June 21 last year was a day of decision for Ekiti people. It was the day they rejected the Fayemi-led APC administation as they chose to follow the Ayo Fayose led PDP govewrnment. It was not difficult for the people to make their choice since they have tasted life under the two leaders. They knew who could run an all-inclusive grassreoots-oriented government.
So far events have proved that the people were right in their choice of preference for Ayo Fayose over Kayode Fayemi. So far, Fayose has treated the people as king as he carries them along in running government. He has used every available opportunity to explain to the people in the minutest details the state of things with Ekiti. In his first term, Fayose’s slogan was that Ekiti was not poor contrary to what the Adebayo government was saying.
But in tandem with the reality of the present situation, governor Fayose has not pretended that the economy of Ekiti state is not as rosy as it used to be. He has explained to the people painstakingly how the government of Fayemi left a huge debt that has paralysed the economy of the state.
In spite of the huge debt, the Fayose administration continues to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Ekiti people. The governor continues to assure the people that they made a wise decision in voting for him on June 21, 2014.
Before he was sworn into office, Governor Fayose as the then governor-elect brought a team of engineers to access the Park View-Petim junction road in Ado-Ekiti for construction. Work on the road is now nearing completion. Work is also on-going on the Bawa-CMCM road also in Ado-Ekiti. These are access roads that serve a large proportion of residents of Ado-Ekiti. Governor Fayose also started work on erosion control project on Mathew road junction and another at the junction of Ajilosun-Oke Oniyo roads in Ajilosun. Work on these erosion control projects were completed and commissioned within the governor’s first one hundred days in office. It is the same for construction of market stalls at the Fayose market in Ajilosun and at the Bisi Egbeyemi market, both in Ado-Ekiti.
The Fayose government has also started to clear the arreas of salaries of government workers owed by the Fayemi administration. It is only September last year salary that is now outstanding, while the arreas of August and September pensions will soon be cleared. Unlike in the past, government now pays salaries in full, including all deductions.
Government has also ensured improved electricity supply to Ekiti state through a meeting of the governor with the Chief Executive Officer of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC. They signed a Memorandum of Uderstanding for better supply of elecricity to Ekiti state. Part of the agreement was for government to encourage the people to pay their electricity bills.
As a result of improved power supply to the state, more water is being pumped from the dams to the different communities, while the cost of spending on diesel from the dams has gone down considerably. Water supply from Ero dam is now getting to Aramoko and Igede.
There is no doubt that governor Fayose has justified the confidence reposed in him by the people. The people’s welfare remains the topmost priority of his administration. To him, the people’s welfare is in first line charge. He is determined to pay all outstanding arreas of salaries and allowances as soon as money is available. Whereas the Fayemi administration employed not less than eight hundred and fifty political appointees, governor Fayose is yet to employ twenty-five politicians. It is not that the governor hates the political class to which he belongs, it is because of the poor finances of the state.
Ekiti people voted governor Fayose to continue with the programme of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state. Ekiti people are known for standing by their belief.
We must continue to support governor Fayose by voting for PDP candidates in the forth-coming general elections. We must not reward the APC with our votes after they plunged the economy of Ekiti state and dragged us into debts that we will pay up to 2020, lest they replicate this at the centre and sell our children to slavery. Ekiti people have seen them in their true colour, we must not allow them to hijack Nigeria’s economy like they did to Lagos state. Ekiti people, shine your eyes. In the general election, vote President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, vote all PDP candidates.
Laleye Lashore is a journalist.
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NIGERIASPOT Edited by Laleye Lashore 