That Ventilation By Kayode Fayemi against the Revered icon, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, LLD, CON, OFR, Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum Condemns

By Oluwagbenga Babawibe, Esq

We have noted the recent uncouth and disrespectful comments attributed to Mr. Kayode Fayemi, the Former Governor of Ekiti State, regarding the harmless remarks of Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, the Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, at a private function of the opening of the annex of Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital at Irigrigiri Road, Ado Ekiti, on the 18th day of March 2024, which was meant to provide access to quality health delivery for the masses in Ekiti State, especially Ado Ekiti and its environs.

After a cursory look at the hogwash and senseless vituperation by the former Governor of Ekiti State, a supposedly Omoluabi, we came to the safe conclusion that the Isan Ekiti-born politician decided to descend on the elder statesman, a man who still contributes immensely to the growth of Nigeria at 94 and who still invests at least 18 hours of active work daily in the development of education and industrialization in Nigeria. We shall take a look at some issues raised against Baba by the non-etiquette and by extension, pass our verdict on the ignoble act, flippant behavior and lack of home training by Kayode Fayemi.

Firstly, it should be noted that Chief Afe Babalola conceived the vision of building a university in 2009 when he helped build a public library at Layipo in Ibadan. At the commissioning of the public library, the entire community came out to solicit the legal icon to come and site a university in the community that would make use of the library he had just built for them, and they promised to give sufficient land for the purpose.

The then Oyo State Governor Otunba Alao Akala, was in attendance, who equally stood up and joined in the plea by promising to tar the roads for the university and build every social amenities needed if the Chief could accede to building a university in the community as requested. The following day, the media was awash with the news that Aare Afe Babalola wants to establish a university in Ibadan. It was this news that drew the attention of Ekiti people, especially the State Governor, Engr. Segun Oni, who visited the Legal Icon at his office in Ibadan to prevail over him to have a rethink of sitting the university in Ibadan, followed by the delegations of the Traditional Rulers of Ekiti, led by the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Ajero of Ijero Ekiti, and Alaaye of Efon Alaye Ekiti, who pleaded that the university should be sited in Ekiti. Chief Afe made it clear to them that he never gave any statement of establishing or sitting any university in Ibadan and that it was the handiwork of the journalists who misrepresented the event.

Subsequently, the Ewi of Ado Ekiti continued with the lobby by getting the elder statesment’s late mother involved in the scheming, and the mother played a pivotal role in ensuring that Chief Afe Babalola made up his mind to build a university and sited it in Ado Ekiti. This never happened without placing before the Ekiti State Government the offer made to him by the Oyo State Government and the then Governor of Ekiti State acceded to put in place all the promises made by Oyo State. That laid the foundation for the establishment of Afe Babalola University and the rest is history.

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 on the saddle 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 Baalola 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 fashion 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. A 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 2.3 billion Naira of his personal resources for the purchase of instruments, landing equipment, an aerodrome, ground lighting systems 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 multisystems 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 Councilor 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’s 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 and 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’ 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 Jonathan approved the commencement of the airport in Bayelsa, Gombe Delta, and Ekiti State 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 restiveness 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?

This is our verdict: 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; we will all grow old and attain ripe age like Baba.