Nigeria: Why Fayemi Is Governor of the Year

3 October 2012
opinion

Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was recently named the LEADERSHIP newspapers Governor of the Year 2011 at an elaborate ceremony in Abuja where Ekiti people comprising of government officials, (elected and appointed) and market women thronged the Sheraton Hotel venue of the ceremony in solidarity with their governor. Other awardees were General T.Y Danjuma who bagged Man of the Year, businessman Aliko Dangote as Business Person of the Year, Condoleeza Rice, the former US Secretary of State as Author of the Year; Ann Marie Imafidon the young academic wizard who bagged an Oxford University Masters Degree at the age of 12 as the Young Person of the Year. There are other awardees in other categories, but the award of the Governor of the Year conferred on Dr. Fayemi was the most discussed and the cynosure of all eyes.

Dr. Fayemi is always wary of awards because of the indecent and spurious nature of most awards that are equally conferred on unworthy fellows in the country. In fact, he has rejected many, but for him to accept the LEADERSHIP award, there must have been a cogent reason. This was revealed in his acceptance speech when he said he accepted the award because the process of selection was transparent, predictable and independently verifiable. The award is credible because nobody was asked to pay any money. Predictably, the winner of the award last year was Governor Adams Oshiomhole who proved that he deserved the award going by how he has transformed Edo State and later secured a landslide victory for second term in office.

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