A group of indigenes of Ekiti State under the umbrella of Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum has lambasted a former governor of the state, Kayode Fayemi, for using derogatory words to criticize Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria following the lawyer’s review of past administrations in the state.
Fayemi had lampooned the statesman saying he may be “suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder” that has prevented him from seeing well in others.
Recall that Babalola in his review of the past governments in Ekiti during a private function of the opening of the annex of Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital at Irigrigiri Road, Ado Ekiti, argued that previous governors of the state “abandoned the vision of those who laboured for its creation.”
Babalola, without mentioning any name in particular, said former governors of Ekiti failed to develop the structure that would have propelled the state to higher standards.
But, Fayemi, while reacting to Babalola’s comment in an interview said the nonagenarian was partisan in his review of his administration, adding that the lawyer has not been his supporter even during his terms as the governor of the state.
Meanwhile, Ekiti Patriotism Consultative Forum descended on the former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, saying his attacks against Babalola portrayed him as a senseless person and one who lacks home training.
The Forum, in a statement signed by its secretary, Oluwagbenga Babawibe, and made available to The Point, expressed dismay that Fayemi could disparage Babalola despite the huge contributions of the elder statesman to Ekiti and Nigeria at large, describing the former governor as “non-etiquette child who lacks home training.”
Justifying the claim of the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti that Fayemi and other past governors abandoned the vision of Ekiti founding fathers, the group accused Fayemi of pilfering the resources of the state during the eight years he ruled the state as governor.
It therefore asked Fayemi to tender a public apology which must be published in three newspapers to Babalola.
Making a case for the nonagenarian, the Forum said, “It should be noted that Chief Afe Babalola did not single out Kayode Fayemi in his review of the performance of the past government in Ekiti State as claimed; he intentionally vented his frustration and hatred on the Baba, which is very uncharitable and an act of irresponsibility for a man who ruled the cultured people of Ekiti twice.
“This is not the first time Fayemi will insult and attack Baba. The same way he mobilized and hired political thugs from Ekiti State to Ibadan in order to attack Baba’s office at Mokola, Ibadan, just because his firm was handling a case against him, some of the thugs were arrested and prosecuted in Ibadan, but for the love of the state, Baba pardoned them and they were discharged from the court in Ibadan.
“In the Jejune written by Fayemi, he claimed Baba has never supported his government while he was in office, to mention but few. It should be known that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his government made Baba the chairman of the palliative committee, whereby Chief Afe Babalola donated a whopping sum of one hundred million naira, eight hundred bags of rice, and one thousand bags of garri for the state. What other support does this guy want again?
“The contradictory allegations raised by Fayemi over the issue of the airport, a failed project embarked on by him and an uncompleted project that was commissioned with fun fare, the truth is that Fayemi approached Chief Afe Babalola to build the terminal section of the airport, and Baba agreed to do so and had taken steps by constructing the architectural design of the terminal, which was fashioned against the best in the world. Without further consultation, Fayemi rejected the earlier agreed terminal to be built by Aare Afe Babalola and wrote a letter to him to build a guest house or hotel for the airport project. Fayemi who pilfered the resources of Ekiti has the temerity to insult a 94-year-old man who is the highest employer of labour, highest tax payer, and highest contributor to the economy of the state.
“After messing up with the airport project, Chief Afe Babalola, who is interested in the completion of the airport because of its economic viability to the university and Ekiti State at large, has spent over N2.3 billion of his personal resources for the purchase of instrument landing equipment, an aerodrome ground lighting system, and the building of a befitting car park for the airport. There is no single individual with such a contribution toward the development of Ekiti State. There is no private investment that is as big as ABUAD in Ekiti, yet the government has not done anything to support this investment. The road that leads to the university is impassable, and similarly, the road that leads to the newly commissioned ABUAD multisystem hospital annex has returned to the state of nature.
“Those were the things that triggered Baba’s review of the past administration in Ekiti State, which led to the sacrilege committed by Fayemi as a response.
“Kayode Fayemi mentioned that Baba was comparing when he was a Councillor in the 60s to his administration and he said an Apple cannot be compared to an Orange, it should be understood that there is no basis for comparison between Chief Afe Babalola and Kayode Fayemi in any way, in fact by the principle of ejusdem generis, Apple can be compared with Orange, but in terms of contribution to humanity and ones place in life it will be a disservice and amount to standing logic on its head to compare Kayode Fayemi with Chief Afe Babalola for whatever it is worth, not even his late father who had no contribution to the development of Ekiti State can be compared to this special breed in any ramification.
“Fayemi, in his acute foolishness, opined that Chief Afe Babalola is suffering from failing memory attributed to old age. I doubt if there is any 94-year-old anywhere in the world that is as vibrant and has a memory that can be likened to that of a 20-year-old intellectual as Chief Afe Babalola possesses. Fayemi, at his age, does not have the intellectual capacity of Baba at 94 years; neither his father before his death was as healthy physically nor mentally as Chief Afe Babalola does currently. The grace of God upon Chief Afe Babaloa is uncommon; his mates in Europe and America, despite their sophisticated health facilities, are being kept in their old people’s homes, while Baba is still contributing to the development of Nigeria and shaping the future at 94.
“Kayode Fayemi said the only thing he brought to the public service was his name. As a matter of fact, he was right that he came to the public service with an overrated and padded name, but he left the public service with the humongous looted resources of the state, which makes him the second richest Ekiti man without any industry or paid profession. He ought to be cooling off in prison for the act of economic terrorism he committed against the people of Ekiti.
“Is it not alarming that Fayemi was trying to distort the history of the award of the airport project in Ekiti? It is on record that President Goodluck Jonathan approved the commencement of the airport in Bayelsa, Gombe, Delta, and Ekiti States just at the same time, and it was budgeted for. But Fayemi upon assumption of office maliciously abandoned the project and declared that the airport was never his priority but to access the billions of naira meant for Ekiti under the UBEC scheme. Fayemi has a penchant for destroying any project not conceived by him, no matter how laudable it is. He destroyed the University of Education in Ikere and, after several years, reverted to the same. He destroyed the university built in Ifaki Ekiti and later built a polytechnic in his hometown. In the same way, he almost caused civil unrest between the Oye community and the Ikole community over the sitting of the Federal University of Oye Ekiti. Kayode Fayemi is the typical definition of a narcissist or someone suffering from bipolar disorder.
“The attempt to use the election of Governor Oyebanji as justification for his performance or acceptability by the people of Ekiti is misplaced and misconceived. The factors that led to that victory were beyond Kayode Fayemi’s performance because Kayode Fayemi became an albatross for the candidate going to the election. The fact that a Yoruba man was on the ballot for president was the major twist. Fayemi performed abysmally, and the people knew he had used the state resources to fund his ill-fated presidential ambition. How does he now influence the election?”
Maintaining that the former governor needed to atone for his comments, the group stated, “Kayode Fayemi has crossed the red line and has committed a sacrilege for using those derogatory words against Chief Afe Babalola in his uncoordinated media attack against the Aare Bamofin of Yoruba. As a group of patriots in Ekiti State, we hereby demand from Kayode Fayemi a public apology to be published in three major national newspapers and a one-on-one apology in which he must personally mobilize some respected traditional rulers in the state in the company of the state governor for that purpose.
“We will not conclude this reaction without appreciating the maturity exhibited by other past governors of Ekiti State for not toeing the arrogant path of perdition taken by Kayode Fayemi in his response to Baba’s review; you will all grow old and attain ripe age like Baba.”
