From Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti
Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Speakers’ Forum, Rt. Honourable John Gaul Lebo, who is also Speaker, Cross Rivers State House of Assembly has described Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State as a leader Nigerians should vote as President in 2019, saying his closeness to the grassroots, demonstrated with overwhelming attention Ekiti people accord him in the streets of the state, is a legendary feat achievable only by a model in leadership that Fayose represents.
“We are shocked and confounded about the massive infrastructural development Governor Fayose is doing in Ekiti. The governor has been very modest by not advertising all the great projects he has been doing. If I were a governor in this state and doing this, I would have put up very elaborate media showcase of these projects.
Ekiti is among the states earning least of the federal allocation, putting up all these great projects is legendary.
“We have seen his new High Court Complex, which is one of the strongest institutions of government and that one being built by Governor Fayose is one of the best in the country. We have seen the elaborate road network and the fly over which you would agree with me is the longest fly-over across the country.
“ We are also impressed by the overwhelming popularity Governor Fayose has in his state here. Even the children crowd around him anywhere they see him. The common people hail him and all that. He is very much at home with them, “Lebo said.
The chief lawmaker made the remark yesterday when his team visited the governor in Ado Ekiti, state capital. They were in Ekiti to the attend the wedding ceremony of the child of Ekit State Assembly Speaker , Pastor Kolawole Oluwawole.
He pointed out that Fayose had better chance of emerging Nigeria’s President if given the PDP platform in 2019, he said: “ All this goes to show that Governor Fayose is a successful model of a modern leader, and I want to urge our leaders to learn from him and I believe that he stands a chance of being President in 2019.
“ He is a model in leadership that others should imitate, and a quintessential leader. It is difficult, very difficult, especially in this clime of ours, for a governor to climb down from his exalted position and also walk side by side with the common men on the streets and get such overwhelming popularity that Fayose enjoins. This is what makes him a model in leadership. You and I know the level of corruption being perpetrated by leaders in Nigeria that has created a great disillusionment among their followers. This is why it is very rare for the masses to hail their governor and interact closely with him on the streets even with his security aides around as we have here in Ekiti with Fayose. I am very sure with what I have seen, the PDP will again floor the APC in 2018.”
Responding, Fayose who advised the speakers and leaders to always make the people their priority in leadership, said:
“You know it is only PDP states that are performing . Others too are trying but PDP states are outstanding and you see in life when you are harassed and intimidated like an orphan in your own father land, it makes you to learn life better and makes you to do more.
The speakers’ visit has happened at a time when we need to stay together and we do peer review, they see what we are doing and their other colleagues are doing and we will be able to exchange ideas.
So, for us, their visit is a welcome development and we are happy to have them.
My advice for them and for all of us is to keep doing all that we are supposed to do best for the overall interest of our people.
“The people are the reason why we are in position of authority. For PDP leadership in any state of the country, we are doing very much better and that is because we have been on ground for long, unlike these APC people who are there now they don’t know what they are doing that is why there is no development in Nigeria now. If they don’t know how to do it, they should come and learn from us. It is arrogance to say you can’t learn from others that are doing well. For example in education we are now coming first. I met education at number 35 in my state but last year we came first and this also we repeated the feat. Instead of sacking teachers, they should come. And learn from us how we did it,” he said.