*NANS House Of Commotion* RE: ARISE BEFORE FAYEMI RUIN EKITI, NANS URGE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, NHRC BEING THE STATEMENT OF PRESS, ADDRESSED BY THE NANS/JCC EKITI AXIS IN RESPONSE TO MR. YINKA GBADEBO, NANS PRESIDENT, ON H.E DR. KAYODE FAYEMI, OUR EKITI STATE GOVERNOR. Gentlemen of the press, We are sorry for disturbing your peace in bringing to the public as a matter of urgency, some lingering issues before it becomes a subject of debate in the international community. We felt it is necessary because the issues raised by this president of NANS, Yinka Gbadebo, concern Ekiti State, and the earlier we addressed it before it is mistaken as the collective voice of the students in Ekiti State and Nigeria at large, the better. We wish to explain to Mr. Gbadebo and the unsuspecting public that could be brainwashed by the many lies of Gbadebo about the Students’ Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. John Kayode FAYEMI, and thus will also love to take the issues raised by Gbadebo, one after the other: Firstly, “The National Association of Nigerian Students NANS, wishes to call on Amnesty International, NHRC, Civil Societies and Well Meaning Nigerians to rise into the defense of the downtrodden people of Ekiti State, before the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi destroy, kill and ruin them with his inordinate second term ambition. From the umpteenth time, we have watched in aghast as democracy is being threatened by Fayemi in Ekiti. Apart from democracy threatened by Fayemi in Ekiti, apart from taken education out of the reach of common people in the only State-owned university, Fayemi has taken governance to a strange level of maiming, attacking and killing anyone perceived to be a threat to his second term ambition” We want to hurriedly enlighten our president in trying to change the mindset of the good people of Ekiti against their loved governor, he made a lot of mistakes and erred, so it’s important that we educate Oga NANS, that Mr. Governor had recorded the highest level of unprecedented development in Education having got an upward success from 6% to 74% in the last External Examinations in our last WASSCE examinations and has graciously allowed instalmental payment of School Fees payable in EKSU unlike some states where Mr. NANS President had gone to give awards to their governors with payable fees of N200,000 with less performance, like our Governor. One would need to wonder how Mr NANS got his information that Governance has got to a strange level because Ekiti has witnessed the highest rate of good governance where the people decide the budget and how they are governed, and are given a voice in the day-to-day running of government. We begin to wonder how an Abuja based student leader has become the advocate of the people he never lived or sought to defend their interest for once. Governor Fayemi is not desperate for second term in office and in fact, it is Ekiti people from all works of life who are daily appealing to him to continue in office for second term so that the unprecedented good works he is doing in the state now could continue. Ironically, it is Opeyemi Bamidele who is desperate to grab power at all cost and by any means fair or foul! It would be recalled that while Ekiti State Students at all levels were solidly in support of ASUU for the non implementation of the gentlemanly agreement by the FG, and we were on the streets, our Oga Mr. NANS was busy romancing the Abuja class and condemning the collective interest of the masses and students. How on earth will our President, wake up so soon from his slumber after the popular industrial action that took us for over 4 months after he had neglected his immediate constituency now to embark on political revival as a yardstick of revolution? We suspect every element of confirmation of political infiltration by a class to bring down the pro-student government in Ekiti. In the next paragraphs, Mr. President of NANS was quoted to have said: “…Shortly after Fayemi got the insignia of power in 2010, media reports have it that his errand soldiers killed one Chief Adeleye Awolumate in Osun-Ekiti in Moba local government Area of Ekiti State. Awolumate’s offence was that he dared Fayemi for illegally dissolving the democratically council officials in the State. From Osun Ekiti, Fayemi’s killers squad moved to Kota Ekiti in Ekiti East Local Government of the State, and killed two youths perceived to be given his party’s candidate during the 2011’s State and National Assembly elections in the town serious political headache. In March this year, we read in the media how thugs led by Feyemi’s party chairman Ekiti, Mr. Jide Awe shot one Ayo Murphy Jeje and a 75 year old Mrs Juliana Adewumi at Erijinyan Ekiti in Ekiti West area of the state for daring to exercise their fundamental human right to association and peaceful assembly. The two people were said to have made their intention to defect Fayemi’s party to another political party, a decision that didn’t go down well with Fayemi and his party chairman, Jide Awe, who coincidentally hailed from the town. While Ayo Jeje died instantly, the late Mrs. Adewumi died a month after at Federal Medical Centre Ido-Ekiti, in Ido-Osi Local Government of the state. In September this year, Fayemi’s squad attacked the supporters of the former National President of our most informed and totally ideological association, Comrade Opeyemi Bamidele at Ado-Ekiti while awaiting their man who was coming to the state to openly declare his mission to contest against Fayemi in the next year governorship election in the state. Bamidele is presently a member of Federal House of Representatives. Eleven people were gruesomely attacked by Fayemi’s killer’s squad. We thank God that no one died then. Media report also has it that Fayemi’s squad once laid an ambush on former Governor Ayodele Fayose. The same evil men were reported to have despotically destructed Fayose’s tour of Local Government areas earlier this year.” It is evidently clear that Mr. Gbadebo, the reactionary President of NANS, just as the case of his support of pro-subsidy removal in January 2011 and the Anti-ASUU of the Federal Government, must have also been sponsored by the desperate Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, whom Mr. Gbadebo quoted to have said: “Fayemi’s squad attacked the supporters of the former National President of our most informed and totally ideological association, Comrade Opeyemi Bamidele at Ado-Ekiti while awaiting their man who was coming to the state to openly declare his mission to contest against Fayemi in the next year governorship election in the state.” It is ridiculous that Mr. NANS President, as acclaimed as he was, was only interested in the game of highest bidder and political power tussles. One would have expected him, if he must criticize government at all, to pick up fundamental issues that concern his immediate constituency rather than crying foul where there is none. We begin to challenge the future of this Nation, if the so called number one student in Nigeria, has degenerated to the extent to have said that “The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the cruel, animalistic, and irresponsible killing of Foluso Ogundare last week at Emure Ekiti in Emure Local Government of the state while exercising his fundamental human right to association and peaceful assembly. Until his death, Ogundare was a staunch supporter of Opeyemi Bamidele, as usual a decision that didn’t go well with Fayemi’s swift respond squad in Emure-Ekiti. Ogundare was reportedly shot at close range by armed-to-teeth thugs led by a member of the State House of Assembly, dishonourable Boluwade Kehinde.” To us, and without mincing words, it is crystal clear that this statement wasn’t even written by Mr. Gbadebo, because the press statement was more of one, written by a media consultant or publicity secretary of a political party who is interested in power. We wonder what interest Ayefele must have gotten in Ekiti and its politics better than his first constituency, if not for the stake of stipends as usual. Unfortunately, Mr. NANS President goofed not to have known that the students of Ekiti State had written to the Security Agencies to investigate adequately the orgy that occurred in the affected areas and progress are ongoing until he came from nowhere to say that Mr. governor was involved in killing those he’s governing. Of what benefit is this to the public if we could ask sane minds? If our NANS President was indeed sincere about the security of the Ekiti people, one would have expected him to query those connected with the extrajudicial killings in the students society; he had failed to ask us till today how far we have gone in the investigation of Seyi Fasere, a 400 level Student of Business Administration at EKSU that was killed by men of the Nigerian Police and under investigation; he didn’t react in further action to the death of a student who was killed by men of Nigerian Police unjustly in University of Uyo, and while the Senate President was on his way to UNIUYO, he had an auto crash and died, you can’t believe that Mr. President failed to continue the struggle after the death of the vibrant comrade that fell; he didn’t ask us most importantly nor even issue a press statement about the proscription of Students’ Union of EKSU and Ikere College of Education, which Mr. Governor just lifted and to which election will be held after the ASUU industrial action; he didn’t ask us what the students’ leaders have done in respect of the No School Fee, No lecture and Exam struggle among others, but was misdirected and disorientated to have gone political. He is now more Roman Catholic than the Pope! Mr. NANS President went further to declare our amiable governor the most despotic Governor in most uncharitable and unprintable words, saying that: “In the light of the above, NANS, being part of the associations embedded with the responsibility of upholding tents of democracy in Nigeria, wish to state categorically that Dr. Fayemi is a dictator in civilian uniform. As a Doctorate degree holder in War Studies, we expect to see a peaceful and a perfect serenity Ekiti but the reverse has been the case. Power and money have unveiled the real the real character of Fayemi; and without being hypocritical, we hereby declare Fayemi as the most tyrannical and despotic Governor in Nigeria. Once again, we call on the Amnesty international, National Human Rights Commission and all lovers of democracy in Nigeria to save Ekiti from being plunged into Anarchy by Fayemi. We urge God-fearing Nigerians to save the young people of Ekiti from being ruined, destroyed and killed by their pseudo-democrat and war-monger’s Governor.” We wondered the tenets of democracy displayed by a National Secretariat of NANS that supported the removal of Oil subsidy, underfunding of Education, running NANS in the FCT and not campuses, sponsored and managed by desperate politicians who wants to rule at all cost. Without mincing words, the statement signed by this man is good for the trash bin and it shows that Our President has left priorities for frivolities. He left issues to attack personalities in a suspicious manner that the students’ movement is completely purchased by their paymaster Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, considering the usual languages of the typical Nigerian politicians freely used in the statement, but unfortunately, the game planners have completely got it wrong and fell to strategy. Governor Kayode Fayemi credentials and his peaceful administration in three years have attested to his character as a peace loving Governor whose tenure has witnessed tremendous transformation of Ekiti State. Governor Fayemi is not connected in any way with the spurious list of murder cases (on which investigation are still on) mentioned in the jaundiced press release because he is too refined to be associated with such. Mr. NANS President and his cohorts should recall that throughout the 42 months of the struggle to reclaim his mandate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi remained an apostle of peaceful approach to reclaiming his mandate and no incident of violence was attributed to him but to the then ruling PDP just as the murder cases mentioned have been attributed to the PDP factions and desperado Opeyemi Bamidele and his cohorts. The Students in Ekiti have kept mute on the politics in Ekiti but focused on education development because of the desperation of some people who wants to hijack power at all cost from the government, thereby causing mayhem and wanting to gather public sympathy with blackmails and falsehood; while we still believe that Students’ Movement can be party to good governance but must be objective in criticism, we won’t condone gibberish as a result of monetary gains from these desperadoes to paint Ekiti in bad light. In educating Mr. Gbadebo, so that he would know that Ekiti State isn’t Oyo State where he can blackmail to gain popularity and public attention, though he earlier alleged Oyo State Government of not paying attention to education and Students’ constituency, few days ago, the State Governor was decorated by the progressive South West Students of the Organisation NANS due to the achievements recorded by H.E Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Ayefele is angry because his candidate was not appointed as the Special Assistant, Student Matters to Mr. Governor and EKSU refused to award him a degree that he did not merit. We wish to inform him and his cohorts that even though as student leaders, we will continue to struggle for some things and our wants are insatiable, we appreciate H.E Dr. John Kayode Fayemi for his unprecedented achievements in the following areas: 1. Free Education from basic to Secondary School level 2. Consolidation and Proper funding of Tertiary Education 3. Unprecedented Renovation and Infrastructural Development of all schools (primary to tertiary) in Ekiti State 4. Free distribution of Laptops to Secondary School Students in Ekiti State (48,000 have been distributed to students and teachers till date) 5. Creation and Appointment of Special Assistant Students’ Matters 6. Constant Interactive Session with the Governor 7. Improvement and Prompt Payment of Bursary and Scholarships among others. Much as we have now affirmed that our President has been compromised, though we know that he hasn’t been protecting our interest before, we want to advise him to keep to himself and face the campaign of his paymaster squarely as this will not be the first time that the reactionary National NANS structure has always supported failed candidates. A case study of the failed Third Term Agenda in Nigeria. However, we call on the Nigerian Police Force, State Security Services and other relevant security agencies to invite Mr. Gbadebo to produce the proof(s) of murder allegations leveled against the governor of Ekiti State as said by him, within 7 days. Otherwise, we will compel Ekiti State Government to institute legal actions against him. He and his leadership are therefore declared a persona non grata in Ekiti till we observe otherwise. Thank You Signed: Oluwadamilare BEWAJI Chairman, NANS Joint Campus Committee, Ekiti State
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 12:19:24 +0000