EKITI STATE : A RADICAL RETURN TO THE ANCIENT LANDMARK
Lanre Ogunjobi
“Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set” (proverbs 22 : 28)
Every nation is built on certain distinctive ideals which separate them from others. Ekiti state had hers and it’s known to the world. Our forebears toiled to engrave an image of a sane community of intellectuals in the minds of everybody that comes in contact with the Ekiti people. Summed up in the deliberate choice of a slogan that speaks volume of the rich deposit of knowledge, finesse and intellectual prowess of the Ekiti Ketes, our forebears chose to christen our land as the “Fountain of Knowledge”. It was not a coincidence. They meant business.
Without doubt, they maintained this not just in words but in actions too. Come to think of an agrarian populace with so much passion for qualitative education parading the highest number of professors ever produced in the Nigeria. Yes, we are that sophisticated, almost in all fields of endeavors. It’s a pride to behold that Ekiti possesses the intellectual energy with which to drive our nation any day. But then, how did we miss it?
Was it apathy, greed or negligence that landed a supposed Fountain of Knowledge into the abyss of a kind? The consequences of an action is better understood when one traces it to the cause. As the elders would say, there is no smoke without fire. To every effect, there is a cause, a catalyst that needs be dealt with lest we revolve round a self perpetuating circle. Once again, I ask us all. How and who removed the ancient landmark?
The return of governor Kayode Fayemi brought a soothing relief to our reputation in a way. It can be viewed as judgemental, or seen as taking side, but the reality was that Ekiti State and her people under the past administration became a huge joke in the comity of sane nations. Need I remind us about the ridiculous tomfoolery of a leader either eating roasted corn on the street or battling for a space at a local restaurant for his usual ‘amala and gbegiri’ which is summarily branded as populism? What about the avoidable bloodletting as innocent people were murdered under his watch, and innocent people incarcerated for 3 years without any prove of guilt? Can anyone forget the unnecessary antagonism of political opponents in the name of partisan politics? What about the disconnect in governmental priorities? We have never had it shameful like this in our history and we must feel sorry for ourselves.
As I listened to the lecture delivered by our revered poet and a leading light in the intellectual community, Prof. Niyi Osundare to signal the dawn of a new government in Ekiti state, I marveled at not just the dictions of Professor Osundare but the mood he captured significantly. The lecture titled ‘Still In Defence Of Lasting Values’ resonated in us the beauty of our past, the shenanigans of the present and the hope of the future. As he puts it “In my personal deployment of that word in this lecture, I have imbued it with a dose of stubborn insistence, a heady never-say-die spirit, a somewhat inexplicable tenacity, a delicate optimism borne of a visionary impulse. It is emboldened by what is (or used to be, alas) a globally recognized Ekiti ideal”
Prof. Osundare shared in my pity for the Ekiti people as he posited that “our state has see-sawed from light to darkness, darkness to light, and back to darkness again as we fumbled from gubernatorial tenures marked by civility and visionary idealism to others characterized by primitive despotism and medieval barbarism”. In the history of democracy since 1999, Ekiti became the only State in the South West to have embraced the service of a sole administrator in what was termed a State of emergency. We were clamped down even in a civilian dispensation.
A man cannot give what he doesn’t have. It’s a huge joke to allow men of little or unverifiable knowledge lead us in Ekiti State, anymore. As succinctly put by Governor John Kayode Fayemi, while delivering his inaugural speech, “as much as today marks the beginning of a new phase in our history, it also signals the end of an era, or more appropriately, the end of an error”. Almost immediately, Dr Kayode Fayemi pronounced that education, which had been free during his first tenure, be returned, while only yesterday, he removed the payment of taxes by pupils and students. These he made in spite of the huge debt of about 170billion and eight months salaries owed by the Fayose led administration. This signals a return to the ancient landmark in the land of honour. Within a space of four days of inauguration, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi has hit the ground running. He has visited the three Senatorial Districts, for a ” Thank You” tours and had had interface with his political constituency; signifying that gradually, just like he promised, he’s taking governance back to the people.
It is gratifying to observe that before our very eyes, new things are heralding in our land and we cannot but thank God for the bliss.
Lanre Ogunjobi writes from Ado- Ekiti @ [email protected]
