Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
From: maggie anaeto <maganaeto@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 17:27:35 +0100 (BST)
To: ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com<ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>
ReplyTo: maggie anaeto <maganaeto@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: EKITI: MAY THE VOTERS WIN
EKITI: MAY THE VOTERS WIN
Ayo Olukotun
"We are about the issues and can talk about the issues. If that adds up to an endorsement, so be it."– Robert Barley (former Editorial page Editor, Wall Street Journal.)
In less than two weeks from now, the electorate in Ekiti state will go to the polls to decide who becomes the governor of their state for four years beginning from 2014. The campaigns have been fierce and marred by several incidents of violence, including free for all fights among party hawks with noticeable human casualties. Not even a peace building effort brokered by the traditional rulers have been able to stem the tide of rising violence.
The situation took an awry turn last Sunday when police men reportedly fired at the official vehicle of the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who described the event as an "assassination attempt". While the details of that disturbing incident remain unclear, it is pertinent to alert all stakeholders that if what appears to be overheated political shenanigans get out of hand there may be in fact no election worth the name on the 26th of June. As several observers have noted both the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections constitute omens or dress rehearsals for the wider legislative and presidential elections of 2015. The Independent National Electoral Commission in particular has an opportunity to improve on its below par performance in the Anambra election and to show that it is sufficiently well kitted and toned up to master the logistical hitches which marred recent gubernatorial elections.
How then about the candidates? And how do they rank in terms of policies, character and reliability? In answering this question, it is pertinent to draw a distinction between objectivity and neutrality; as the endorsement of presidential candidates by major American newspapers show it is possible to be objective by giving wide play to all contestants without being neutral or detached to the point of what American journalism teachers call 'electoral celibacy'. Defending the well known practice of American newspapers such as New York Times and Washington Post as well as leading columnists of endorsing candidates in an election season, former Editorial page Editor of the New York Times Howard Reins argued that "a candidate's endorsement is not an attempt to dictate to the reader what he ought to do. It is more a reflection of our feeling that we have an obligation .to be part of the civic dialogue." Similarly, the opening quote of this write up sourced from former editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal is less emphatic about the endorsement of candidates but nonetheless insists that opinion writers and editorial commentators have a duty to discuss the issues in an election period as part of the agenda setting function of the media.
Specifically and with particular reference to Ekiti the questions around which discussions ought to flower include: What kind of leader (governor) does that state require? Which candidate is closest to those criteria identified? Obviously, the three leading contestants in the race are the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose and former House of Representatives member, Honourable Opeyemi Bamidele. This is not to say that these are the only contestants; for instance we have Mr. Kole Ajayi of the Accord Party but this writer makes the judgment that the electoral struggle is mainly among the first three named.
Fayose, candidate of the PDP, it would be remembered ruled Ekiti state for the three years between the 2003 and 2006 when he was forced out of office in controversial circumstances. He has a peculiar brand of messianic politics tinged with populism in which he conceives of himself as the 'architect of modern Ekiti' as well as someone on divine assignment. To be fair to him and in response to the increased allocation that the state enjoyed under his controversial tenure, his government was marked by a measure of modernising activity and modest upgrade of public infrastructure. It is to his credit too and as he never tires of reminding his listeners that he left up to N10 billion in the coffers of the state; although he is silent on the liabilities that he incurred.
Obviously not a man of letters or of any education worth the name, Fayose, speaks the language of biblical prophecy and numerology regarding his 'anointing' to return as governor. Listen to him, "But I want to tell you that today as long as I live and I'm alive on October 16, I will be governor of Ekiti state. October 16 will be exactly 8 years that I left government house, it will be the same day, the same hour that I left office 8 years ago. Oni left October 16th 2010, I left October 15th 2006, Fayemi will leave October 15th, 2014." It is by these mystical rants that Fayose seeks to compensate for the lack of an articulate programme; burying himself in the game of spiritual numbers and foretelling.
His critics insists however that given the many unresolved murder cases as well as corruption hanging around him what we should be talking about in a sane society is not his candidature but whether someone considered morally unfit for high office should have been a contestant in the first place.
Bamidele, candidate of the Labour Party, a lawyer is not a new comer to political office having served for 8 years as a Commissioner in Lagos state and for 4 as a member of the House of Representatives. He has set himself down in a well-articulated manifesto covering virtually every area of development in Ekiti. Even if he loses the election, his manifesto should be of interest to whoever emerges victorious. He has the drawback however, that he belongs to what we may call a fringe party in the context of Ekiti politics and obviously does not enjoy the endorsement of political titans even from his hometown of Iyin Ekiti such as Niyi Adebayo, a one-time governor of the state.
The incumbent, Fayemi, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, came to office recommended by good education (he holds a doctorate degree) and by having paid his dues in the trenches of anti-military struggle as one of the brain boxes of Radio Kudirat which gave the Abacha dictatorship several nightmares. His forte and campaign thrust revolve around the 8-point agenda through which he has attempted and with a fair measure of success to transform Ekiti. These include a massive programme of road rehabilitation, an urban renewal programme conspicuous to any casual visitor to the state capital, a social security programme featuring modest payments to the elderly as well as the revitalisation of tourist attractions such as the Ikogosi warm spring among others. Although he is criticized for committing the state to a bond of N25 billion, Fayemi maintains that given Ekiti's position as one of the poorest states in the federation and the state of finances he inherited he could not have carried out the renewal programme that he did without the bond.
It would appear all considered and if the voters are allowed to decide the outcome that Fayemi's performance will stand him in good stead in the election.
Prof Olukotun is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Entrepreneurial Studies at Lead City University, Ibadan. ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com 07055841236
