On 16 October, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State will bow out of the governor’s office and another, Ayodele Fayemi, will take over (the court permiting). As the time inches closer, there are events which will etch the transition process in the memory of Ekiti people. For example, today, there are two events: Mrs. Angela Adebayo, wife of a former governor of the state, Niyi Adebayo, will inaugurate the Federal High Court and WEMABOD Housing Estate, in Ado Ekiti.
And tomorrow, Sunday, the Sam Aluko House which is the Ekiti State Liason Office in Lagos will be declared open. The same day in Ado Ekiti, there will be an anniversary thanksgiving at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Old Garage, Ado Ekiti. Then Professor Wole Soyinka will unveil Fayemi’s achivements, followed by tributes, book presentation and command performance. Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal will chair these.
On Monday, 13 October, the state House of Assembly will hold a valedictory sitting and, after this, the Minister of Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, will declare open the Ureje Water Front Resort. Chief Bisi Akande an All Progressives Congress, APC, top notcher will inaugurate the Samsung Engineering Academy. The same day, the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha will declare open some renovated hospitals in Ode, Ijan-Ekiti in Ekiti South senatorial district.
On Tuesday, 14 October the statute of Mrs. Funmi Adunni Olayinka, the late former deputy governor, will be unveiled at the Civic Centre, by Mrs. Yeside Agboola and Gen. Alani Akinrinade will declare open the Fountpar food processing company and the College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture in the state.
Fayemi’s last day in office is Wednesday, 15 October when he will hold a meeting with top civil servants, chair a valedictory state executive meeting and former governor Segun Oni will commission the Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki. Same day, Fayemi will move to Isan Ekiti, his country home.
The transition events started on 22 September with a “Thank You Tour” of the local governments and local council development areas by Fayemi and the inauguration of the Gender Studies Centre at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, by the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola.
And on I October, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari inauguration the Ekiti Parapo Square, Ado Ekiti. Two days later, the World Bank and European Union projects – YESSO and WSSSRP3 projects respectively were daclared open.
On Monday 6 October, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was in town to inaugurate the Oba Adejugbe Hospital, in the state capital while Major-Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, one time military governor of Western Region inaugurated other renovated hospitals in Ekiti Central Senatorial District. The following day, former governor Niyi Adebayo commissioned some renovated hospitals in Ekiti North senatorial district in Ikole, Ijesa-Isu, Otun and Ifaki.
On Wednesday, 8 October Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, a former head of state, inaugurated projects at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).
And on Thursday 9 October, Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso commissioned the Ire burnt bricks industry, built by the Adekunle Ajasin government in the old Ondo State but went moribund and the Ero Pilot Irrigation Scheme. Same day the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, launched the laws of the state ( HIV anti-stigm) and gave a lecture, “The Place of the Law in Governance and Development.”
As Olawale Olaleye recently wrote in ThisDay, “Fayemi isn’t just walking away; he is doing so with his shoulder high. He has, since October 1, been inaugurating different legacy projects across the state by prominent persons from different parts of the country.”