1. Governor
Fayemi's
2011
Independence
Day
Speech
STATE-WIDE BROADCAST BY THE GOVERNOR OF EKITI STATE, DR.
KAYODE FAYEMI ON THE OCCASION OF NIGERIA’S 51ST
INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY AND 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
CREATION OF EKITI STATE ON 1ST OCTOBER, 2011
My Good people of Ekiti State
In the midnight of 1st October 1960, Nigeria became a free nation with
privileges of sovereignty and self determination. The people were
understandably ecstatic in their new found freedom as paraphernalia of slavery
and oppression represented in the vistas of colonialism gave way to the
emergent institutions of independence. Freedom is indeed sweet.
Fifty one years after, God has kept the nation as an indivisible entity in spite of
many challenges that almost brought her to her knees in her chequered history.
We would all recall the 30 months fratricidal civil war that engulfed the
country soon after independence; frequent and violent changes of government
over the years and often-echoed ineffective management of our national
resources among other challenges of nationhood that Nigeria has had to grapple
with. In all these and at every twist of event, Nigeria has come out more
determined to forge ahead even as some continue to predict the demise of this
great country.
October 1st is not only a milestone for Nigeria as a country, it is much more so
for Ekiti which is also today celebrating her 15th Anniversary of creation. The
attainment of self-government within the federation of Nigeria by the Ekiti
people did not come cheaply. Traditional rulers, intelligentsia, community and
religious leaders both at home and abroad among others were at the forefront of
the vanguard for the realization of the age long dream. Today, we are
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2. celebrating the victory of the war, fought not on the battlefield. I salute the
Ekitis on the joy of today which goes down in history as a remembrance of a
day of liberation as we now put our fate in our hands and determine the place
of our future. It is however worth recalling the only other day of equal
significance – the day when Kiriji war ended, September 23rd, 1886 when
armistice was reached after the internecine war between Ekiti and Ibadan. In
recalling the end of that historic war, we celebrate the values of resistance
against oppression, unity and courage of conviction, valour, honour and a rich
history of a determined people.
As we savour the sweetness of the invaluable victory, we have to soberly
reflect on the journey so far. We have no doubt kept the spirit of oneness as a
homogeneous people, united by force of character and indivisible by the core
values of integrity, hard work, candour, honour, determination, honesty and
mutual respect. We are a proud people of a culture knitted together by
unquenchable ethos of high resistance to oppression and injustice and a
determined quest for knowledge. Among all the peoples inside and outside
Nigeria, these are our common identity, the seal of our very existence. It is the
Ekiti secret. United, totally committed and never quitting, we, the people of
Ekiti can achieve whatever we set our mind upon. As David Hinderer, the
Colonial Missionary noted way back in 1855, “Ekiti people love their liberty
and have been known in the hour of extremity to choose death rather than life
of slavery.”
Even as we believe in the sanctity of life, we cannot pretend that these core
values are not being eroded by elements that are strange to what we are known
for as a people over the ages. As this erosion is dangerously permeating the
very fabric of our entire being, we as a people cannot but feel the shocking
realization that this is also taking a toll on the state that was gallantly fought
for. This we have to resist on all fronts as our fathers did during the Ekiti
parapo wars.
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3. However, as we celebrate today, I bring to you, my good people of Ekiti State,
the message of hope and assurance of a better tomorrow. Without being
immodest, this government has consciously studied our common problems and
come up with a practicable roadmap to the overall development of the state as
espoused in our 8 point transformational Agenda. The contract that this
government signed with the Ekiti people at inauguration is to provide abundant
life across the nooks and crannies of the land. We have tried to live up to your
huge expectation but must admit that clearing the debris of many years of bad
governance has taken a much longer time than we envisaged. But ours remain a
determined quest to improve the lot of our people. With purposeful leadership
in the driving seat and a cooperative populace, success is bound to be ours.
It is for this reason that we consider this day a day of celebration in many ways.
First, it is our day of independence as a country, it is also our creation day as a
full-fledged state as well as the International Day of the Elderly as declared by
the United Nations. Let me speak a bit more about the elderly. The plight of the
elderly has been of concern to many in our various communities. As Ekiti, old
age is a thing worthy of celebration. Unfortunately, the near collapse of our
social capital popularly known as extended family system has exposed many of
our elderly ones to poorly and indigent circumstances. As a consequence of the
above and in line with our campaign promise to establish a social security
support scheme for the elderly, I am delighted to announce that with effect
from this month, October 2011, every adult of Sixty Five Years of age and
above who is not currently a beneficiary of pension or of clear evidence of
being taken care of by family, shall be entitled to a monthly social security
benefit of N5,000.00. This is in addition to the free health care that this
category of our vulnerable people already enjoys. It is our expectation that this
would further prolong the lives of our elderly in a state that is currently
enjoying the highest life expectancy in the entire country.
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4. Our agenda, when we started, was to rescue Ekiti from the pangs and pains of
poverty – tackling want, creating wealth and restoring the dignity of the Ekiti
person – culminating in an enriched state where poverty is history. We want to
earn the support of our people by delivering all our promises, but first we are
determined to earn your trust with candour, honesty and confidence building
measures when we highlight current challenges in the same breadth that we
talk about future possibilities.
Yet, on a day of celebration like this, one of the key ways of ensuring our
people’s trust is not to overawe them with the enormity of the challenges
before us. However, it is also not right to leave you with the impression that all
is well with us. What we can at least do is to reassure our people that in spite of
current challenges, all certainly will be well in the foreseeable future. It is a
common knowledge that Ekiti is at the rung of the revenue allocation ladder
across the federation. This, rather than being a source of worry, I believe,
should bring out the ingenuity in us in view of our God given endowment of
creativity and innovation to make a turnaround in our fortunes. We have what
it takes to change our story of insufficiency and want. This reorientation has
already begun. This is why this administration is vigorously pursuing the
policies of citizens’ self-actualization through the Youth Volunteers Corps and
Life Academies. This is clearly being replicated in other areas of governance.
We also believe it is time to project ourselves more in the comity of states by
insisting that the time for Ekiti to excel has indeed come even as the challenges
remain daunting.
I call on all compatriots to join hands to make Ekiti the state of our dream. I am
indeed encouraged by the determination of our people in the Diaspora to lift
Ekiti up as a state with series of interventions. Our meetings with them inside
and outside Nigeria have further emboldened me to assert with certainty that
our glorious brightness at the end of the tunnel is closer than some of us can
imagine. Let us convert our core values and enormous intellectual capabilities
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5. to actual change and movement, palpable projects and structures and
significant improvements in the quality of lives of our people. This government
would continue to encourage our communities to harp on their areas of strength
for the state to enjoy the benefits of comparative advantage in our drive
towards socio-economic sufficiency.
I congratulate all Nigerians and particularly Ekitis for this anniversary
celebration and wish you all more prosperous future celebrations.
Thank you and God bless. Ori ile Ekiti a gbe a o!
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