John Kayode Fayemi: One Year After, The Story Is…Godwin For Ekiti JKF

By Olayinka Oyebode

imageAt about 2pm on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, Dr Kayode Fayemi arrived his Isan –Ekiti home town, received by a mammoth crowd of town men and women, youth, top officials of his administration, clerics, students and artisans.

He had, an hour earlier, performed his last assignment as governor of Ekiti State.
JKF, accompanied by the huge crowd, trekked from the boundary of the town to the palace of the Onisan of Isan, Oba Sunday Ajiboye, to pay homage to the traditional ruler. After a brief prayer by the Oba, the jubilant crowd followed JKF to his residence, singing and dancing.
The import of their song was that their illustrious son ‘came, saw and conquered’, and returned home a honourable man with outstanding achievements in his four-year distinguished public service.
It was one assignment I could not coordinate as his Chief Press Secretary. Reason: I was a bit overwhelmed. I have been overstretched by the recording of the Governor’s valedictory speech the previous night and the weeklong activities marking the end of tenure.
But in particular, it was one assignment, I felt I did not have the required emotional strength to handle. So, I stayed back in my office and coordinated through the Press Officer to the Governor.
My office wore an unusual mood that day. Its usual boisterousness gave way to sobriety as my staff struggled hard not to betray their emotions. Some could not.
And so, after a word of prayer by a senior staff, I got a powerful (bear) hug from my dear friend and colleague, Muyiwa Adeyemi of the Guardian. “Ore, all is well”, Muyiwa said, as he drew my attention to the fact it was already 2.30pm.
I hugged all my staff one after the other, took a long look at my PA and headed for my car. A group of APC youth had laid an ambush to my car at the parking lunge. “Powerful CPS….CPS to moye….O duro soke”, they chorused. I responded and spoke the language they understand. “Twale baba, oya clear road for CPS”.
I drove out of the complex in a James Bond manner. As I journeyed, I had planned to shut out the event that played out in Ekiti between June 21 and October 15th, but in the quietness of my heart, the thought crept in.
As a student of literature, I know the loss of the election was against the principle of poetic justice. As a Christian too, I know evil should naturally not triumph over good, same way darkness should never outclass light. So, how was the election rigged successfully? Why should a government that did so much to lift the people from the shackles of poverty and ignorance be denied a second term? How and why did a mindless group acting a presidency- empowered script arm twist us? Why should the judiciary become impotent in defending the helpless even when its own inner sanctum was violated by the same adversary.
So many questions competed for my attention and answers. In the stupor of this helplessness came the assurance: THERE IS A GOD WHO RULES IN THE AFFAIRS OF MEN.
A year down the line, God has proved himself to be just, truthful and merciful. He is a God of new things and new beginnings. Just two days to the first anniversary, God gave us a new song. Dr Kayode Fayemi’s confirmation by the Senate as a minister of the Federal Republic is not only heart-warming, it is significant. Some say it is a case of a stone rejected by the builders becoming the corner stone. But was JKF rejected at the poll? NO. The power that be (at that time) wanted Ekiti at all cost and got it at all cost.
My take: Sibe, Oluwa dara (simi) ati wipe ….Oluwaniisola.
God is good. God is the source of every good thing. God is the creator and sole administrator of the universe. The triumph of the wicked can only be for a while.
As I reminiscence on the first anniversary of the exit of the JKF administration this morning, I give God the glory for the great things He hath done. I trust He will use JKF as an instrument of change. I pray He will empower the new cabinet with wisdom and courage to take the right decisions and actions that will make Nigeria great again.
And to my beloved Ekiti people, let me encourage you with the words of that renowned playwright, Femi Osofisan, “the ruler’s spell is but a season’s haze, it will scatter when freedom shines its rays”.

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