of the way to go, an objective to pursue, not a State as the government budgeted sum for the first phase in 2012, dream deferred”. commenced the it plans to spend additional N4 billion Already, special workshops and training distribution of 33,000 2013 and 2014 phases. have been conducted for teachers in the laptop computers to The e-School Project, also known as “JKF handling of the laptops for teaching secondary school students KOMPUTA” is driven by the Fayemi purposes. in the first phase of the Computer per administration in partnership with while most of the schools listed in the first child initiative, which is targeted at electronic giants, Samsung West Africa phase of the distribution had been providing a laptop for every student in the Limited and MICROSOFT, a global supplied, many of the students who are state's public schools by 2014. trademark in software technology. now proud owners of laptop computers The distribution of the first phase of Besides the laptops, the Governor also remain grateful to the Governor for the IT 33,000 units of laptop computers out of flagged off the distribution of 100,000 intervention. the planned 100,000 units had school bags to students in the state. Investigations show that many of the commenced earlier in the year with the The gesture, according to Fayemi is in students have become highly proficient in formal presentation to some students by fulfillment of his campaign promise to the use of the computers within few Governor Fayemi at an impressive make laptops available on the desk of months of the distribution of the solarceremony at the African Church each student of public secondary schools powered laptop computers. Comprehensive High School, Ikere-Ekiti. in the state before year 2014. Meanwhile, the Joint Admission and Aside the 33,000 laptops meant for The Governor noted that many people Matriculation Board (JAMB) has disclosed distribution this year, government also including politicians and members of the made available over 11,000 laptop public doubted the possibility of achieving that future university entrance examinations in the country would now be computers for the teachers and a the feat given the limited resources computer –based. The new policy by JAMB substantial number of specialized and available to the state adding that the has thus shamed critics of the computer Braille computers for the physically exercise is now a dream come true. per child initiative who see it only from the challenged students. The government has He said the distribution of the laptops to huge budget and not the invaluable committed a total N6 billion to the students and teachers is to prepare and

JKF ICT REVOLUTION SWEEPS ACROSS SCHOOLS

continue on pg 24

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From The Editorial Suite

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Right from inception of the administration, Governor considered fit only for the old and unfit has since been brought to the Kayode Fayemi has left no one in doubt that he has a front burner in a strategic approach that emphasizes clear vision for the state- to make poverty history in commercialization and mechanization. The in- thing now is agricthe Land of Honour. To achieve this vision, the business, leading to the emergence of young and educated farmers, Governor drew up an 8-Point agenda for the well supported by the government. The government is also transformation of the state. Even though he knew that partnering with some world renowned names in commercial he was embarking on a daunting task, he believes it is achievable. agriculture, many of whom are already in the state. Regarded in many circles as a pragmatic leader who has brought a In education, there has been a dramatic departure from the old great measure of candour and intellectualism to governance, practice where semi literates are churned out of our schools. Now Governor Fayemi within a short space of time succeeded in the focus is on equipping both the students and their teachers to engrafting the 8-point agenda in the hearts of Ekitis home and meet international standard through a massive investment in abroad. In turn, the citizens are ever on the look out for instructional materials and ICT. The school environment is the delivery of these laudable ideas. not spared by this wind of change as a massive While many did not renovation of schools across the state is ongoing. While many did not doubt his ability to deliver, what they however expected was the old ways Fayemi's unusual approach to tourism doubt his ability to of doing things. Alas, the pathway the development has created a strong presence for deliver, what they Governor has chosen to achieve these lofty the state in global tourism business, what with however expected was the goals is anything but common. the redevelopment of the Ikogosi warm spring and other tourism potentials to meet old ways of doing things. The first thing he did was to make the people international standard and become a revenue the focus of the various policies of Alas, the pathway the earner for the state. Women and youth government and to make them own the Governor has chosen to empowerment have also been taken to various processes leading to the attainment achieve these lofty goals another level far from its former state through of the goals. This isn't the norm, certainly. empowerment programmes for the women and Little wonder then all the programmes of the is anything but the implementation of various relevant laws that administration are people-centred as opposed common defend their rights. to serving the interest of the privileged few. The transformation of the moribund Odua Textile For instance, in health care delivery, while many had industry complex into a vocational centre, the resuscitation expected a continuation of the neglect usually suffered by public health institutions, the government chose to upgrade the of Ire Burnt Bricks Industry and other comatose business concerns, medical facilities and equip them with modern technology; focused coupled with the government's strategic incentives to investors has its free health on the vulnerable in the society- children under five, enhanced growth in the industrial sector. Now the key word is good pregnant women, old citizens above 65 and the physically governance spiced with relevant laws, transparency and citizens' challenged. This is complemented by the free medical mission participation in an atmosphere devoid of violence. which takes medical care to the backyards of the people in the Regarded in some quarters as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;JKF Magicâ&#x20AC;?, this uncommon various localities. approach to governance has produced uncommon but outstanding In the area of infrastructure, cosmetic approach to road results and has changed the face of governance in Ekiti. Some of the construction, installation of sub standard facilities and dubious details are presented to you, our dear readers, in this edition of collusion with contractors to defraud the state used to be the norm. ROADMAP. But Fayemi has chosen to build a network of roads that will endure It is another promise kept! and which will in turn enhance economic growth. Road construction now has commencement and delivery dates as opposed to inflated roads contracts that were never completed. . Agriculture which had been relegated to the background and

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JKF, Commissioner for Education, Dr. Eniola Ajayi during the Flag-Off of Operation Renovate All Schools in Ekiti

EKITI EXPENDS N2.5 BILLION ON SCHOOLS RENOVATION, 40,000 UNITS OF FURNITURE o fewer than 100 Schools in Ekiti State are wearing new looks following the massive renovation of secondary schools being embarked upon by the Dr Kayode Fayemi-led administration under the programme tagged “Operation Renovate All Schools in Ekiti” (ORASE). The first phase of the renovation of the 100 of the 183 Secondary schools scheduled for renovation and the furnishing of same with 40,000 units of furniture would cost the government a whopping sum of N2.5 Billion. Contractors were given the period of the long vacation to complete the projects so that the students could resume in a more conducive environment. A sum of N600million out of the N2.5 Billion is to be expended on provision of furniture for both students and their teachers. Governor Fayemi had said at the flag-off of the renovation exercise at the three Senatorial Districts held at Methodist Comprehensive High School, Aaye Ekiti, Corpus Christi College, Ilawe and Olaoluwa

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Muslim Grammar School Ado Ekiti, that the intervention programme is part of the decision of his administration to have functional education that equips students decision of his administration to have functional education that equips students with learning, enlightenment and enterprise to face the challenges of life more squarely. Dr. Fayemi added that 30 secondary schools have been carefully selected from each of the Senatorial districts based on the urgency of their condition; saying that effective learning can only take

place in a conducive environment. “Our resolve to ensure that this impartation of functional educational is done under a conducive atmosphere informed the Operation Renovation All Schools in Ekiti (ORASE). Even though the first phase of this operation involving 100 secondary schools is expected to be done within only seven weeks, we have

JKF with Chairman, Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, Chief Bayo Adeniran, during an inspection of Renovation work at Ola-Oluwa Muslim Grammar School

Ola-Oluwa Grammar School, Ado-Ekiti (Before Renovation)

demonstrated through the rebuilding of the burnt hostel of Government Science College, AyedeEkiti which was rebuilt, equipped with beds, and commissioned within few weeks that it is achievable” he explained. The Governor stated that Ola-Oluwa Grammar it was an incontestable School, Ado-Ekiti (After Renovation) fact that Ekiti State is a pace setter in education, as evidenced in the vast number of academics produced by the State in all fields of human endeavour; saying that the State “cannot afford to live on past glory or allow our education system to continue to produce half baked products neither good for higher education nor for job creation and wealth generation which are our focus”. In her remarks, the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Eniola Ajayi said the renovation of schools was necessary given the level of dilapidation and decay in the schools ; adding that this was not unconnected to several years of neglect and poor job execution by contractors.

Aaye Methodist School (After Renovation)

CORPUS CHRISTI (Before Renovation)

CORPUS CHRISTI (After Renovation)

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Governor Fayemi (middle), Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed (2nd right) and other Participants at the AGCO stand at the Agric Business Forum, Washington DC, USA

Fayemi wants Farm Settlements Restored â&#x20AC;Ś.. as means of revolutionalising Agric in Nigeria kiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has made a strong case for the return of farm settlements as a means of revolutionalizing agriculture and diversifying Nigeria's income base. The Governor made the submission in his presentation at the agriculture forum with the theme: Nigeria: Transforming AgricBusiness Through Investment Forum, which held in Washington DC. , United States of America. The forum was organised by the Nigerian Embassy in the US in conjunction with the Corporate Council for Africa (CCA). Governor Fayemi explained that robust farm settlements accounted for Ekiti State's dominance in the production of key cash crops particularly cocoa prior to the discovery of crude oil in the country. He further called on all stakeholders to join hands in reversing the decline in agricultural output that has made Nigeria a net importer of food in spite of vast land, climatic and human resources. Fayemi while presenting Ekiti State as the emerging destination of choice for agric-

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The Ekiti State delegation include the Commissioner for Agriculture , Mr Babajide Arowosafe; Commissioner for Commerce , Industries and Cooperatives, Otunba Reim Bodunrin; Agric Minister, Dr. Adesina, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili and Gov. Fayemi at the Forum Commissioner for based investment in Nigeria, said his Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Debo administration had put in place some Ajayi, Special Adviser/DG Public Private incentives to encourage huge investments Partnership Office, Mr Femi Tolani and Mr to the state in the area of agriculture. Akin Rotimi. Other prominent Nigerian leaders at the Over 600 government and institutional forum include Vice President, Arch Namadi investors were in attendance during the Sambo; World Bank's Vice President Governor's presentation. Ekiti State also (Africa), Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili; Minister had a stand where information about the of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr state was on display. Akinwunmi Adesina, Governor of Rivers AGCO, one of the firms that partici[ated in State and Chair, Governor's Forum, Mr the forum has since commenced Rotimi Amaechi, his Kaduna State operations in Ekiti State, following counterpart, Mr Patrick Yakowa and Alhaji agreement reached with the state Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State. government at the forum

1,500 Jobs For Ekiti Youths Under Commercial Agric Scheme o fewer than 1,500 Ekiti youths have been given jobs by the State Government under the first phase of its Youth Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (YCAD). The YCAD scheme was conceived by the Dr. Kayode Fayemi-led administration to involve youths in agriculture purely on commercial basis. The move is aimed at ensuring that agriculture contributes 50 per cent of the state's Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR), by making agricultural practices more attractive to the youths of the state. Through this, government intends to provide a major shift from ageing subsistent farming to vibrant youth-based commercial farming. Through the YCAD initiative, the major farm settlements in the state have been revived and now play host to youths who have keyed in to the agriculture agenda of the administration. YCAD was also designed to turn the farm settlements into Centres of Excellence in Agriculture and ensure all-round production of cash crops in the state. The launch of YCAD on April 29th at the Orin Farm Settlement in Orin-Ekiti, Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state provided the state the platform to showcase its new army of young and educated farmers. Apparently impressed, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, at the launch commended Governor Kayode Fayemi for the YCAD initiative which he said would help Ekiti to exploit its rich agricultural resources and depend less on the accruals from the Federation Account. Adesina charged other states to emulate

Governor Fayemi, flanked by Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, (2nd left) and Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Babajide Arowosafe (3rd left) with other top Government Officials at the flag off of the Youth in Commercial Agriculture Development (YCAD) at the Orin Ekiti Farm Settlement

Ekiti in using agriculture to reduce unemployment and ensure food security. Governor Fayemi who has modernized agriculture as third in his 8-point agenda, said agriculture remains a key factor in the effort to turn around the fortunes of the state. He expressed dismay that Ekiti which used to lead in cocoa production in the past has lost its position due to the fact that most of the farmers who are old depend on basic farming implements. Fayemi assured that the YCAD scheme would be highly mechanized, stressing that tractors and other modern equipment have been purchased for that purpose. The governor noted that YCAD is one of the strategies adopted by his administration to combat youth restiveness and unemployment. The emphasis on youth involvement in agriculture, according to him, does not mean that the aged farming population will be abandoned as adequate provision has been made for them in the agric agenda of the administration.

Apart from the 1,500 youths directly employed under the YCAD scheme, the scheme is also expected to generate 10,000 indirect jobs, according to the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Babajide Arowosafe. “The programme is aimed at engaging serious-minded youths with entrepreneural spirit.The commissioner who assured that the selection of beneficiaries of YCAD was on merit, explained that candidates were shortlisted for interview after a thorough review of their application forms. ACHIEVEMENTS: JANUARY 2012 TO DATE. 1. YOUTH COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME. Ø Launching of YCAD programme. Ø Recruitment and documentation of150 participants. Ø Induction of the 150 participants. Ø Massive acquisition of agricultural land: over 10,000ha. Being processed. Ø Irrigation Development: 2024ha of land con’t on pg 12

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cont’d from pg 11

Forum of Women in Leadership

Launched in Ekiti

ACHIEVEMENTS acquired; clearing ongoing. Ø Massive land development: clearing of over 300 hectares. Ø Massive land preparation for arable crops: over1,000ha.so far prepared. RICE EXPANSION PROGRAMME. Ø Training of over 200 farmers in modern rice production. Ø Farmers & farmers' groups being assisted to produce through assistance in land preparation and provision of subsidized inputs. Inputs for 250ha already distributed. Input for another 500 ha. being processed for distribution.

L-R: Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Governor Kayode Fayemi; Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mrs. Bunmi Dipo-Salami; Chairperson, Governing Board of the College of Health Sciences, Ijero-Ekiti, Chief Monisola Oloro during the visit to the Governor.

kiti women leaders from the political and bureaucratic classes have come together under a new group known as Forum of Women in Leadership (FWiL). The Deputy Governor of the State, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka and Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, are the conveners of the group which will serve as a platform for women in leadership positions to interact, build and develop capacity and professionalism. The group comprises female heads of institutions, female commissioners and Special Advisers; members of the state's House of Assembly, and female permanent secretaries as well chairs of board and parastatals in the state. Receiving the women in his office during their maiden outing, Governor Kayode Fayemi, said he was delighted at the constitution of the group; saying that the inclusion of members of the opposition party in the State House of Assembly and female Permanent Secretaries shows that the group is non-partisan.

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The Governor said the need for women to be supported and strengthened cannot be overemphasized even as he stated that there is need to have more women in government because they are more judicious in the use of power than men. Fayemi said: “We are making history here today by the establishment of this forum. I am glad the way you structured it, it is not a partisan forum. We have Permanent Secretaries here who are not partisan but people committed to the development of Ekiti State, and we have people from parties across the divide here. I can only commend you for the thoughtfulness that had gone into establishing a forum that is above all about women development and growth. Erelu Bisi Fayemi who led the women on the visit to the Governor said that the Forum was established as a platform for women in leadership positions to interact, build up confidence and self esteem as well as for capacity building and professionalism.

The need for women to be supported and strengthened cannot be overemphasized

3. PROCESSING CAPACITY EXPANSION. Ø Successful upgrading of Cassava processing Plant at Orin from 10tons to 60tons per day through Private Public partnership arrangement. Ø Midwifed SPECTRA to take over a warehouse at Ikere to process Plantain, cocoa and value addition to cassava products. Ø M O U signed with DADTCO for a joint venture for cassava processing into industrial starch, flour and sweetener. 4. COCOA: Ø MOU signed with Federal Government for the establishment of new plantation and rehabilitation of 60,000ha of old plantation. Ø Acquisition of 150,000 cocoa seedlings. Ø Training of six (6) pollinators for hybrid pods' production; Ø Training of two(20) Officials in Indonesia on cocoa plantation rehabilitation. 5. OIL PALM. Ø Raising of 250 oil palm seedlings. 6. LIVESTOCK AND AQUACULTURE: Ø Talks at advanced stage for complete overhauling of the moribund facilities in the sectors through PPP arrangement. Facilities involved are the poultry and fishery hatcheries, feed mills, poultry pens and fish ponds. 7. Joint venture arrangement with Ekiti State University is being worked out.

Health

Lifeline for five year old cancer patient, others â&#x20AC;Śas Gov doles out N55m on medical assistance, equipment

JKF with Five years old Cancer Patient, Master Usman Odunayo and his Mother

ut for the unusual mould on his face, five year old Master Usman Odunayo would have been mistaken for just another child who would put up any act just to follow the mother to an outing. Not many had thought he would be among scores of citizens who had been shortlisted for the financial assistance to take care of their different ailment. Even at that, not many would ever imagine that the little lad would be a cancer patient. But the case of little Odunayo, drew some measure of emotions when his name was called and presented with a cheque for his medical bill. His ailment- cancer of the eye. Usman's mother who had been shouldering the huge medical bills for the young lad for over a year, shed tears as she came out to pick the cheque for N900,000 (Nine hundred thousand naira only. Apparently lost in the midst of outpouring of emotions, the little Odunayo clung to his mother as the poor woman rolled on the floor after receiving the cheque. Odunayo's mother who said she had suffered a lot from huge medical bills and the stress of moving the boy from one hospital to another, said the amount was a

big relief to her. She believes that the Governor's support would ensure that her child gets a better medical attention which would ensure speedy recovery and return to school to continue his studies. Aside, Odunayo, there were no fewer than 20 others who shed tears of joy as they came out to receive their checks for sundry medical bills. In all, the State Government expended a total N55m (Fifty-five Million Naira) on procurement of medical equipment and offsetting medical bills of citizens who could not afford the high medical bills occasioned by their financial incapacitation. The 31 beneficiaries got a total N20.6m as medical assistance under the scheme. Governor Kayode Fayemi, who personally handed out the cheques, said the gesture was to demonstrate the commitment of his administration to assisting the vulnerable groups in the State. Fayemi who restated the resolve of his administration to ensuring a healthy society said the government was not unaware of the daunting challenges facing health care delivery being a sector that required huge financial commitment. He added that his administration was

prepared to address the challenges and make the citizenry live a life that is devoid of preventable diseases regardless of the meagre resources that accrue to the state government. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These conditions are further exacerbated by the weak financial strength of these people whose conditions were fast deteriorating. The state government had come to the situation to practically demonstrate our commitment to assisting vulnerable groups in our midst. In this circumstance, it is to offset the high medical bills occasioned by the critical medical conditions of these fellow citizens thereby breaking the financial barriers to their good healthâ&#x20AC;?, he said. While assuring that the government would continue to embark on interventions aimed at rendering effective health care services in line with the 8-point agenda, the Governor expressed optimism that the financial assistance would not only bring succour to the beneficiaries but also ensure their speedy recovery from their ailments. The Governor also commissioned medical equipment worth N25m (Thirty-five Million Naira) for distribution to free health facilities as well as the State's Free Health Mission to ensure that effective health services are made available to all citizens and residents of the State. The equipment which included hospital beds and mattresses, 10KVA Elipak Generating set, delivery beds, binocular microscopes, hematocrit centrifuge and mobile ultrasound scanning machines among others, are to complement health services delivery at the primary health care level and to promote prompt referral to the secondary and tertiary facilities. No fewer than 94 citizens had benefited from the financial assistance in the last one year. The amount given out to each of the beneficiaries, depending on the nature of their ailment and the required treatment ranged from N200,000 to N7 million.

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FAYEMI PROCURES ARTIFICIAL LIMB FOR ACCIDENT VICTIM ...as free health mission reaches Ekiti South

Governor Fayemi with Artificial Limb beneficiary, Miss Abiola Aderonke

all it luck or coincidence, but for 26 year old Abiola Aderonke, it was a case of a dream come true, when she met Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in a chance encounter recently. Aderonke who had lost her left limb in an auto accidents on Ondo-Akure Road a year earlier, caught the attention of the state Governor during the fifth phase of the quarterly Free Health Mission programme in Ikogosi Ekiti recently. Aderonke, who hails from Itaji Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State, was said to have contemplated suicide because of her plight, even as she had sought for employment with her NCE certificate to no avail. Moved by the plight of the young lady, the

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government. “We have a programme to support people in her situation and I have already spoken to our team of health professionals as well as our partners in DSI to help procure an artificial limb for the lady so that on the basis of that she can move around and do what she is supposed to do”, the Governor said. Fayemi added that with the advancement in technology, Aderonke should be able to do all that she had dream of doing with her two limbs. A few weeks after the encounter, Aderonke got her artificial limb. She also got a job at the State’s House of Assembly in Ado Ekiti. An elated Aderonke told ROADMAP Team during a chat in her office that her singular encounter with the governor had changed her story for the better.

Aderonke told ROADMAP Team during a chat in her office that her singular encounter with the governor had changed her story for the better Governor promised to procure an artificial limb for her and swiftly got the doctors to place an order for one. Speaking on the lady's plight, Governor Fayemi said the State Government has a programme that is established to attend to people with such a plight, saying that he had already spoken to the Development Support Initiative to procure an artificial limb for her so that she could lead a normal life regardless of the loss of her limb. The Governor reassured Aderonke that losing a limb was not the end of life assuring her of support from the

GOWON LAUDS FAYEMI'S DEVELOPMENTAL STRIDES ....Urges Nigerians to pray for nation's unity

country as he expressed optimism that Nigeria would rise again. Fayemi who noted that the Nigeria Prays programme has a lot of roles to play in transforming the country, stated that the June 1998 edition of the programme was not unconnected with the restoration of peace that the country enjoys; saying that the tempo must be maintained for the nation to thrive. While describing General Gowon as a compassionate and honest leader, the Governor commended him for his commitment to the existence and success of the Nigerian project; saying that he epitomises leadership that serves the people.

JKF and Gen. Gowon at the governor’s lodge, Ado-Ekiti

ormer Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has lauded the efforts of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi in developing the state; saying Fayemi is indeed an agent of change, who should be supported and encouraged to do much more. The former Head of State who said he was impressed by the massive infrastructure development activities in the state, particularly the various roads and the urban renewal projects and the huge investment in health and education sectors, urged Ekiti citizens to rally support for the Governor so that he can take the State to a lofty height and make it the envy of other States. General Gowon, who spoke with journalists shortly after a prayer session for the Governor and the state at the Government House Chapel, recently, urged Ekitis to support Governor Fayemi's developmental efforts with prayers and also support him electorally should he show interest in seeking a second term in office. The former head of state recalled that Fayemi was particularly prayed for at the “Nigeria Prays” programme in April 2007, when he contested the gubernatorial election. He stated that though it took three- and – half years for the prayers to manifest (through his inauguration as Governor), the plan of God to transform the State through him is gradually being fulfilled. “I have read a lot about the developments in the health and

education sectors and I have seen quite a number of roads at various levels of construction going on in different parts of Ekiti. I have also seen quite a number of buildings that have come up since my last visit here. I am certain there has been a lot of development and progress in the state under Governor Fayemi's administration. I must congratulate the people of Ekiti for giving him the needed support to achieve what he has achieved. And I urge them to give him more support so that he can do much more.”. “I also expect that the support will be given should you desire to go for a second term, so that the state can witness more development”, Gowon said. Speaking on the spate of insecurity in the country, Gowon urged Nigerians, especially Christians, not to be carried away in their worries about the ugly trend, but rather intensify their prayers till the country witness peace and tranquility. He added that their prayers, complemented by the steps taken by government will address the worrisome trend and bring the lasting peace that the country desires. The former Head of State who worshipped at the Government House chapel, ahead of his Nigeria Prays crusade, in Ado-Ekiti, said he was optimistic that God will restore peace to the country. Also speaking at the church service, Governor Fayemi said Nigerians must not relent in their prayers for the

UNILAG HONOURS FAYEMI, ADEBOYE, NDOMA-EGBA, 47 OTHERS

kiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Pastor Enoch Adeboye ; Senate Majority leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) and former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Sarah Sosan and 46 other distinguished alumni of the University of Lagos, Akoka were recently honoured by the University with the “ Distinguished Alumni Award.” Fiery Lagos Pastor and Vice Presidential Candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 presidential election, Pastor Tunde Bakare; Wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, Minister of the Interior, Comrade Abba Moro; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha; Inspector-General of Police, Mr. M.D Abubakar; Nigeria's High Commissioner to the UK, Alhaji Dalhatu Tafida; Minister of Sport, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and Minority leader in the House of Reps, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila were also honoured at the event which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the institution. Others included Senator Gbenga Kaka, a Supreme Court Judge, Hon. Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour; former Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Enitan Akande; National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; Group Managing Director of UBA, Phillips Oduoza; Chairman of Lagos State Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Moshood Ojikutu and Barrister Sola Ladipo-Ajayi. Speaking at the award dinner which held at the University's multipurpose Hall, Governor Fayemi described the honour as one of the “proudest moments of” his life; saying that he had a great time in the University especially as a student activist. An apparently elated Fayemi, said whereas the award was not the first he would receive, but that the Unilag award remains the best for him.

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FAYEMI'S PALLIATIVES:OILING THE PINCHES OF SUBSIDY REMOVAL

Civil Servants boarding one of the 11 Mass Transit Luxury Buses procured by the State Government

hen the Federal Government, on January 1st, announced the removal of oil subsidy and increased price of petrol from N65 to N141 per litre, most Nigerians were unhappy about the development, and consequently made their displeasure known through demonstration and strike actions by organized labour. But the Ekiti State Government, seemed to have foreseen the imminent pains that the subsidy removal would have on the citizens and had procured luxury buses as part of the palliative measures that would cushion the hardship. Governor Fayemi believed that one of the best ways to alleviate the sufferings that would accompany the new policy of the Federal Government was to provide mass transit vehicles for the people- especially for workers, students and commuters generally. As expected, transport fares increased by between 100 to 300 per cent following the subsidy removal, thereby increasing the pains of the citizens. But the Governor, at an inter-religious new year prayer held at the Government House Ground, Ado- Ekiti, on January 2nd, announced to an ecstatic crowd of workers that his administration had procured 11 buses to reduce the effect of the pains of the subsidy removal. The same week, Fayemi presented the 11 mass transit buses to various institutions of higher learning in the state. From the distribution list, six Ashok Leyland luxury buses, three

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coaster buses and two 18-seater buses were given to the benefiting institutions. These include: Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti (EKSU) [2 luxury buses], The Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti[1 luxury bus], Ekiti State College of Education, Ikere Ekiti [1 luxury bus], Ekiti State College of Health Science, Ijero Ekiti [a coaster bus] and newly created Federal University, Oye [a coaster bus]. Others include Federation of Ekiti State Students Union (FESSU)[an 18-seater bus], Ekiti Kete House of Arts [an 18seater bus], Council of Traditional Rulers [a coaster bus],and the State workers [2 luxury buses]. The inclusion of federal institutions in the list of beneficiaries was initially faulted by a section of the populace who believed that federal institutions ought not be considered. But the Governor appealed for understanding, stressing that the staff and students of the institutions were citizens affected by the subsidy removal and should not be blamed for the actions of the Federal Government. Apparently moved by its inclusion in the list of beneficiary institutions, the authorities of the Faderal Polythecnics , Ado-Ekiti, wrote a commendation letter, signed by its Rector to Governor Fayemi, praising the

administration's foresight and generosity as demonstrated by the bus gift. The government also set up a committee to work with the transport unions to work out a modality aimed at reducing the exorbitant transport fares and also to see the government buses as a means to cushion the effect on the citizens and not to run transporters out of business. COLLEGE OF EDUCATION The situation in other benefiting institutions also have their own peculiarities. At the State College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, the College officials also met with transport unions in the town and reached an agreement on the modus operandi. For instance, the Fayemi 'palliative' Bus operates in the morning between 7am to 9am and 1pm to 4pm; collecting only N30 as fare from Ikere township round-about to the College premises, while the public transports, previously charging N30 now charge N40, operate all through the day. COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES The State College of Health Sciences, Ijero, has its peculiarities as the coaster bus given to the College serves is put to

EKSG Sends Three Agric Officers on OVERSEAS Training n the bid to further enhance the capacity of workers in the employment of Ekiti State Government, three senior officials of the State Ministry of Agriculture and National Resources are currently on overseas training, courtesy of the state government The three officials who are pursuing different programmes at various reputable research institutions include the Director of Agric Services, Engr Gbenga Odesanmi, who is undergoing a two-week training programme on Modern Techniques on Cassava Production in China. Others are two Agriculture Officers- Messrs Sunday Olutoye Alao and Akindele Sesan Olorunfemi. They are currently in Indonesia for a six-week training programme on the latest methods of regenerating cocoa plantations through grafting, budding and artificial pollination. The State Commissioner for Agriculture and National Resources, Mr. Babajide Arowosafe, who disclosed this in Ado-Ekiti said the overseas training was part of efforts of the Dr Kayode Fayemi-led administration to make farming more attractive and boost commercial agriculture in the state. He noted that the government has already identified 66,000 hectares of cultivable land for cocoa production in the state out of which 60,000 hectares had been cultivated adding that the state intended to raise an average of 500,000 improved seedlings every year.

Students of the College of Health Tech, Ijero boarding their bus.

multipurpose use. The coaster bus previously used by the College was in bad condition and the management had resorted to hiring commercial buses to transport its students to their various places of practicals and field trips. The new bus, according to College officials, now serves as a utility vehicle for official runnings and students field trips. Since the College's hostel is not far from the College premises, the Fayemi Palliative Bus now serves these new functions at a low cost. For instance, trips outside the State is charged at a fixed rate of N15,000. Compared to public transport which would charge based on the distance of the destination. FEDERAL UNIVERSITY, OYE The Federal University Oye, a new Institution uses its coaster bus for utility purposes since the school is yet to fully take off in the two campuses though academic activities have begun. STATE CIVIL SERVICE The two luxury buses given to the State Civil Servants have been put to good use as they are run as

local shuttle buses by the General Administration Department (GAD). The buses transport workers from Ijigbo, Old Garage, Bawa Road, Adebayo, Basiri, NTA Road and Ilawe road. It operates between 6 to 8am in the morning and also between 4 and 6pm in the evening. GAD has also devised a new ticketing system which has smoothened the operation of the Fayemi Buses for workers. EKSU The Luxury bus given to EKSU was also deployed by the authorities of the institution as a shuttle bus, ferrying students from various designated bus stops in Ado township to the campus. FEDERAL POLY, ADO Like other institutions, the palliative bus came as a major relief to the institution, which students had suffered untold hardship in the area of transportation. The institution also made an internal arrangement with the students body and the bus now serves both the students and workers of the institution who daily move to the campus in the new bus at a far cheaper rate.

...Equips Schools with

Dictionaries Worth N75m kiti State Government has procured dictionaries worth N75m (Seventy-Five million Naira) as part of efforts geared towards revamping the education sector and restoring the State to its leading position in the education sector. The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, while taking delivery of the consignments in Ado-Ekiti, said the dictionaries with compact disks, would go a long way to complement the recent distribution of laptops to students in the pubic schools. Dr. Ajayi added that the dictionaries would help many of the students communicate effectively in English which is the language of instruction in Nigeria as well as help them learn new words and their pronunciation, even as the state Ministry of Education has made spelling drills, quiz competitions and debate compulsory in schools. “We are distributing Active Study dictionary which comes with a CD by Longman and is more appropriate especially right now that we are giving computers to our children. Within the early part of next week we should be taking delivery of Dictionaries by Macmillan. The official language of communication in Nigeria as of today is still English language so when our children have good grasp of proper vocabulary, then it becomes easy for them to communicate. “This Dictionary comes with a CD which means that the students can slot it in their computers and be able to have more insight into words, especially now that we have made spelling compulsory in our schools in Ekiti. They do what we call spelling drills every month at least once a month; we have debate every Thursday, a quiz competition, drama and spellings. So they do at least one each week. This then becomes a veritable tool in the hands of any student in Ekiti state,”she said.

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L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; receiving the newly introduced National Tax Identification Certificate from President Goodluck Jonathan, during the launch in Abuja.

L-R: Member, National Assembly, Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi (Ekiti North); Governor Fayemi; and Country Director, World Bank, Nigeria, Mrs. Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, during the Governor's meeting with the Bank's top officials in Abuja.

Governor Fayemi with South African High Commissioner, Kingsley Mamabolo, during a visit by the High Commissioner.

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L-R: Chairman of the Occassion and former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo; Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom; and Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, during the presentation of the book, AGRIBUSINESS FOR AFRICA'S PROSPERITY, by (UNIDO), in Abuja.

Attorney of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, Governor Fayemi; his Niger State Counterpart, Dr. Babangida Aliyu and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide at the NEC meeting in Abuja

L-R: Lead Water and Sanitation Specialist, Hassan Kida, World Bank, Nigeria; Lead Water Resource Specialist/Program Coordinator, Urban and Water Unit, African Region, Alex Bakalian; Country Director, WB, Nigeria, Ms. Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly; Lead Procurement Specialist, WB, Nigeria, Chief Bayo Awosemusi; with Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, shortly after a business meeting, in Abuja.

L-R: Director, Lagos Business School, Prof. Pat Utomi; former World Bank Vice President, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and his River State Counterpart, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, during the Maiden Edition of Young and Emerging Leaders Symposium in Lagos.

Gov.Fayemi presenting the New Laws of Ekiti State to the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar ; in her office, after the Inauguration of the award of New Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), with them are Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekiti State, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja (SAN); and Human Rights Lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, at the Supreme Court, Abuja.

L-R: Speaker, Lagos State Assembly, Adeyem Ikuforiji i; Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Governor Fayemi and Mr Dele Alake, at the Democratic Party Convention, in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Acting Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola; and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja, during the State's 1st Justice week, in Ado-Ekiti.

L-R: Immediate Past Chairman, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Ekiti State Chapter, Chief (Mrs.) Abike Sonoiki; her successor, Alhaji Hammed Bakare; and Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, during a courtesy visit by the ICAN officials to the Governor, in Ado-Ekiti.

L-R: Guest Lecturer and Governor, Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu; his counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); representative of National Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN Mrs. Francisca Emmanuel; and Secretary, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, Mr. Fola Ator-Worrey, duringa public lecture organised by the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, in Lagos

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Ekiti Turns A Huge Construction Site

JKF presenting cheque to Mrs Abike Animotu, one ofthe beneficiaries of government compensation to owners of properties marked for demolition ahead of the road dualisation project in Ado-Ekiti

n December, 2011, no fewer than 13 road projects were awarded for construction, re-construction and rehabilitation. These roads which spread across the 16 local government areas of the State were awarded for construction with a view to making Ekiti accessible by major roads by 2014. Aside these roads, the State Government in partnership with Local Governments is constructing 80 km of roads spread in 5km in each of the local governments. While flagging off the 13 roads, the State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi had said that the bulk of money for the road projects would be from the N20 Billion bond raised from the Capital Market. The Governor had, in different fora, said that Ekiti State would soon become a huge construction site. Now, the State is indeed a huge construction site, following commencement of work in all the listed roads. The roads included Igede-Awo-Ido road (24km), Ikere-Igbara-Odo road(19km), Ikogosi-Ipole Iloro-Efon road(24km), IjanIse road (17km),Ilawe-Igbara-Odo –Ibuji road (17km), Ikole-Ijesha Isu-Iluomoba road(23km) and Oye-Ikun-Otun road (43km). Others are dualisation of Old

Garage –Ojumose road (0.8km), dualisation of First Baptist ChurchAtikankan (0.9km), Ijigbo- Baptist collegeIlawe road (3.62 km), Ojumose- BasiriPolice Headquarters road (4.9km), Old Garage-Ajilosun-Ikere road (newly added) and Fajuyi-University Teaching Hospital road (1.65km). Construction works have begun on virtually all the roads including dualisation of Old Garage –Ojumose road (0.8km) and dualisation of First Baptist-Atikankan (0.9km) which required demolition of property along the route to pave way for the construction of these roads. The State Government decided that it would not render owners of the properties naked by demolishing their houses without provision, hence the decision to pay compensation before embarking on the demolition exercise. Many citizens had hailed this as being the very first time a government would pay compensation for

Dualization of Ojumose Area in progress

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properties it has not destroyed. JKF's endgoal was to allow the people get money to get a new place for themselves and settle down before the tractors move in. At a modest ceremony held along the route of the proposed road, Governor Fayemi had presented cheques worth N198.8 million as compensation to people whose properties were marked for demolition to pave way for the dualization of New Garage-Ojumose-Okeyinmi- Baptist Church road and Atikankan-Igbehin road. Presenting the cheques to beneficiaries in Ado Ekiti, Dr Fayemi said the payment of the compensation was to conclude all technical arrangements for the dualisation of the two major roads whose construction would last for ten months. Fayemi who restated the commitment of his administration to “effecting a major turn around in infrastructure development of “Ekiti State said the government was aware that the on-going construction and rehabilitation projects in the state capital may cause temporary discomfort for the people. He appealed to the affected people to see the efforts of government as a collective aspiration aimed at achieving lasting comfort as well as decent environment. He added that the payment of the compensation was to “ameliorate the pains of our people arising from these projects”. Fayemi promised that his administration would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the vision of making all major roads in Ekiti State motorable by 2014 is achieved, assuring that that when this vision is actualised, Ekiti would have the best road networks in the South-west. The shouts of “EYIYATO”, “OYATO JOO”, “De GOV”,, “Ride on Mr Governor” rented the air as the jubilant crowd applauded the Governor as he departed the venue of the ceremony. The ecstasy continued as the tractors moved in thereafter, leveling the marked structure in preparation for the road construction. “I have never seen a thing like this all my life, that people a government would pay full compensation before demolishing the structures. This government is unique, this Governor is thinking”, declared, Mr Adewale Olofe, a citizen, whose family benefited from the compensation.

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Inspection of ODO-OWA Road project

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newly constructed Ilawe

D - Rehabilitation and overlay of Ikere - Igbara Odo road

Gov Fayemi inspecting the Fajuyi-Police Headquarters dualised road

Rehabilitation of Ado - Ikere Dualisation

Fajuyi-Teaching Hospital Road/Street light projects

dualisation of Fajuyi - police headquarters

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Ekiti Lifts The Masses With

Direct Kerosene Sale he common man has been the focus of the policies and programmes of the Fayemi-led administration and in demonstration of his commitment to the wellbeing of the grassroots people, the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi recently flagged off the Eyiyato Kero-Direct Enterprise with an assurance that his administration was committed to ameliorating the sufferings of the people of the State in getting kerosine which is a household product. At the ceremony marking the flag off of the sale of Kerosene to the masses in Ado Ekiti, the Governor said his government decided to buy into the Kero-Direct initiative of the Federal Government so that the masses, 80 per cent of whom live in the rural areas have access to kerosene at #50 per litre. Kerosene is sold at filling stations across the state at between #90 and #120 per litre. The Governor said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The sight of the people on long and endless queues at filling stations dispensing the product even at prices far higher than the recommended pump price is common in our localities and very undesirable in decent societies. Excessive profiteering by dealers who sell at exhorbitant prices in the neighbourhood further puts more burden on the populace, thereby putting more pressures on the little disposable income they have.â&#x20AC;? Expressing this resolve to making a difference in the lives of the people, the Fayemi-led administration committed substantial funds to the project so that not only the rural but also the urban dwellers benefit from the Eyiyato Kero-Direct scheme. The Scheme is designed to make the product available across

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all the Local Government areas of the State and is not a profit making venture but masses oriented programme with numerous benefits to the people.The first batch of the product is now being distributed by three mobile trucks with 22,000 litres capacity in each of the senatorial districts of the State as the product is now sold at all selling points at

the recommended retail price of #50/litre to the populace. The distribution/sale handled by Ekiti Enterprise Development Agency (EEDA) in conjunction with the Governor's office so as to ensure transparency, equity and fairness in the sale of the product across the State so that every end user benefit from the product.

JKF dispensing kerosene to citizens during the flag off of Eyiyato Kero-Direct Enterprise in Ado-Ekiti

JKF INDUSTRIAL DRIVE: MOVING EKITI FROM CIVIL SERVICE TO INDUSTRIALISED STATE

Oodua Enterprise Development Centre

or about two decades, the Odu'a Textile, Ado Ekiti which was once the heart of industrial development in the old Ondo State, laid in ruins. The absence of production activities at the complex led to its abandonment and consequent takeover by weeds, which made it a perfect hideout for men of shady characters. That was the lots of the once vibrant Odua textile Industry, before the present administration led by Dr Kayode Fayemi resolved to turn the State from being a predominantly civil service State to a hub of economic activities and a choice destination for investors. In achieving this, the Governor announced plans to jumpstart industrial development through Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). In walking the talk, Governor Fayemi gave out a total sum of N20 million to some young entrepreneurs who had trained in different vocations to establish their businesses. Shortly after, the administration took a bold step and revived the â&#x20AC;&#x153;deadâ&#x20AC;? Odu'a

Engineering students of the Centre at their Auto Mechanic Workshop

textile and turned it to what is now known as Odu'a Enterprise Development Centre; housing an industrial park with notable features such as a builders' mart and a skills Acquisition Centre called Ekiti-Odu'a Skills Acquisition Centre. The Ekiti Enterprise Development Agency (EEDA), established in March 2011 and headed by Mr OSKA Ayeleso, is saddled with the responsibility of coordinating activities at the Skills Acquisition Centre. The Ekiti-Odu'a Skills Acquisition Centre started operation in December 2011 and in January 2012 admitted no fewer than 200 students who are undergoing trainings in eight different fields. The fields include Auto-mechanics, metal fabrication, electrical rewinding, arts/craft, computer/telephone hardware repairs, fashion designing, carpentary and hotel and events management. The centre admits students for the various programmes twice in a year. Aside the fact that the trainees are undergoing training free of charge, they are also receiving monthly stipend paid to their accounts domiciled in one of the new generation banks. Aiyeleso confirmed that upon completion of their programmes, the trainees are also given financial assistance

to start their businesses. Bouyed by the success of the programme in its first year, the state government is now building three Enterprise Development Centres in the three senatorial districts of the State. The one for Ekiti Central is located in Iloro- Ekiti, in Ijero Local Government Area; Ilupeju Ekiti will host Ekiti North while Aisegba will host the Centre at Ekiti South Senatorial District. The three centres, which are billed to take off soon, are to train 200 youths in different vocations every quarter. In a related development, and in furtherance of the commitment of the JKFled administration to industrial development, the government has given a soft loan of #22.9 million to 229 youths who completed a three-month training in the NDE Agric enterprise programme. The loan is interest-free! The youths were trained in poultry, animal husbandry, fishery and other agric enterprises. This was aimed at actualising the vision of government to ensure a shift from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture. Already the state government has leased out Gede Farm to a private investor with an agreement to train more Ekiti youths in commercial agriculture.

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e-school ‘ll change the Face of Education in Ekiti - IT Expert

Niyi Adeboyejo, Chief Operating Officer of ProcentricIQ Limited, exclusive partner of (Daulfsoft) in Africa, E-learning software partner, in this brief chat with ROADMAP shares his experience on the special training held for Ekiti teachers on the use of computers. hat is the level of your company's involvement in the Ekiti State e-school project? Procentriciq Limited is the exclusive partner of Daulsoft in Africa. E-learning software partner. What were the training components? Lecturemaker - This is an E-Learning content authoring software which empowers anyone to create interactive lessons and activities that can be easily delivered in various ways based on the deployment requirements. With LectureMaker subject matter experts or instructors can share their knowledge and expertise by developing and distributing highly interactive and persuasive materials. It allows the teacher or instructor save content in the universally accepted Flash format and the output can be SCORM compliant. Testmaker - is a question creating tool that enables teachers to deploy assessment by generating test paper based on assessment specification. Assessment can be conducted on/off line. E-Class - E-class system is a communitybased learning portal. Every Instructor can conduct online teaching and learning activities with various educational functions such as post class announcements, bulletin boards, assignments and view individual student's progress and results. Students can learn from the e-Learning contents and activities effectively, as well as communicate and share information within the learning community. What is your assessment of the teachers during the training sessions? They are eager to learn…a good number of them were quite enthusiastic about the training and I am sure they will make very good use of the knowledge gained. What would you say about the future of IT education in the state? It's a fact that no generation is more at ease with online, collaborative technologies than today's young people — “digital natives”, who have grown up in an immersive computing environment. Today's students are armed with smart phones, laptops and iPods e.t.c. These

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changes will have a significant ripple effect on education in Ekiti State . The Ekiti eschool project will put education within the reach of many more students within

and around the state and will allow greater specialization in curriculum and teaching methodologies than ever before.

con’t from pg. 6

JKF ICT REVOLUTION...

Tertiary institutions is now computer Commissioner for Education, Science and based.It goes without saying that for our Technology, Dr Eniola Ajayi, while students to be able to attempt foreign justifying the huge investment in the eschool project, said the laptops are not just examinations such as SAT, ACT, GMAT, TOEFL and others, they have to be hardware without content, adding that computer competent. they came with a Dual Soft Educational “In the next five years, we expect Ekiti Software and a training component for Children to be so confident, self-educating Teachers provided by the fulfilment and technologically savvy to be able to Partners, Purples Consult and Michael compete on any level anywhere in the Sarah Ventures with the support of world. We expect that they will use this Microsoft and Dual Soft. “We have also tool to conquer their environment and organised trainings for our teachers. This is crucial in that we expect all our Teachers become masters of their own destiny” to be able to use these laptops to teach their students with the intranet facility provided between the laptops. The computers are coming with the capability to have all the National Curriculum fully loaded for the purposes of teaching via the Dual Soft server Ekiti Teachers during the training workshop on use of Computer in Ado-Ekiti to be deployed. “Our expectation over the next year or two is that an average Ekiti Student or Teacher will be at home with a PC for the purpose of exploration, information and education. This is so essential especially in the World we live in today where ICT is the platform of transaction, communication, information and governance. It is even more compelling now in that admission examination into

JKF; Dep Gov, Mrs Funmi Olayinka with students during the flag-off

EKITI SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES HIT 20,000 Plus As excited elderly citizens speak on their enlistment nother 10,000 elderly citizens in Ekiti State have joined the rank of the beneficiaries of the Social Security Benefit Scheme of the State Government. Through the inclusion of the new beneficiaries who have since started collecting the N5,000 monthly stipend which the State Government monthly pays existing 10,084 citizens aged 65 years and above, the number of old people benefitting from the scheme has increased to 20,000. Governor Kayode Fayemi said the scheme which was employed by his administration to address adult poverty challenges was already hitting at the target as more elderly citizens who had once L-R: Gov Fayemi; Commissioner for Labour , Productivity and Human Capital Development, Hon. Wole Adewunmi; Chairman thought the programme was a Ekiti East Local Government, Mr. Rotimi Ajidara and one of the beneficiaries Mrs. Joke Adedeji,during the Flag-off Ceremony mirage are now subscribing. of the second batch of beneficiaries of the state Social Security Scheme For Elderly Citizens...in Omuo Ekiti “I am happy to note that since the by the need to make life inauguration of the Scheme in October meaningful and comfortable for 2011, the accruing benefits have been the elderly. providing succour to a total of 10,084 indigent elders who have been receiving While stressing that the scheme would now cost Government a monthly stipend of N5,000 each. This sum of N100 million monthly, novel approach which has been applauded across political, ethnic, social the Governor said elderly citizens should rest assured of continued and economic divide is a tool being employed by this administration to battle care and support from government, even as he said that poverty challenges,” he said. Fayemi said the scheme was conceived to the Scheme now has a strong improve the living condition of the senior legal backing so that it can citizens and serve as a poverty reduction outlive the present administration. strategy in favour of the deserving poor through the provision of regular income and free health care; adding that this was a fulfillment of his electioneering campaigns. On how the State Government has coped Beneficiaries of the social despite its meagre resources, Fayemi said security, ( popularly known as the scheme was not conceived because Owo Arugbo) spoke with the Government has abundant resources but ROADMAP team when it visited due to “the will to positively affect the some communities during the lives of the toiling masses for whom this Madam Alabekun at a pay centre in Igbara-Odo payment exercise. government is in authority”; saying that con’t on pg. 31 the administration was always propelled

BENEFICIARIES SPEAK OUT

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ot many people had appreciated the importance the Dr Kayode Fayemi â&#x20AC;&#x201C;led administration attached to tourism development at inception when it listed it as the seventh item on its eight-point agenda for the development of the state. This is because for decades, successive governments in the country and Ekiti State in particular had succeeded only in paying lip service to tourism development. But the present government recognizes tourism as a potential income earner, hence its decision to make a huge investment in its development, with a view to making it one of the sure ways of increasing its internally generated revenue. The intention of the government is to make Ekiti a destination of choice for relaxation and holidays by developing the Efon, Okemesi, Ikogosi, IpoleIloro tourism corridor. With a huge investment in the reconstruction of Ikogosi Warm Spring, the state's dream is gradually being realised. Whereas, the Ikogosi Warm Spring has suffered untold neglect by successive administrations, it is now the beautiful bride with the on going transformation going on there. The spring which is located in Ikogosi-Ekiti in

Governor Fayemi; Project Architect, Mr. Sola Oyelade (2nd R); and Member, House of Representative, Mr. Oyetunde Ojo, during an inspection tour of on-going work at the Ikogosi Resort.

Ekiti West Local Government Area is believed to be the only site in the world where cold and warm water run side by side and fuse together at a meeting point. This uniqueness has remained the main selling point for the Ikogosi Warm Spring. However, the Fayemi-led

administration is pushing the uniqueness a little further by turning the spring into a resort centre where holiday makers, local and foreign tourists, researchers and those seeking an escape from the madness of the major cities can have a week holiday

MONARCH HAILS GOVT'S EFFORT ON IKOGOSI WARM SPRING pparently overjoyed by the transformation of the Ikogosi Warm Spring, the Onikogosi of Ikogosi-Ekiti, Oba Elijah Abiodun Olorunnisola, has hailed Governor Kayode Fayemi for lifting the tourist resort to an international standard. Oba Olorunnisola said Governor Fayemi has worked wonders on the hitherto abandoned tourism pearl by committing huge resources to make it attract tourists from all over the world. He noted that the people of Ikogosi will be eternally grateful to the state's

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Chief Executive for incorporating the warm spring into his development agenda after being neglected by successive administrations. Going down the memory lane, the traditional ruler recalled that it was the defunct Western Region military administration led by Major General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd) that made the first attempt to develop the warm spring. He regretted that the few facilities at the warm spring completely collapsed under Governor Ayo Fayose whom he said ordered the sale of some assets of the resort.

they will ever remember for a long time. The government believes that if it invests heavily in the tourist centre by providing the right facilities to enhance leisure and recreation, the project could be a money spinner. And that is what it is doing now. The government has a budget of Oba Olorunnisola said the coming to power of Governor Fayemi has given a new face to Ikogosi Warm Spring which he believes will attract holidaymakers from all over the world and place the serene community on the global tourism map. The royal father pointed out that the massive construction work going on at the site of the tourism centre has boosted the economy of his domain as artisans, labourers, food sellers and local market women are making more money through the project. Apart from being the host of the tourist destination, the Monarch believes that many of his subjects will be gainfully employed by the time the rejuvenated

N1.2billion for the redevelopment and rebuilding of the warm spring. So far, it has expended about half the amount, which has resulted in a major transformation of the tourist centre. The transformation of Ikogosi Warm Spring has turned the resort into a big construction site where earth-moving machines are busy in a bid to deliver a splendid job. A visit to the site shows workmen who are working on the landscaping and planting flowers on both sides of the road leading to the spring. A befitting gate is being constructed at the centre to give it a status of an international tourist destination. The renovation of chalets and conference centre is nearing completion, while the swimming pool and other modern recreational facilities are being put in place ahead of its October deadline for its commissioning.

The chalets had been abandoned for decades and were until recently homes to all manners of reptiles and overgrown with weeds. The chalets which are tastefully rehabilitated to meet up with the 21st Century standards are now cynosures of all eyes to visitors. They are expected to serve as accommodation for tourists from all parts of the world who must be given the best of comfort. Apart from the renovation of the existing chalets, government has also laid foundation for new buildings and conference halls where meetings,

spring is opened for public use. He said, ”We want to give God the glory and we want to thank God for giving us this governor who has thought it wise to develop this warm spring which has suffered untold neglect in the past. “For the progress of work already done at the Ikogosi Warm Spring, we want to say well done to our governor for the big investment his administration has ploughed into the project. “I remember that (former governor) Fayose instead of developing that place took the treasures away and left the place to rot away in neglect and nothing has been done by those who came after him. We thank Governor Fayemi for taking this

con’t on pg 32

bold step of developing Ikogosi Warm Spring to a modern taste and he will always be remembered for this singular act. “Governor Fayemi is building an enduring legacy that our people and history will never forget in life. “Already, our people are feeling the positive impact of the work that is going on because many people are working at the site with food sellers, traders and other people recording better patronage on daily basis. We also believe that the place will generate employment for our people and the multiplier effects cannot be quantified.”

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L-R: DG, Nigerian Stock Exchange Commission (NSE), Mr. Osca Onyema; ED, Market Operation (NSE), Mr. Adebajomo; Gov. Kayode Fayemi; MD, Greenwich Trust Ltd., Mr. Kayode Falomo and Fmr Gov. of Ekiti State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, at the Bell Ringing Event, signalling the close of transaction on Ekiti Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s N20billion Bond at the floor of the Stock Exchange

Governor Fayemi signing the visitor's register at the flag-off ceremony of School furniture (Desk and Chairs), Academic Gowns and Tree Planting, initiated by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in Ado-Ekiti

JKF delivering a lecture at the Launch of Politic, Polity and Politicians written by Bolade Omonijo

Ekiti State Governor and Visitor, Ekiti State University, Dr Kayode Fayemi, former Ondo State Governor and Chancellor, of the University, Amb. Bamidele Olomilua, and Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Jide Osuntokun at the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Convocation ceremony

JKF with military officers during Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Ado-Ekiti

JKF, Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and SSG, Alhaji (Dr) Ganiyu Owolabi, during the June 12 walk, commemorating the June 12 Election in Ado-Ekiti.

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Governor Fayemi taking a salute from pupils of Police Children's School, Ado-Ekiti, during the 2012 Children's Day Celebration in Ado-Ekiti.

contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from pg 25

EKITI SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES

HIT 20,000 Plus

rimu being

Ka Pa Ajibola

o Ekiti

paid in Aw

Madam Victoria Aina being paid by Mr. Adewumi in Eyio Ekiti

Pa Stephen Ojo (Emure Ekiti) : My hope of survival has been rekindled since I started enjoying the N5000 stipend paid by the Government of Dr. Kayode Fayemi. May God continue to help and uphold the Governor for the gesture. Madam Olayemi Oluborode (Are Ekiti): I have not been able to walk for a long time because I have rheumantism but the monthly stipend of #5000 given by the Governor has brought succour to me. Now, I can feed well and meet my health needs. Madam Fabian Akilo (Omuo): I am very happy that government has come up with a programme like this because it has helped improve my health condition tremendously since I started enjoying the scheme. Madam Alabekun Rachael (Igabara Odo): Though I have been praying for death because of hunger and poor living condition before the introduction of the social security scheme, now my prayer is for God to give me long life because the scheme has improved my living condition. Pa Dada Ogboloro (Omuo): Though I cannot walk on my own, I can now do almost all that my counterparts are doing because hunger is no longer part of my probloems. Chief (Mrs) Beatrice Ogundipe (Ajero of Esure Ekiti, said to be about 130 years): My siblings neglected me in the past but now the money given to me serves as a relief because I have something to fall back on. Madam Victoria (Eyio Ekiti) Though I am from Esure, I am based in Eyio

A cross section of beneficiaries during the Flag-Off Ceremony

Ekiti where I receive medical attention. The monthly N5000 has brought me joy and faith in the Fayemi-led administration. Pa.Adelabu James (Ijurin Ekiti) This is indeed the first in the history of Nigeria and it is commendable. Apart from the adequate feeding that the scheme has availed me, I can now wear better clothes unlike in the past. Pa Ajibola Karimu (Awo Ekiti) With this monthly stipend, I can now cater for my wife better and meet some family obligations. Pa Fagbemide Augustine (Ipole Iloro) I am very happy that Fayemi has come up with a scheme like this but it more praise worthy that he didn't allow party sentiments to take over the scheme as seen in the programmes of previous governments in the state. The scheme has put a smile on my face as I can now feed properly because the money is the only regular source of income which my family depends on.

Madam Fabian Akilo being paid in Omuo-Ekiti

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cont’d from pg 27

IKOGOSI WARM SPRING: MAKING OF A GLOBAL BRAND TOURISM

conferences and AGMs could be held. Also undergoing renovation is the old swimming pool now with full compliments of a fountain, a bar, sitting terraces and dressing rooms.

...SOUTH AFRICAN INVESTOR TAKES OVER Governor Kayode Fayemi is not sparing anything to realize the dream of making the Ikogosi Warm Spring one of the best holiday resorts in the country. Aside the massive infrastructure transformation going on at the site, the government, in a bid to ensure world class service delivery, has entered into a partnership with the Mantis Collection Group of South Africa, a foremost name the hospitality industry. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ekiti State Government and the Mantis group has resulted in the renowned South African firm take over the management of the Ikogosi Warm Spring. The idea behind the partnership is to ensure that the spring operates at the highest international level and become a true destination of choice for tourists and holiday makers from all walks of life. Governor Fayemi said Ekiti State was ready to create its “own oasis in the midst of desert” as the state government is more determined to realise its objective of developing its tourism potentials and make the State the tourism capital of Nigeria. He added that Ekiti State could replicate some of the tourism initiatives in South Africa with the partnership that was being planned between the State Government and the Mantis Collection Group. Patrick Shorten of the Mantis Group said

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“we are here to expose this place to the people of Nigeria and international tourists to see the beauty that we have here and therefore we are entering into partnership with Ekiti state government in developing resort of fivestar standard, three star standard and area for camp stand so that the people of Nigeria and west Africa can come and enjoy and appreciate the beauty of this place”, Shorten said. Shorten said he is happy with the level of development at the tourist centre and promised that his team would manage the resort profitably. Already, Mr. John Dixon, General Manager, Mantis Collection has since resumed at the Warm Spring to oversee its day to day management.

The new swimming pool section

Building Roads of Progress

AROUND EKITI

Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka and other State officials during an inspection tour of the roads

ll things being equal, the Ekiti State government will, in a matter of weeks, take delivery of 80 kilometres of roads across the 16 local government areas of the State. This is the first phase under the 'five kilometre road per local government initiative' of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi- led administration, aimed at bequeathing motorable roads to the rural dwellers in the Land of Honour. The surfacing of rural roads, ordinarily the responsibility of the local councils, is being carried out by the state government to improve the state's overall road infrastructure and shore up the economic base of the people who are mainly farmers and have faced the difficulties of linking up with their customers in urban areas. The Fayemi administration, through the roads project, is also fulfilling one of its campaign promises of improving citizens' lives in such a way that, by 2014, all parts of the state would be made accessible by major roads to benefit the people and show up investment potentials. The state government is supporting the councils, who are the original owners of the roads, with 25 percent of total cost, in addition to other logistics, while the councils contribute 75 percent of the total cost. The funding formula is likely to

continue for all the years that the Fayemi government spends in office. The simple translation is that a total of 320 kilometres of council roads would have been built at the end of 2014. It is however necessary to add that the 320 kilometres is without prejudice to ongoing state roads that are presently at different stages of completion; all in the bid to bring unprecedented progress to Ekiti people. Overall target of the government is to ensure that while new roads are being built, existing ones are simultaneously maintained to ensure that government's impact is continually felt and their economic situation improved by bringing the market closer to farming communities. To ensure that the project does not go the way of those of previous administrations, where contractors would collect money and disappeared into thin air, the Fayemi administration is institutionalising a number of initiatives that are aimed at enlisting the support of the benefiting communities in monitoring the projects in their locality. The Deputy Governor of the State, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, whose office supervises the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, commenced a consultative meeting with the contractors and other stakeholders in the Ministry,

headed by the Commissioner, Chief Dayo Fadipe. Mrs Olayinka, at the maiden meeting, told the contractors that the government was more interested in due process. She also explained to the stakeholders that the road project were very important to the government of the day. She hinted that further patronage would be purely based on satisfactory performance. She also disclosed that the government was satisfied that a large percentage of the contractors were indigenes of the state and should, therefore, see their involvement as that of serving themselves. Olayinka, who hinted that government was bent on constructing five kilometres of roads in the sixteen local council areas on yearly basis, enjoined the people to take ownership of the projects and monitor the contractors to ensure timely delivery of the roads. She said government would ensure that manpower, at whatever stage of the execution, must be sourced from the local market so that the people are made to be part of their own projects, a situation that would make them become more attached to the roads. As work progressed on the roads, the Deputy Governor and a high powered delegation of leadership of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, recently visited all the roads to get first hand information on the extent of work and level of compliance with standard. Wherever the team went, Olayinka advised community leaders to assume full ownership of the projects and protect them. The inspection visits also provide an avenue for getting feedback from the beneficiaries, who applauded the efforts of government. The Alare of Are Ekiti, in Irepodun/Ifelodun local council area, in Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Oba Boluwade Adebiyi , for example said it was the first time any state government would be bringing road development closer to the people of his community.

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N20m Empowerment for Women Groups

....as WOG tours 16 LGAs

Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi immunizing children during the 2012 National Immunization Plus Day, in Ado-Ekiti

or the Wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, her recent tour of the 16 local government areas of the state was yet another opportunity to have a direct engagement with the women at the grassroots, especially women farmers, widows as well as cooperative societies.. Aside scores of women groups that benefited directly in the N20m grants by the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), founded by Erelu Fayemi, the women also had professionals from different backgrounds enlightening them on issues such as HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, family planning, Child Right Act and Gender-based violence law among others. No fewer than 200 young women were assisted to set up Glo Mobile commercial telephone call centres, while many others received cash donations and food stuffs. The tour also brought succour to the physically challenged as many got walking aids and other forms of empowerment, while primary school pupils got school bags at each stop. In each of the local government

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area visited by the WOG, interacted with people at the local communities and thanked them for standing by the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration so far. It was also an opportunity for the governor's wife to introduce the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), a nongovernmental organisation she founded with the aim of working for women and youth development. Among stakeholders that collaborated for the trip were the Ekiti State AIDS Control Agency, Ministries of Youth and Sports; Health; and Local Government, as well as Ekiti Enterprise Development Agency. Erelu Fayemi urged the women groups

Erelu Bisi Fayemi (1st Right) with a group of widows at Ilejemeje, in Ilejemeje LGA during the tour.

that benefited in the N20m grant not to divert it to other uses, but to invest it in the expansion of their businesses. Apart from cash grants, also doled out during the tour in all the 16 LGs were food items, fertilizers, school bags, walking aids, plastic buckets and hair dryers. No fewer than 400 widows, 200 women farmers, primary school pupils, the physically challenged and members of the various communities visited gained from the freebies. The governor's wife said that her experience during the tour had shown that a lot still needed to be done to lift the people at the grassroots from the cycle of poverty. Erelu Bisi Fayemi stressed the need for women to organize themselves into cooperative groups for them to be able to access the various empowerment facilities of the EDF and state government.. Traditional rulers and their wives, community leaders and members of each community visited turned out in large numbers to receive the delegation, which contributed to the huge success of the tour.

L-R: World Bank Country Director, Nigeria, Ms. Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly; Special Adviser on Tourism to Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Segun Ologunleko; Project Architect, Mr. Sola Oyelade ; Governor Kayode Fayemi; and Commissioner for Integration and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mrs. Bunmi DipoSalami, during a working visit by the World Bank Team to the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort.

World Bank Team visits Ekiti ….scores Fayemi high on development h e Wo r l d B a n k h a s expressed satisfaction on the various projects being carried out in Ekiti State through the eight-point agenda of the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The Country Director of the Bank, Ms. Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, who led her team on a working visit to the state, also promised to partner the Fayemi-led administration to ensure rapid development of the state in the key sectors of the economy. The World Bank chief noted that the administration was already “walking its talk” through the institutional framework put in place to ensure good governance and implementation of people-based projects across the state. Marie-Nelly explained that the enactment of Fiscal Responsibility Law, Freedom of Information Law, Public Private Partnership Law and other laws that enhance accountability in Ekiti State has attracted the attention of the World Bank. Governor Fayemi later led the World Bank team on tour of some projects which include Itapaji Dam Irrigation site, Maternity and Emergency Wards of the State University Teaching Hospital, School of Nursing Auditorium, Ado-Ijan Road, St. Mary's

Secondary School, Ikole and Ekiti State Community Development Agency (EKSCIDA) projects. The World Bank official commended the Ekiti government for implementing a budget that had inputs of the people at the grassroots. She also expressed satisfaction that Ekiti was leading in State Peer Review Mechanism (SPRM) and also attracting the Bank's attention in human capital development, urging the state government to consolidate on agriculture, tourism, and Information Communications Technology (ICT). Marie-Nelly disclosed that the World Bank is supporting the reconstruction of Ado-IjanIluomoba Road while the Bank's agriculture experts are due in the state soon to support the government's bid to boost agriculture. Speaking earlier, Governor Fayemi expatiated on what his administration has done in the key sectors; describing Ekiti as a tourists and investors' destination if well marketed. The governor disclosed that much work is going on at Ikogosi Warm Spring in an effort to attract tourists to the state which, according to him, is well, located and situated between Lagos and Abuja and closer than Obudu in Cross River State.

He also revealed that his administration had launched Youths in Commercial Agriculture Initiative soon to positively engage the youths of the state, while his administration was also collaborating with the private sector to develop Ayede-Gede and Orin Farm settlements. Governor Fayemi further pointed out that the distribution of laptops to teachers and students of public secondary schools in the state was a step in turning Ekiti into the ICT capital of Nigeria. Describing Ekiti as a land of opportunities for investment, the governor told the World Bank team that arrangements have been concluded with an investor in hospitality industry to turn the Governor's office into a three-star hotel to generate more revenue into the coffers of the state. He equally reiterated his administration's readiness to focus on agro-allied industry, and maintained that Ekiti has advantage, calling on the bank to assist his administration's investment drive. The Governor opined that Ekiti was the first state in Nigeria to domesticate the Freedom of Information Law and institute a Social Security Scheme for the aged despite its position as Number 35 on the nation's revenue ladder.

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DEP GOV URGES CITIZENS ON TAX PAYMENT

R-L: Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka; Special Adviser, Revenue Matters and Taxation, Mrs Bunmi Adelugba and Chairman Board of Internal Revenue, Mr. Isola Akingbade, during the Summit on Revenue Mobilisation in Ado-Ekiti

kiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka has described payment of taxes and fulfilment of other financial obligations by citizens and residents of Ekiti as a clear demonstration of their readiness to assist the administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi achieve its goal of sustainable development in Ekiti and improved standard of living. She disclosed this while addressing participants at the 2-day Ekiti Summit on Revenue Mobilization organized by the Office of the Special Adviser on Revenue Matters and Taxation in Ado-Ekiti. She noted that the quest for rebranding and development of the State is a collective effort of stakeholders who must be ready to contribute meaningfully to the revenue framework that will further empower the government to achieve its goals. According to her, “the Dr. Kayode Fayemi led administration is determined to take Ekiti forward in an environment of collective efforts towards ensuring that our aspirations and vision as a people are fully realized for a noble and desirable future. It is on this basis that we have convened this summit to further actualize an efficient and effective sourcing, utilization and accounting method for resources accruing to our people.” Also making a case for tax payment, the Special Adviser, Revenue Matters and

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Taxation, Mrs. Olubunmi Adelugba noted that the title of the summit: “Revenue Mobilization for Sustainable Development in Ekiti State, Nigeria: Our Collective Responsibility”, had explained the purpose of the summit which is organized to look into how Ekiti, through collective effort, could revamp and enhance its dwindling revenue profile. She explained that the summit is intended to discuss direct and indirect tax, collective issues needed for participatory efforts and the legalization of all government efforts among others, while the outcome is expected to lead to job creation through temporary and continuous employment of a sensitized work force and increased positive visibility for the state government, especially its internal revenue generation, mobilization and disbursement. Participants at the summit, which include financial experts, proprietors of businesses, artisans, organized labour, leaders of trade groups and market women agreed that prompt payment of taxes remains a sine qua non to development and a sure way to encourage a performing government to continue to deliver. Matters and Taxation in Ado-Ekiti. She noted that the quest for rebranding and development of the State is a collective effort of stakeholders who must be ready to contribute meaningfully to the revenue

framework that will further empower the government to achieve its goals. According to her, “the Dr. Kayode Fayemi -led administration is determined to take Ekiti forward in an environment of collective efforts towards ensuring that our aspirations and visions as a people are fully realized for a noble and desirable future. It is on this basis that we have convened this summit to further actualize an efficient and effective sourcing, utilization and accounting method for resources accruing to our people.” Also making a case for tax payment, the Special Adviser, Revenue Matters and Taxation, Mrs. Olubunmi Adelugba noted that the title of the summit: “Revenue Mobilization for Sustainable Development in Ekiti State, Nigeria: Our Collective Responsibility”, had explained the purpose of the summit which is organized to look into how Ekiti, through collective effort, could revamp and enhance its dwindling revenue profile. She explained that the summit is intended to discuss direct and indirect tax, collective issues needed for participatory efforts and the legalization of all government efforts among others, while the outcome is expected to lead to job creation through temporary and continuous employment of a sensitized work force and increased positive visibility for the state government, especially its internal revenue generation, mobilization and disbursement. Participants at the summit, including financial experts, proprietors of businesses, artisans, organized labour, leaders of trade groups and market women agreed that prompt payment of taxes remains a sine qua non to development and a sure way to encourage a performing government to continue to deliver.

Gov Fayemi (right) with other African Leaders including Thambo Mbeki, (second right) the late Meles Zenawi (third right)Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (middle) and other African leaders during the High Level Forum on Peace and Security convened by Meles in Ethopia, last April. .

Governor Fayemi and former US President, Bill Clinton at THISDAY Award in Lagos

L-R: Executive Vice President, IT Solutions Business, Samsung, Mr Seongwoo Nam and Governor Fayemi during the signing of MOU between Ekiti State Government and Samsung at the corporate headquarters of the company in Seoul, South Korea

Governor Fayemi; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina at the Nigeria: Transforming Agric Business Forum in Washington DC

Governor Fayemi; with a high powered Russian business team, L-R: Technical Director, Energofinstroy, Mr. Alekseev Nickolay; Assistant Technical Director, Energofinstroy, Matiushenko Polina; Director, Evictech Ag, Alina Kopelchuk; team Leader and Member of Energy Expert Committee, (Russia), Stanislav Kopelchuk, during a working visit to the Governor in Ado Ekiti

Governor Fayemi flanked by Ghanian President, John Mahama (right) and Director-General UNIDO, Dr. Kandeh Yunkella at Ekiti State University Campus, Ado-Ekiti.

Secretary to the State Government, Alh. Dr. Ganiyu Owolabi; Governor Fayemi; Canadian High Commissioner, Chris Cooter and Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin during a visit by the High Commissioner to Ekiti

Governor Fayemi with President of Sierra-Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma in Makeni, Sierra-Leone.

Governor Fayemi signing the condolence register for the late Ghanian President, John Atta Mills at the presidential lodge, Accra, Ghana

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SECURITY: FAYEMI RECEIVES ARMY COMMANDER, PROMISES SAFETY OF LIVES AND PROPERTY regimental activities within the States. He promised that the new Artillery would not fail in playing its constitutional role of providing assistance to civil authority. “The 32 Artillery is more than prepared to assist in providing security for Ekiti and adjourning states which are operationally under the command of this Brigade. The military units in Benin, Okitipupa and the proposed unit in Ekiti State would be under my operational control for internal security”, he said.

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; with Commanding officer,19th Battalion, Nigerian Army, Okitipupa, Lt. Col. Patrick Okoye, during the presentation of two (2) Toyota Hilux pick-up to the Battalion, in Ado-Ekiti.

kiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has assured residents of the state of better security of lives and property as efforts of the Nigeria Police and other security agencies are being consolidated with the presence of the Nigerian Army. Receiving the new Commander of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Brigadier-General Mansur Mohammed Dan-Ali in his office, the Governor condemned a recent armed robbery attack on a Bank in Ilasa Ekiti, saying that though the state has been peaceful, efforts of security agencies needed to be consolidated to prevent a reoccurrence. Fayemi expressed delight at the establishment of the new Artillery Brigade that will now oversee both Ondo and Ekiti states, saying that this would help in manning the gateway towns in the state against opportunistic attacks from criminals. He added that though the Nigerian Army was going through some challenges, it still remains one of the most professional militaries in Africa and the world, given its various activities hence the call by both Ondo and Ekiti states for the expansion of

the military presence in both states. “It couldn't have arrived at a much better time, only last week we faced what I would consider an unusual encounter in our State. Ekiti is known as one of the very peaceful states in Nigeria and when we have occasional opportunistic attacks by armed robbers of the type that we had in Ilasa, it calls attention to the need for reinforced support for the Police. The Police would always try its very best but we do need a form of military support reinforcement to that effort, particularly in an era where police no longer have patrols all around the State”, he said. While assuring that Ekiti State will give adequate support to the take-off of the Artillery Brigade, Fayemi urged the Commander to deploy soldiers to police the gateway towns in the state ahead of the establishment of the Army Regiment that is being proposed for Ekiti State. Earlier in his speech, Brig-Gen Mansur Mohammed Dan-Ali had lauded the support of the Ekiti State Government to the Army, saying that the new formation would enhance not only the socioeconomic development of both states but also the security of lives and property as soldiers would be involved in routine

CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER RATES EKITI HIGH ON DEVELOPMENT ...As Canada partners Ekiti on Education, Tourism, Agric

anadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Chris Cooter has lauded the efforts of the Dr. Fayemi-led administration towards enhancing all-round rapid development of the State; saying that the State is a model for any investor who wants to come to Nigeria. The High Commissioner gave the recommendation at Ikogosi Ekiti after an inspection tour of some ongoing projects in the education, tourism and agro-allied sectors of the State. The Envoy who was on a two –day working visit to the state, undertook the tour with a view to assessing the developmental drive of the Fayemi-led administration. The High Commissioner's visit was a follow up to Governor Fayemi's visit to Canada last year with the aim of attracting Canadian investors to the State and getting partnership from the Canadian government for some sectors of the State's economy. The tour saw Mr. Cooter, at the Ekiti-Odua Industrial Centre in Ado, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, State Technical

con’t on pg. 44

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www.ekitistate.gov.ng months after the launch of its new digital media channels, the Ekiti State Government Website www.ekitistate.gov.ng is still the number one most visited state government Website in the country, th and ranks as the 584 most visited site in the country. According to the latest rating by Alexa, (Alexa.com) one of the Web's most authoritative traffic monitoring websites, Ekiti State Website is followed by Lagos, (Lagosstate.gov.ng) which is second on the list and ranked 839 nationally. The rating is at Sunday, July 15th 2012. The achievement is described by observers as impressive, because as at December nd 22 2011, the state website was not ranked in Nigeria. The website became the second most visited state government website and 1,083rd most visited site in the country, following the launch of the State's new digital media channels on February 29th 2012. What is most impressive however is that

barely three weeks after the launch of these channels, the state government website became the most visited state government website in Nigeria. Digital Media Consultant to the state and leading Digital Media Publisher and Teacher, Dr Anderson Uvie-Emegbo, said the state's march towards digital leadership is on the right track. "Particularly impressive is the Contact Members of the State Executive Council page. This page is one of the most visited pages on the website. On this page are listed the official email addresses and mobile numbers of members of the State Executive Council. The page also has a functionality that enables messages to be sent directly from the website to the email addresses of the executives. The email addresses are already configured on the blackberry phones of these executives. Since it was launched, hundreds of messages have been sent directly by citizens across the world to the respective accountable State Executive. It has also helped the state government to be

proactive in tackling the issues that have been brought to its notice through this new and innovative form of citizen-government communication. This is a clear demonstration that given the right support, digital media can enhance good governance. I strongly recommend such an approach to other public institutions. It can only engender trust and credibility within the governedâ&#x20AC;?, Dr Uvie-Emegbo reiterated. The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Yinka Oyebode, said beyond emerging as the number one state government website, lies a greater task of using the website and all the other digital media channels of the state to achieve Governor Kayode Fayemi's goal of improved accountability, transparency and probity in the affairs of the government of Ekiti Stateâ&#x20AC;?. According to Oyebode, Governor Fayemi is particularly interested in ensuring that the state website enhances participatory governance by allowing the people of the state make inputs on how government is run in a bid to ensure a better and more prosperous Ekiti State.

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HOW FAYEMI SAVED MY LIFE ... MAN WHO HAD KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RECOUNTS EXPERIENCE any had likened the story of Mr Oladipo Kolawole to the biblical story of the ten lepers that got healed, whereupon one of them came back to show appreciation. Or how else would one describe the insistence of the 46 year old teacher to see Mr Governor and saying thank you, shortly after returning from an overseas medical trip. Mr Komolafe's insistence, however, paid off, after a series of SMS and calls to Mr Governor seeking an appointment. On a bright Tuesday morning, he met one on one with Governor Kayode Fayemi at his office in Ado-Ekiti. “Your Excellency sir, I don't know what to say, I just feel I must see you and say a big thank you for saving my life. God has used you as an angel to save my life. And i feel l just must come here to show my appreciation. I don't know how l would have sourced for the N9 million for the operation and other medical needs but for your kind intervention. Thank you very much sir.”, Mr Komolafe, said upon taking his seat beside the Governor. Responding, the Governor said: “Well. I quite appreciate your sense of appreciation. But we are just doing our job. We are here first and foremost to serve our people, and it will be our joy to see the citizens live in prosperity and good health”. “I am happy to see you safe and sound after a successful operation. I rejoice with you and your family”, the Governor added. Narrating his ordeal and why he felt a compelling reason to appreciate the Governor, Komolafe, a teacher at St. Loius

Grammar School, Ikere Ekiti said he was down with renal problem which he would not have been able to resolve but for the Governor's intervention. He said at first he was not aware of the magnitude of the problem until he discovered that he was losing weight from 88kg to 73kg.

Apparently disturbed by the weight loss, he decided to go to for a medical test. The result came out – he had Renal problem! After the test in March 2010, he was advised to opt for dialysis which cost him N400,000 every month at Federal Medical Centre, Owo and Ido-Ekiti. He was later transferred to Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti. Komolafe was on dialysis for 18 months and had spent about N4.5 million before fortune smiled on him. When this administration assumed office in October 2010, Governor Fayemi, promised, amongst other things, free health programme for the pregnant women, children under five years, the physically-challenged and the aged above sixty-five. He was also aware that there are other citizens who do not belong to this category but who needed medical attention, hence the continuation of his mobile free health mission which is now done on a quarterly basis. Though the free health mission was originally designed to address ailments which could have been treated at primary health facilities, it was later discovered that many of these ailments were not given proper attention at that level so the need to upgrade the mission to address cases of surgeries and make recourse to referrals. Fayemi, on discovery that some patients needed serious medical attention both locally and internationally but are financially constrained, established the Health Intervention Fund. Since the establishment of this fund last year, no fewer than 122 people have benefited from the scheme including Komolafe, who con’t on pg. 44

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EKITI GOVT GIVES CJ, HIGH COURT JUDGES SUVs kiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has fulfilled his pledge to improve the working conditions and welfare of judges in the state with the distribution of newly acquired Toyota Prado jeeps to the new Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, and other high court judges in the state. The Governor who gave out the vehicles shortly after performing the swearing-in ceremony for Justice Daramola, who emerged the new Judge of the state after a six- year vacuum. Speaking at the event, Governor Fayemi, assured that his administration recognizes the important role of the judiciary in achieving good governance in Ekiti State. The Governor said the vehicles are presented to them in order to further enhance the status of the Judges and make them more comfortable in the discharge of their onerous responsibilities. He assured that judges in the Magistrates Courts would soon get theirs. Speaking further, Governor Fayemi who lamented the huge number of Awaiting Trial Inmates in the prisons, urged the judges to ensure the decongestion of the prisons through fast tracking the judicial process. He pointed out that 200 of the 268 inmates at the Ado Ekiti prison are ATDs, stressing that such a development is not acceptable in a decent society. Responding, Justice Daramola thanked the Governor for the opportunity given him to serve in full capacity and promised to uphold the laws of the Land without fear or favour. He said though the congestion of prisons was not peculiar to Ekiti State, the fact that the Federal Government and other states are yet to find a sustainable solution to the problem of ATDs has challenged Ekiti to take the lead. Justice Daramola who hails from Awo Ekiti was appointed Acting Chief Judge of the State in November 2010 and served in that capacity until his appointment on 28th of May, 2012 as a substantive Chief Judge of the State.

Senior workers at the exam hall

EKITI SENIOR WORKERS WRITE CAPACITY ASSESSMENT EXAM

...say assessment would improve staff capacity No fewer than 250 Ekiti State civil servants in the Directorate cadre, on Tuesday, sat for the Capacity Assessment Examination aimed at enhancing the capacity of personnel working for the State Government. The senior workers who are on grade levels 14 to 17 converged on the School of Nursing Ado Ekiti to write the examination which lasted for four hours. Speaking on Government's intent on the examination, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of Establishment and Trainings, Mr. Lekan Aiyeleso, said the assessment examination was part of the new Civil Service Transformation Strategy of the state government introduced to assess the capacity of officers in respect of service delivery. While explaining that the assessment is different from promotion examination, the Permanent Secretary allayed fears of retrenchment; saying the assessment would enable government know the appropriate field where an officer should be posted based on their competence. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The essence of this one is for government to be able to determine or analyze the personnel in the Directorate level. It will also enable

government know the training needs of the workers. This examination has nothing to do with retrenchment and if we all look back, Mr Governor has been saying this consistently since he came on board that he has no intention to retrench any worker except any worker who sends himself or herself out of serviceâ&#x20AC;?, he said. Aiyeleso disclosed that 275 candidates were registered for the examination but only about 250 sat for it while workers who are due for retirement in the next two months are exempted from the exercise. Candidates were tested on Civil service rules and regulation, current affairs, use of English and professional questions. Some of the candidates who spoke to journalists commended Government's initiative geared towards improving the civil service which is the engine room of government. Mr James Owolabi who is the Director in the Office of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and an Assistant Director of Civil Engineering in the State, Engineer Adeola Johnson described the examination as the first of its kind in the State adding however that writing examinations was not new to them as they wrote entrance examination before joining the civil service.

L-R: Chief of Staff to Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu; Governor Kayode Fayemi; Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka; and Chief Judge of the State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, during the presentation of brand new Toyota Land Cruiser Jeeps to the Judges of the State High Court, in Ado-Ekiti.

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Governor Kayode Fayemi, his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; with his siblings during the funeral service of the governor's mother, Mama Dorcas Fayemi, in Isan-Ekiti.

Vice President, Namadi Sambo being received by Governor Fayemi on arrival at the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu for the burial of Dim Odumuegwu Ojukwu

L-R: Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka; newly enthroned Bishop, Diocese of Ekiti, Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Christopher Omotunde; his wife, Bisi; wife of Ekiti State Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; her husband, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and Bishop, Enugu Diocese, Anglican Communion, Rt. Revd. Emmanuel Chukwuma, during the enthronement ceremony, at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, in Ado-Ekiti... on Saturday.

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Governors and their spouses during the 60th Birthday Anniversary celebration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Lagos. Gov. Kayode Fayemi (2nd left); ACN National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ikuforiji; and Gov. Babatunde Fashola, during an extra-Ordinary Legislative Session, in honour of Asiwaju Tinubu on his 6oth Birthday Anniversary, in Lagos. L-R: Husband of the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Arc. Lanre Olayinka; wife of Ogun state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adesogun; Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori; Ekiti State Deputy Governor and daughter of the celebrant, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka; Governor Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; the celebrant, Mama Adetutu Famuagun; and her husband, Chief Festus Famuagun, during the 80th Birthday Celebration of Mama Adetutu Famuagun, in Ado-Ekiti.

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Gov. Kayode Fayemi with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade II and Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Oladuni Oyewunmi, Ajagungbade II, at the launch of Sounâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Book in Ogbomoso.

L-R: Gov. Kayode Fayemi, his Wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Wife of Benue State Governor, Mrs. Yemisi Soswan; and Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, shortly after the Thanksgiving Mass in honour of Late Madam Dorcas Fayemi (Governor Fayemiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mother)

L-R: Osun State Deputy Governor, Otunba Titi Laoye-Tomori, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Dr. Kayode Fayemi, at the One Year Anniversary of OYES

Gov. Fayemi; flanked by his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; and Speaker, ESHA, Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Adewale Omirin, during an Interdenominational Church Service, at Government House, Ado-Ekiti.

Governor Fayemi; flanked by his wife, Bisi (Right); and Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, wth children of Delightsome Oaks Orphanage, during the Governor's 47th birthday anniversary celebration in Ado-Ekiti

L-R: Governor Fayemi; Eldest Son of the late former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Chief Michael Omoboriowo, Pastor Amos Omoboriowo; with wife the deceased, Chief (Mrs.) Christiana Omoboriowo, during the burial ceremonies, in Ijero-Ekiti

Gov. Fayemi; with family of late Prof. Sam Aluko, in a handshake with Prof. Bolaji Aluko, at the funeral Service, in Ode-Ekiti.

L-R: Governor Kayode Fayemi; Prof. Wole Soyinka; and wife of Late Prof. Samuel Aluko, during the funeral ceremony in honour of the emeritus Professor.

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L-R: Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka; Wife of the Alawe of Ilawe, Olori Abimbola Alabi, her husband and Alawe of Ilawe, Oba Adebanji Ajibade Alabi; Gov. Kayode Fayemi; wife of the Chief of Staff, Mrs. Toyin Adaramodu and her husband, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, at the Coronation and Presentation of Staff of Office to the Alawe of Ilawe in Ilawe-Ekiti.

L-R: National President, University of Lagos Alumni Association, Professor Olami Abass; Chairman of the occasion, Olorogun (Dr.) Sunny Kuku; Ekiti State Governor and recipient, Distinguished Alumni Award, UNILAG, Dr Kayode Fayemi; and former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Mrs. Sarah Sosan, during the Golden Jubilee Reunion and Distinguished Alumni Award Dinner, at UNILAG.

L-R: Author of Omoluabi 2.0, Adewale Ajadi, Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and Governor Fayemi, at the launch of the book in Lagos.

L-R: Governor Fayemi presenting an award to Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) during the Annual Ekiti Day Celebration and Award Night, while the President Ekiti Parapo Lagos, Chief Kola Adamolekun watches

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cont’d from pg 40

HOW FAYEMI SAVED MY LIFE was down with renal problem. Twice, Komolafe benefited from the scheme to the tune of #9 million. That seems to be a huge sum but Komolafe's life, like those of other citizens, was more precious to administration than the money! Fayemi's rationale behind this was that a healthy population makes a wealthy society. Having got the money, Komolafe was flown to India for renal transplant. In August, 2011, his journey to new life began when he underwent Bilateral Femoral Fistula Reconstruction and then Plasma exchange and IVIG in December and finally the Renal transplant. Now, Komolafe has a new life. The Health Intervention programme has improved his quality of life. The Health Intervention Fund has given the 122 beneficiaries (first batch of 51 and the second batch of 71) a new lease of life. The fund is focused on making sure these people have the best possible care. It's changing their lives for the better. Komolafe is not alone. He's just one of the 146,573 people who have benefited and are still benefitting from the Health Intervention Fund and the free medical mission. Few months after the introduction of the free mobile health mission, the stories have been very impressive because no fewer than 108,000 patients were treated in the first quarter of the 2011 edition of the programme. The edition of the programme which was held between June 20th to 30th was witnessed by people from various communities in ten venues: IkoleEkiti, AyedunEkiti, IsanEkiti, OyeEkiti,IlupejuEkiti, Ayetoro, Ifaki, Iye, Otun and Igogo- covering five local government areas that make up Ekiti North Senatorial District. A unique aspect of the free mobile health mission was the record-keeping. This has helped the State Government in knowing the prevalent rate of some diseases in the State with a view to finding a more suitable way to tackle them. For instance, certain diseases which could have been attended to at primary health facilities but which patients failed to address until they became serious and could not be handled at primary health facilities were taken note of, and appropriately referred to secondary health facilities. Patients who needed to be operated on were referred to the appropriate medical facilities. Some of these people were referred for local and overseas medical attention. They were attended to free of charge by the Ekiti State Government through the Health Intervention Fund from which Komolafe benefited. Behind these kind acts is a man with a kind heart - John Kayode Fayemi. In less than two years, life is now a lot better for hundreds of thousands of Ekiti people. Just Keep Faith!

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cont’d from pg 38

CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSIONER RATES EKITI HIGH ON DEVELOPMENT

College, Ado Ekiti, the palace of the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Ikogosi resort and Arinta waterfall at Ipole Iloro. He was accompanied by the state Commissioner for Integration and Inter-governmental Affairs, Mrs Bunmi DipoSalami; Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr (Mrs) Eniola Ajayi; Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr Lekan Faromika; Director General, Ekiti Enterprise Development Agency (EEDA), Mr Oscar Ayeleso and other state officials. Speaking at Ikogosi after the inspection tour, the High Commissioner said the visit was aimed at establishing a cordial relationship between Ekiti State and Canada in the three sectors; stressing that since education is key to the socio-economic development of any nation and the passion of the present administration to revamp the education sector, the government of Canada was ready to partner with the state in achieving its lofty vision. While noting that Ekiti State has enough human capital resources as well as natural potentials that could make it a destination for investors from all parts of the world, Mr. Cooter assured that he would help in facilitating the coming of Canadian investors to the State, even as he confirmed that many of the investors are eager to come to the State following reports that it is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. The Canadian High Commissioner expressed surprise at the wonder of Ikogosi resort where warm and cold springs meet and a tree and another palm tree grow together from the same root without grafting; saying that “ I recommend this place for investors and everyone who loves the work of nature”. Mr. Cooter also assured the state of the readiness of the University of Manitoba, Canada to partner with the Ekiti State University and College of Education IkereEkiti so as to achieve the vision of the Institutions of becoming world-class.

Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Funmi Olayinka; Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Commissioner for Women's Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Fola Richie-Adewusi; and Executive Chairman, Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State, Chief (Mrs) Ronke Okusanya, during a one-day retreat for female political office holders in the state.

L-R: PS, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Elizabeth Emuren; Minister, Hajia Zainab Maina; Chair, Advisory Board of the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; and a member of the Board, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, during a visit by the board members to the ministry, in Abuja

Dep. Gov., Mrs Funmi Olayinka; Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Ryuicha Shoji and Commissioner for Integration, Mrs Bunmi Dipo-Salami during the Ambassador’s visit to the Dep. Gov. in Ado-Ekiti

Erelu Bisi Fayemi presenting a trophy to the representatives of St. Luois Grammar School winner of the match past during the children’s day celebration, Ikere-Ekiti

Deputy Gov., Mrs Funmi Olayinka; inspecting a guard of honour mounted by newly recruited firemen and paramedics

Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, Wife of Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, Governor Fayemi and President of Market Men and Women Association, Ekiti State, Mrs. Omowaye Oso during an interactive forum with market women in Ado-Ekiti

L-R: Erelu Bisi Fayemi; SA (Public Affairs) to Wife of Governor, Mrs. Bola Eben-Durodola; and Iyaloja of Ekiti State, Chief Waye Osho, during the presentation of cash grants to women's associations and cooperative societies in Ado-Ekiti.

L-R: Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Wife of Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Modupe Owolabi; Matron, Erelu Angela Adebayo Children's Home, Iyin-Ekiti, Mrs. Modupe Aluko; and Commissioner for Women's Affairs, Mrs. Fola Richie-Adewusi, during the presentation of a bus to the Home by Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), founded by Erelu Fayemi

Dep. Gov., Mrs Funmi Olayinka (2nd left); WOG, Erelu Bisi Fayemi (3rd left), flanked by the four female Members of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Ayoka Olatunde (left), Hon. Orilowo, Hon. Wunmi Oguntola & Hon. Olayinka, during EKHA’s 1st Anniversary in Ado-Ekiti

Deputy Governor, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, welcoming YCE President, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo and Secretary, Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN), to the Group’s Meeting in Ado-Ekiti

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Why Ekiti is Number One Destination of Choice for Business, by Fayemi

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, speaks on his efforts to mobilise the state's enormous human capital for development, the challenges of government and his plan to transform the state.

o far, would you say your government has significantly improved the lives of the people? We have managed to touch all the sections of the 8point Agenda. We have taken steps that are not overwhelmingly popular, let me put it that way. But when we had done those, Ekiti people have come to the conclusion that it is a necessary stage. When we merged the universities, initially, there were feathers ruffled but if you go to the university now, you will actually feel its ambience, you will see the difference. It is now beginning to look like a university, not a glorified secondary school. If you go into infrastructure, every single community in this state, at this point in time that I am having this conversation with you, has one form of reconstruction or rehabilitation going on there . We are doing that with rural electrification, we are doing that with water provision, we are doing that even with broad band laying of computer fiber.

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And you can talk about that in the health sector, you can talk about it in tourism, we are resuscitating moribund industries which have been dead in this state for 15, 20 years-they are all coming back on stream. We are also doing novel things that have never been done in any other parts of Nigeria; putting a laptop computer on each childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk. They do computer laboratory but they don't do a laptop computer on every desk. We pay social security to the elderly in addition to our free health care programme. We pay N5,000 to every elderly person above 65 years,

who is not on pension and is clearly indigent- without any means of support. Some of them have not come across a thousand naira in one fell swoop now they get N5,000 every month. It makes a whole difference to our agenda of making poverty history in Ekiti. What would you consider the greatest asset of the state? The greatest asset we have here is human capital. If we take advantage of human capital in a fully functional manner, it will be a different place. When I was campaigning, I talked about Ekiti being the Bangalore of Nigeria which is why we prioritised ICT as a major vehicle of transformation in Ekiti. So, there are a whole range of things we are doing. Gradually, IGR is increasing from 109 to 600 million naira monthly, that is not a lot. We are not Lagos yet, but that is significant for a state that really has not been doing well in terms of generating internal revenue. Do you think the social security scheme of your administration is sustainable given available resources? Sustainability depends largely on continuity and largely on putting processes and procedures in place in

order to ensure that regardless who is there these things would continue. There are lots of things we are paying attention to in our governance agenda. We did not just do social security for the elderly, we also put a bill into a law that has become Ekiti legislation on social security. The other day, we sent it to the Federal Government because they needed to look at it in planning their own social security agenda. Of course, the new government may come and tweak it a little, but when it is a popular programme it will be difficult for a new government, even if it is an alternative party, to do away with it unless that government is able to replace it with something better. Unless it wants to face the wrath of the people because every community is benefiting from this social security. How do you determine persons qualified to benefit from the social security scheme? The criteria are clearly defined: you must show evidence that you are above retirement age, you must show evidence that you are not on pension, you must show evidence that you don't have kin taking care of you, and there must be some fairly determined way of knowing that you are really indigent and you are on the border line; that way we won't ask you for party card and we don't ask for party affiliation in all things we are giving out. We don't ask kids when they go to school whether their parents are PDP or ACN before they get laptops. No. Because for us it is about Ekiti people and once I became governor here, I am not governor of my party, I am governor of the entire population and residents as well who may not be Ekiti, but have lived here and pay their taxes here. We owe them a duty too, so if their kids are going to school, whether you are Chukwuma, Nzeribe or you are Yinka Oyebode, the important thing is you are in Ekiti and you deserve to be served by the government of Ekiti. So, those are the kind of things that will make it sustainable. For if it is partisan, if it is selective, if I decide that it is only people who attend ward meetings of ACN who must collect social security, of course anybody who comes here later will be well within their right and power to yank it off and there will not be any public uproar. Right now, I get mails

We can do better when we come together, none of us is small, Ekiti is the smallest of the six states in the western region but it is larger in population than 13 African countries from members of my party that the majority of the beneficiaries of these schemes are not even party members; they are PDP; they are this or that and I say well they are Ekiti people and for me it is the single qualification required. Would you say the calculation of the social security benefit has been based on accurate data? I have the confidence that we can fine tune and improve on a number of these things; the enumeration of the social security is still not completely accurate but we are doing a citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; register; we are doing a citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ID card. Our directorate of ICT is busy working on that now which will also be a multi card that can be used as a tax card, used as a social security benefit card, that can be used as a health card when you go to hospital for free health;it can be used as your tax receipt. So, once we are done with this it would help with biometric data which we already introduced in the civil service, the public service system, now even to the university. We used to have problems of

how to know how many students we even have in this university, it is only recently that we are managing to resolve that problem, that the university authorities has managed to get that right, and it is because the government in the state itself is not averse to accurate data that would enable us to serve our people better. Those are the kind of things that will make it sustainable for a long time, it is not any magic on our part. What is your vision of Ekiti; in the next three years? Clearly you know for me, the way I would want to see Ekiti in the next 2 or 3 years is a place that has become a destination of choice for people who want to do business, people who want to relax, people who want to work in a professional, competent and consistent manner, that for me would tackle all the other things that I see as problem particular poverty. I campaigned on an agenda of making poverty history and you are not going to do that by just giving out handouts; it is okay for me to give cash to the elderly, what do I do to the younger people? Over 55 percent of the population of Ekiti is under 25, they have to be my target. By taking care of the elderly, I have to also figure out how to ensure that they become functional to this economy; so it is a completely double-edged agenda that must respond to the yearnings of the elderly without ignoring the needs of the young ones, and I believe that we are reasonably well placed in the few years we have been in office. With the one and half years we have been in office, it's been tough even setting the basic parameters that would now form the foundation for the sustainability over a long time. But that in itself should not be an excuse, it should ginger us to ensuring that we get to where we want to go, and that destination clearly is ensuring that Ekiti people more like regain a sense of self worth, a sense of esteem and pride. Somehow, years of bad government has also affected the quality of lives of our people, that will be my own sense of where we should be in 5, 10 years time. There are more demands than what resources can cater for which has made many Nigerians to lose hope, how are you coping in Ekiti in the face

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of scarce resources? It is true that more demands are competing for the resources available. In Ekiti, we try to be honest, we are not exactly a buoyant state. We are number 35 on the revenue ladder but we have a giant ambition to make a fundamental difference in the lives of our people. We believe that the social services is key to increasing the social capital and the fabric of our state, that is why we provide free education at the lower end of the scale, primary and secondary schools, free health services to the vulnerable section of our population, social security scheme where we give our indigent senior citizens N5,000 per month, and 20,000 elders are now benefiting from the scheme, job opportunities for school leavers by focusing on agriculture and infrastructure development. We have not shirked in our responsibilities to the wide range of the population that we have in the state. We pay minimum wage, we are one of the twelve states that I am aware of that are paying it despite our lean resources. We are improving on our infrastructures. We have also come to the conclusion in Ekiti that no matter what we achieved we must be committed to regionalism because it is a response to the failure of the Nigerian entity, rather than the simplistic belief that it is a secessionist bid. None of us that are involved in the regional integration enterprise want this country to break. We have had so much talk about regional integration of the South west. What is the situation now? Things are happening. We already have in place what we called the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) which looks at the comparative advantage in each of our states that we can leverage on. We are already looking at the feasibility of a western rail transportation; we are looking at linkages in the agriculture sector. We are looking at the opportunity of the great market that Lagos provides. The meetings

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things you can do in Ekiti that many companies are doing in Lagos but if they see the opportunity in Ekiti State; that is the comparative advantage, particularly If you are looking for a climate where you have security and safety, Ekiti offers itself better than any other part of the country.

that we held has resulted in a Technical Commission, empowered to transform these ideas into tangible products. Ultimately the vision is clear, and we are not reinventing the wheels, this is something that has been done before in the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. What is different now is that we have seen the imminent danger of remaining in our cocoon, when we know that reality beckons that I need to be supported by my brothers from Osun, Ondo and all over. We can do better when we come together; none of us is small, Ekiti is the smallest of the six states in the western region, but it is larger in population than 13 African countries-Gambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius etc; there is nothing that says this regional framework cannot produce a GDP that triples the current GDP of Nigeria. On IGR, you met 100 million naira when you came in and now you've increased it to 600 million naira, at what cost? But I have also said to you that that's not our destination. The way to grow our IGR is not just by automating our system or blocking the loopholes that exist in the

system but also legitimately growing the economy by providing additional opportunities for our citizens to thrive and also try alternative businesses beyond being in the civil service-that's the primary focus. I talked about changing the investment climate and making it more competitive because there are so many

How do you manage to actualize your developmental agenda in the midst of scarce resources? Resources would always be limited, that cannot be an excuse for inaction. One of the advantages I have is also my background; I come from the development world, I have had engagements beyond Ekiti. I worked for a range of development institutions, name them- DFID, the World bank, the UNDP; l have had interactions with them as a consultant. Since I became Governor, many of them have returned to Ekiti supporting the activities of my government because they know l am serious about making a difference in the lives of my people. And resources are never going to be enough; Lagos does not have enough resources. You have to be clear and consistent about your vision and you have to continue to go for the goal, keep your eyes on the ball. Yes it's not going to be done in four years, but you can lay a solid foundation, and I can tell you in the sectors that I am passionate about we have laid solid foundations. Come around Ekiti now, it's a huge construction site, things that people thought were never possible, they keep asking me now that where did this money come from? Why the Teachers Development Needs Assessment? The Teachers Needs Assessment is primarily targeted at finding out where our teachers really are today in terms of imparting knowledge to the pupils that they are in charge of. That's what has informed this, and this is not a policy in isolation. When I came into office precisely because we have a reputation of being the education industry of Nigeria.

an excellent profession, but they would have been subsistence farmers without having the opportunity to even modernise and mechanise their farming potentials.

There is a strong perception, based on our old record that Ekiti is a receptacle of knowledge and when I came in the situation wasn't like that. We were No. 27 on the WAEC performance list. My own school (Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School) clearly was the best school in Western State had a pass rate of 20%, and I found that unacceptable. When I left Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, not 30 years ago, not 40 years ago, there was a 100% pass in the school. Something clearly had gone wrong in the last decade of democratisation or perhaps even earlier than that. And I came in and said okay, let's get together all the eggheads, all the professors, all the teachers unions, all the students' representatives, all the university professors, sit down, what can we do? There was an education stakeholder's summit that came out with a roadmap as to what we really ought to be doing in order to improve the quality of education in Ekiti and to improve the performance of our students in public education. One of the measures relates to the quality of the teachers, but that was not the only thing. There was a point about the infrastructure in our schools which are dilapidated- schools without furniture, without proper classroom; there was no way you can get students to learn in such a horrible environment. It also talks about parents: what is the role our parents are playing in order to raise their children in partnership with the teachers that are saddled with that responsibility in school? Those are questions for the inspectorate division of schools which used to be the real driver in the olden days as well as the role of government itself. So, all of these put together were the things that we were

working on. This is not the first assessment we've done, we did one for Principals and Vice-Principals of schools just a year ago. Why are the teachers opposed to TDNA? What we offered when we came in was that we would offer you capacity building, we would offer you training, but we would also assess you so that consistently you will be better prepared to teach the students that you have. And I have no fear because I was produced from Ekiti, I was not posted to Ekiti. These were the same teachers that produced me and I know they have the quality, the commitment and we would also do our part in order to also to offer the teachers remuneration and assistance that would improve their quality. Right now we are doing that. Like what? Such as car loan, housing loan, laptops for teachers. I am not aware of any other state where this is happening. You have promised that every child by 2014 will have a laptop on his/her desk. Isn't this a big task? Already 33, 000 out of the 100, 000 laptops have been distributed and the distribution will continue in phases. We can be held to what we campaigned on as far as that is concerned. l am passionate about education and I know the importance of education. Functional education, in a state like Ekiti that is reputed to be the education industry. We've always held education as a vehicle for transformation because it lifted a lot of our people who would ordinarily have been farmers, and not that farming is not

What are you doing in the area of Agriculture? We are moving agriculture into the 21st century, strengthening the capacity of those involved, getting younger people interested in agriculture. That's precisely the agenda of Ekiti State today. If you look around you would see evidence of that in the revival and resuscitation of our old farm settlements where we've done a massive land clearing programme for the Youth in Commercial Agriculture Development (YCAD) programme, which is aimed at helping younger people get involved in agriculture and also supporting them with a range of incentives that will ensure that they stay on the farmland in order to develop the full value chain of agriculture products that we are concentrating on. And, of course the products we are concentrating on are Cocoa, Cassava, Rice, and Oil Palm. Ekiti is lucky that we have two climatic belts. Of course, we have the rain forest belt where our cocoa thrives; we also have the Savannah belts where we do a lot of livestock and cassava farming. We are inviting new investors into the Ekiti State Agricultural Programme; we have DADTCO, one of the most successful cassava producers in the world, it's a Dutch company. We have NSM Foods, we have a range of other players that are coming on stream and we are working with them on a partnership basis to not just start their own farms in Ekiti but also nurture our younger farmers so that they can become out growers for the processing industries that is bound to come out of this, and it's a perfectly logical way to go as far as agriculture is concerned. So, we need to ensure that we make entrepreneur s out of young graduates who you want to introduce to the farm and who will take a whole range of initiatives. One of the things you did promise was poverty reduction or poverty eradication, how far have you gone in this regard? The thing I actually promised is making poverty history, in fact the entire vision that I have is making poverty history in Ekiti State and you cannot make poverty history if you do not improve the quality

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of education. The people who have the greatest chance of having poverty reduced in their lives are those who have the opportunity to make themselves useful to the society, and education is the first vehicle in which you are able to make yourself useful to the society. There are palliatives that we necessarily must do and everybody will do that, they are microcredit schemes. But many will dub these as palliatives which may not address the root of the problems They don't address the root of the problems but we have to do those ones in order to bridge the gap because there are so many people who really need food on the table now and who don't need platitudes. So I am doing youth employments, I have close to 5, 000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10, 000 people who are employed now; young people, young graduates What are they doing exactly? Working in a range of sectors. They are working in agriculture through the Youth in Commercial Agriculture Scheme that I talked about, they are working in environmental services, cleaning, they are working in schools, they are doing a range of things, they are working in Traffic Management Agency, so we have all these young people doing that. But that is not for me a way to improve them. I have free education, I also have the free health care system for over 65, under 5, pregnant women, for the physically challenged; in addition to that I run a quarterly health mission for all ages in the state and that goes round. So these are mechanisms that have been put in place to at least bridge the gap that exists clearly, but in terms of the fundamental transformation of the society from its poverty-stricken nature, we are doing much more structural issues around education, improving the quality of education, moving our state from being a civil service state to one having commercial mechanized agriculture, while also embracing ICT as a vehicle for change and transformation. Those are things that we are focusing on and its beginning to yield dividends. What are you doing about bursary and scholarship?. We've restructured the bursary, we discovered-as part of the loss of values I was talking about a lot of collusion in the system, between even officials of the state and some officials of some of the universities, in putting names that are non-

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existent, that are not students in these universities on the list and they were collecting money from impecunious Ekiti State, the ones we have is not even enough and some are collecting it illegally. So we reorganised it and also changed the structure, we increase the GPA in some aspect, made bursary available to everybody but make it a more stringent effort for you to actually qualify for scholarship. What is your take on the convocation of Sovereign National Conference (SNC) being canvassed by some individuals and groups? People are just worried and they feel time is going that in the comity of nations, Nigeria has become a huge joke and that is how we are being treated outside. People want some quick fix. And there are no quick fixes; it was the quick fix that got us to the 1999 democracy. We did not realise at that point that the process is as important as the product. We went with the school of the-end-justifies-the-means. Let the military go, it does not matter who comes; yes the military left but we got militarism in return, now we are at a point where there will be increasing privatisation of violence and the level of insecurity is calling serious attention to the capacity or incapacity of the state to wield the necessary monopoly over instruments of violence and over the management of security, which of course is the responsibility of the state. And any nation that is unable to provide a safe and secure environment for its citizens is bound to have its legitimacy called into question. And that is why some of us have consistently insisted that we must bring government closer to the people. In Ekiti State, 99 percent of my people do not bother where Abuja is; Abuja has no meaning, no affinity, no emotional connection to them; as far they are concerned Fayemi is the Governor. So when we talk about fiscal federalism, it is about local accountability because they elected you and you are closer to them at the local level or at the state level, they

have no connection with Abuja. What do you think the victory of Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole at the poll signifies? I was involved in Edo, not that I was a voter but of course you know it is my party and Adams Oshiomhole is an old comrade of mine. If there is any lesson that we can draw from the Edo election, it is that performance credibility, much more than electoral credibility, is what will carry the day in Nigeria today. You can play all sorts of pranks, you can do all sorts of media attraction, but if there is no 'see and feel' as the advertising guru would call it, then you are going no where. What Adams did was to concentrate on delivering his promises to Edo people and even when he has not managed to deliver all he promised, he also managed to connect with the voters that there is a reason for you to vote for me in order to continue the good work I have been doing. But what he was also able to do successfully was to mobilise public opinion to the extent that the people were ready to protect and defend their votes. We are not unfamiliar with that here given my own trajectory which is not dissimilar to Adamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trajectory, to office. The only thing that I have consistently said to my people here is, it is our work that will speak for us and Ekiti people are very discerning people. They are like Edo people in several respect. If you stick to a promise, if you deliver on a promise and where you cannot and you are honest enough to tell them that I am facing challenges here, you will get it right on time.

ADO EKITI PRISON GIVES WAY TO TOURIST CENTRE

Jubilation in Ire as Brick industry is Resuscitated …Takes delivery of N400m worth of equipment

Old Prison structure

Site for the Civic Centre and Shopping Mall

ust as it is with the Robben Island Prison, South Africa which is now famous for tourism, a modern tourist centre will soon sit majestically on the very location that once housed the Ado-Ekiti Prison. Governor Fayemi who disclosed the plan of the government to turn the site of the old colonial prison into a huge recreational/tourist centre that will comprise a civic centre, a shopping mall, cinema, event centre, museum and conference centre, said the plan is in fulfillment of the administration's desire to make Ekiti State the destination of choice for business and holidays. The old prison which was established by the colonial government in 1929, was moved to a better facility on Afao Road, earlier in the year. The State

government contributed immensely to the relocation of the prison to the more conducive environment on Afao Road. Already, the old prison buildings have been demolished preparatory to the commencement of work on the civic centre, which the Governor said would boost commercial activities in the new Central Business District of the state capital, Ado-Ekiti. Fayemi said turning the site of the old prison into an ultra modern event centre would add beauty and life to the Ado-Ekiti Central Business District. The Governor said, “Even though the prison has been relocated, we feel that there are artifacts relating to this (old) prison that must be kept for generations yet unborn so that they will know that at some point in history, the colonial prison was set up right there.

ndustrial activities would soon begin at Ire Burnt Brick Factory as Ekiti State Government has taken delivery of equipment worth N400milion for the resuscitation of the factory. Scores of visibly exicted community leaders trooped out en masse to the site of the industry to witness the delivery of the equipment and other materials, with praises for the administration. Taking delivery of the equipment at Ire Ekiti, the State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Otunba Reim Bodunrin said the state government in partnership with Oodua Investment Group decided to revive the moribund factory so that it could generate income for the government and Oodua Investment group as well as employment for the teeming unemployed population. The Commissioner added that the delivery of the equipment is a step towards restoring life to the factory even as the factory will begin a test-run operation in October while full operation will commence in November. The factory, on completion, would employ no fewer than 300 indigenous workers even as there were assurances that the state will not have problems marketing the products which vary from clay roof tiles and burnt bricks among others as the products are being produced only in two States in the country. The Belgian company, CERATEC which is handling the resuscitation of the factory would run the company pending the time the employed staff of the Industry would be sent abroad for training on production and maintenance of the factory. Governor Kayode Fayemi said the resuscitation of the brick industry was a positive step for his administration as it has also brought life back to O'dua Textile which was recently converted to an entreprise centre, housing a skill acquisition centre, a builders mart and a park. Fayemi said he was particularly happy that the efforts have enabled the state get away from the erroneous impression that Ekiti State was neither an industrial centre nor a choice destination for investors. “What we are doing is to restore confidence by pulling back even though you helped build the factory years ago; of course you left it for us to run and we all know what has happened in the course of the past two or three decades of that industry being there. We are delighted that it is during our time that many of these institutions are being revived.” The Governor assured that a bill would be sent to the State House of Assembly to encourage government's patronage of products from the factory when it commences full operation so that it wont go bankrupt. “ I will even take a step further and send a bill to our legislature that would encourage us to use a percentage of what you produce for every government building projects in the State. And we will encourage everyone who wants to come to the state to be involved in any building construction also to use local contents once that factory begins operation”.

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Ekiti to Upgrade Sporting Facilities

kiti State government has commenced plans to resuscitate grassroots sports in a bid to position the state for excellent results in sporting competition. To achieve this, the Governor Kayode Fayemi administration has mapped out plans for a comprehensive upgrading of sports facilities in different parts of the state. Governor Kayode Fayemi who gave the assurance during the just concluded Ekiti State Sports festival in Ado-Ekiti, said the state is determined to see her citizens shine in national and international levels. While noting that the State produced some members of the nation's contingents at the just concluded 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London, UK, the Governor stated that his administration would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that sports facilities are upgraded to encourage more talented youths in sports. Fayemi recalled that the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium was in bad shape before the advent of his administration but the administration embarked on a rehabilitation of the stadium complex to attract international meetings. He added that on completion, the stadium would have attained a standard that could be compared to the best

facilities in the country. Meanwhile, the state government is proposing a Sports Academy at Ikogosi Ekiti where talented young sports men and women would be trained to stardom. The curriculum of the Academy, according to Governor Fayemi is academics with their sporting talents for better performance. tailored to enable young athletes combine

MARKET WOMEN HAIL FAYEMI ON EMPOWERMENT arket women and men in Ekiti State have hailed the developmental programmes of Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, as capable of taking the state and its people out of poverty and diseases. President of market men and women association in the state, Mrs. Omowaiye Oso, gave the commendation during an interactive forum involving leaders of market women and men with government officials in AdoEkiti, the state capital. She declared the readiness of market women to support Fayemi for a second term in office to continue what she called the “good work going on in the state.” The forum which was attended by market women from all the 16 local government areas was attended by the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi and other government functionaries. Mrs. Oso who is also the Iyaloja of Ado-Ekiti said Fayemi has restored the dignity of women by giving them economic empowerment and involving them in day-today running of his administration. The market women leader said apart from the huge infrastructure development in the state , the micro-credit loans given to women and other interest groups have empowered them to positively to contribute to the

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economy of the state. Mrs. Oso declared that all market women in the state would be ready to support Fayemi for a second term in office anytime he signifies interest to seek re-election. She lauded Fayemi for appointing more women into his cabinet and providing employment opportunities for their children which, according to her, has given members of her association a new lease of life.

Mrs. Oso said, “I want to tell you that your second term in office is sure, we are ready to support you even if a third term is allowed because you have done what others before you have not done in the area of women and youth empowerment”. Speaking earlier, Governor Fayemi said the interface with market women would be a regular event to render account of his stewardship and feel their pulse.

Ekiti, SA Parliament Begin Bilateral Relations kiti State Government and the Gauteng Provincial Parliament of South Africa have begun bilateral relations aimed at reviving the spirit of Pan-Africanism and sharing best practices that would deepen democracy in both countries. The foundation for the bilateral relations which was laid in South Africa earlier in the year during a visit by members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, led by its Speaker, Dr Adewale Omirin, to the country. It was cemented in Ado-Ekiti recently when the Speaker of the Gauteng Parliament, Madam Lindwe Mazeko led a delegation of the province's lawmakers to Ekiti State. Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said his administration is passionate about developing the State to international standards even as he noted that Ekiti is bigger than some African countries including Lesotho and Cape Verde, hence the State

Government's “global rather than local” aspiration. The Governor who noted that the Memorandum of Understanding which the State signed with South Africa was to deepen democratic experiment by sharing best practices said Nigerians cannot take the freedom that democracy offers for granted hence the need to strengthen it. He stressed that Ekiti and Gauteng Province have a lot of ideas to exchange to become a model of a partnership between Nigeria and South Africa. In her remarks, the Speaker of the Gauteng Province Parliament, Madam Lindwe Mazeko, said the Parliament cherished the partnership between the two parties and promised to consolidate the relationship as the Parliament has already begun work on the issues raised by the Governor during his last visit to South Africa.

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