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It gives me great pleasure and honour to congratulate and celebrate Ekiti Kete for the wonderful experiences of the past 100 days. Mo yo fun o, mo yo fun ra mi! As a people, let us thank God Almighty for the grace to witness this day. This very important milestone marks the first 100 days of my administration in the saddle. The gains, joy and experiences of the past 100 days are both enthralling and overwhelming, and should ordinarily make us roll out drums for a statewide celebration. Rather, I want us as a people to use this occasion for sober reflection and ask ourselves: How did we get to where we were before the advent of this administration?
It is not my intention to dampen your spirits or diminish the joy of this moment by regaling you with the retrogressive stories of what we inherited as a government, but the fact that the present is the product of the past is incontrovertible. That we need the lessons of the past to create the future of our dreams can also not be over-emphasised. However, despite what fate brought on our path as a people, the good news is that we are already out of the dark tunnel and now charting our path to economic recovery and value restoration.
This occasion is all about stocktaking, an opportunity to bring Ekiti Kete up to speed on how far we have gone and what we have done with the mandate entrusted in our care. Without being immodest, given the circumstances we found ourselves, I am glad to boldly say that we have given a good account of ourselves in the handling of our mandate in the past 100 days. Be assured that what we have had is a tip of the iceberg. Our people deserve the best, no doubt, and we are committed to giving them nothing but the best.
The only constant thing in life is change. It is therefore refreshing and rewarding for Ekiti State, and its people to be partakers in the current positive paradigm shift. The past 100 days have been nothing but eventful, exciting and fulfilling for us as a government and, hopefully for the generality of Ekiti Kete. We remain grateful to our people for their staunch belief in our capacities to redirect the wheels of the land of honour in a positive direction.
Although much is still needed to be done in our quest to totally recover the land and hand it over to you, Ekiti Kete, the rightful owners, there are positive signs that a glorious dawn beckons. We inherited a State that was in total chaos and a people severely disorientated under a suppressive government who had raised and promoted deceit into a stage craft.
The cheering news however, is that, the last 100 days have clearly shown to us, in a very practical manner, that with clarity of vision, the resolve to push through and the unflinching support of the people, there are endless possibilities in our capacities to steer our state on the path of progress.
The man who removes a mountain would begin by carrying away small stones. We are conscious of the yearnings and expectations of Ekiti people and we are poised to deliver on every promise we made. Ekiti State receives an average monthly allocation of #3,282,286.00 with average monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of #445, 646.00. Despite the meager resources at our disposal, we are meticulously delivering on our promises to the people through our various short, medium and long term socio-economic intervention programmes.
As a government, we have so far distanced ourselves from political witch-hunting and media trials to score cheap political goals. However, in retrospect, we must examine our tortuous path with a view to charting a new course for a prosperous destination, not only for us, but also for our unborn children.
Upon assumption of office, I made a promise to ensure we thoroughly review, document and widely disseminate the present state of affairs so that all and sundry could know what had become of our commonwealth. In line with the promise I made in my inauguration speech, I now present to you the total debt profile of Ekiti State as at 16th October 2018, which stood at #155,791,785,214.08
The breakdown of the debt profile is as follows:
Loans 57,694,460,298.79
Salary Arrears 16,777,257,608.52
Outstanding Leave Bonus 4,402,585,167.53
Outstanding Corpers Allowance 28,883,959.00
Outstanding Subventions 4,770,676,870.98
Pension and Gratuity Arrears 39,775,919,872.02
Outstanding Contractors claims 28,575,946,572.25
Outstanding Furniture Allowance 470,266,137.09
Outstanding Severance Allowance 586,144,167.51
Monetized Vehicles Arrears 101,243,387.24
Outstanding Warrants 386,777,450.64
Outstanding FIRS Obligation 184,215,623.43
Traditional Rulers Arrears 150,214,204.10
Judgement Debts 95,048,963.35
Other Outstanding Liabilities 1,792,144,931.62
Borrowing, in itself, cannot be considered a bad thing. However borrowing to finance white elephant, unproductive or self-serving projects, is grossly unpatriotic. Because my patriotic quest to be in the saddle again was born out of the burning desire to lift the State out of a socio- economic quagmire, my administration hit the ground running from Day One of assumption of office. It is therefore no surprise that our administration has many success stories to recount within this short, but remarkably significant period.
Our administrations quest to restore the values and dignity of our people is encapsulated in our four-point agenda of Social Investment, Knowledge Economy, Infrastructure and Industrial Development, and Agriculture and Rural Development with a cross cutting delivery vehicle in Governance. In line with this agenda, we have made significant impact with the provision of electricity in some areas that were cut-off for almost four years, mobilised contractors to resuscitate and fast-track the completion of abandoned roads and renovation of economically viable but abandoned projects. Also, while Ero and Egbe are currently going through complete overhauling to provide potable water for our people, community development is equally receiving attention through the resuscitation of abandoned projects and the same applies to our health and education sectors. These are some of our verifiable and impactful accomplishments within the period under review.
As I speak, our popular free health mission is traversing the length and breadth of the state and we are using the exercise to introduce universal access to basic healthcare provision. In the education sector, we have undertaken life-changing reforms first by re-introducing free and compulsory education till SSS3, just as we did in our first term in office, in the tertiary segment, visitation panels have completed the reports on four tertiary institutions and the recommendations are now being implemented. To address declining enrolment figures in which Ekiti now has the worst out of school figures in primary and secondary schools, we are also introducing school feeding programme in our primary schools.
It is the constitutional responsibility of any government to pay salaries and pensions, provide social amenities, ensure adequate security, and regularly render accurate account of the resources entrusted in its care. These basic responsibilities, the least expected of any good government, suddenly became issues to be celebrated in our polity because the people have been debased and psyched to accept trivialities by the government of the immediate past administrations both at the Federal level and in several states, including Ekiti State. Its gratifying to note that we have continued to honor our promise to pay salaries regularly.
I watched how the people of Ikogosi Ekiti and its environs danced for joy when electricity was restored to the communities for the first time in four years. I also saw how civil servants and pensioners jubilated for receiving their salaries and allowances as and when due, including arrears. The influx of prayers and encomiums over the reintroduction of free and compulsory education in Ekiti State, and the payment of WAEC fees for graduating students of secondary schools have been overwhelming. This is just to mention a few of how we have touched the lives of our people within the past 100 days.
My administration is humbled by this show of love and appreciation from Ekiti people. These positive signals from the people have further strengthened our resolve to put the people first in whatever we do and you can be sure that the next 1,360 days would be more exciting, rewarding and fulfilling. We have successfully used the past 100 days to lay the needed foundation to restore our values and return Ekiti State to its rightful position in the comity of states and we will consolidate on the recorded gains, moving forward.
We have re-established and strengthened the synergy between Ekiti State and relevant federal government agencies. We have also reinforced and gained the trust of corporate organisations and multinational development partners, to support our quest to move Ekiti State forward. Be assured of a quantum leap in the delivery of good healthcare services, enhanced knowledge economy, improved rural road network, remarkable boost in agriculture, reliable power supply and hygienic potable water across the State.
As a responsible government, we are not unmindful of the current security situation in the country, particularly within Ekiti State. Our security architecture is being reconfigured to deal with all forms of criminalities. Citizens can be sure of our zero tolerance for criminality and brigandage in our state. We are re-equiping our security agencies to meet the expectation of the people and I can assure all that noticeable change is being witnessed. The manifestation of the reconfigured security architecture will restore sanity and make Ekiti State a no-go area for criminals. In the interim, I enjoin you all to let us be our brothers keeper and be more proactive with information to the various security agencies. Information is power, there is no truer saying.
Governments policies and programmes, the world over, thrive on the involvement of the people. Let me at this juncture remind you all that as a government we cannot do it alone or succeed in isolation. A tree does not make a forest. We need the support and co-operation of the corporate world, development partners, federal government and of course, Ekiti people to succeed as a government. For us, therefore, to build on the gains of the past 100 days, all hands must be on the deck to move our dear State forward economically, socially and politically.
This is our first stewardship in the series of others to be witnessed in the life of this administration, in the fulfillment of our obligation to Ekiti people. As a government, we are more interested in building and strengthening institutions rather than wielding powers or self-aggrandisement. This is the world best practice in governance and we are proud to thread that path to attain speedy economic recovery and value restoration for Ekiti State.
Yes, we are rebuilding our economy. We are fixing dilapidated infrastructure. We are reforming educational and health institutions for the benefit of all. Above all, our quest for value restoration must go apace with these visible changes. Character is beauty Iwalewa as the elders say. The restoration of decency, decorum, respect for the elderly and for each other remains a major focus of our administration. And in this regard, we are finalizing plans for the Value Academy an institution that we are convinced – will help train the succeeding generation on the importance of values in our development.
On this note, I sincerely thank Ekiti Kete and everyone that has contributed in one way or the other to enhancing our performance in the past 100 days. You are our most cherished assets. I enjoin you all to keep supporting us, especially in the areas of tax payment and selfless suggestions on how to jointly move Ekiti State forward.
In the next couple of days, we shall approach the polls again to participate in the electioneering process. I urge you all to play by the rules and be law abiding. As a people, we must use the next election to consolidate on the gains of the past 100 days. Our conduct before, during and after the election must be rancour free. In every situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; be guided and lets jointly build on our modest, steady, feasible, realistic, sustainable and impactful gains. May we be at the Next Level together.
Things can only get better.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor
