By Prof Hassan Saliu
There are many individuals in the arena of politics. Some are driven by higher ideals, while others participate solely for personal gain. The latter group is not concerned with leaving a lasting legacy, as their involvement in politics is not guided by any underlying principle. Such politicians can switch parties effortlessly, prioritizing personal advancement or financial security over ideological consistency. Although they may experience short-term success, their influence often wanes over time.
In contrast, the late Obafemi Awolowo and Mallam Aminu Kano left enduring legacies due to their unwavering commitment to specific political ideologies or ideas. This distinguishes them from most modern politicians, who claim to be progressive but abandon their principles when faced with challenges or opportunities for personal gain.
Dr. Fayemi stands out as an exception to this rule by subscribing to some principles in his political engagement. He has been fairly consistent in his political membership and ideology. He would say, “Let us adjust our governance orientation to cater more for our people, or else we are all going to be consumed by our acts of commission or omission.” Based on this statement, one can see that he is well-read and thoughtful in his approach to politics, evident in his carefully considered ideas, which sets him apart.
A professorial outing!
It is plausible that, had he not pursued a career in politics, he would have become a full time Professor. His love for scholarship and commitment to lifelong learning is reflected in how he celebrates his birthdays, often incorporating academic elements. The most recent celebration, held last month, was no exception. Professor Richard Joseph travelled from abroad to participate in the colloquium marking his 60th birthday and the unveiling of his Institute, the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement, and his book entitled If This Giant Must Rise which was reviewed by my brother, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, a former Minister for Youth and Sports in Nigeria.
He was joined on the platform by a former Ghanaian minister and other speakers to engage in a discussion around Pan-Africanism. The event featured a lead paper presented by Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa, which set the tone for the colloquium held on February 7, 2025, at the Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
Dr. Fayemi was born in 1965 in Ibadan, though he is from Ishan-Ekiti in Ekiti State. He had his elementary education in Nigeria, earning a bachelor’s degree in History, Philosophy, and Politics from the University of Lagos. His Master’s degree in International Relations was obtained from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He topped his acquisition of degrees with a doctoral degree from King’s College, University of London, in War Studies, where he is currently serving as a visiting Professor in the School for Global Affairs.
I have had the opportunity to interact with him relatively closely in the last couple of years. For instance, in 2022, I led an NPSA’s delegation to Government House in Ado-Ekiti when he was still a sitting governor. He received us warmly. While I was being diplomatic in putting forward our requests, he openly volunteered to assist in carrying out our activities. We passed the night in one of the chalets in Government House, Ado-Ekiti. Before we left the Government House, he nominated one of his aides to be the liaison officer between the NPSA and himself.
The second time was in December 2022 in Port Harcourt where both of us attended a programme organised by the then Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. We did not really had the time for a long discussion but when I met him on his way out of the venue apparently to catch his flight, I reminded him about our last discussions in Ado-Ekiti and the only thing he said to me was “Mr. President, let us finish with the elections.’’
The third time was at the President Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library for a programme on democracy that encouraged the promotion and propagation of Afro-democracy to a much wider audience. After making presentations, which I also participated in, we went into discussions of the papers presented. I made three significant interventions, which Dr. Fayemi amplified to Baba Obasanjo when suddenly he claimed not to have heard my points again.
Firstly, I challenged the parade of Rwanda as a paragon of democracy in Africa for lacking in the intrinsic value of democracy. Secondly, I offered the suggestion on the concept of sit-tightism which is baked in the oven of poorly digested concept of divine leadership or messianism. Thirdly, I challenged the perspective of Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State, Adamu Waziri, former Minister, and others on the culpability of Professors in electoral malfeasance in Nigeria.
To be more specific, I contested the idea of putting the politicians and a few misguided scholars on the same scale of being the wreckers of Nigeria. On two of these points, Dr. Fayemi, who sat very close to Chief Obasanjo, explicated on my points to our convener.
The fourth time was our encounter in Lokoja when he delivered the keynote address at the 34th conference of the NPSA in April, 2024. After the delivery of his well-received keynote speech, I went to him to remind him of NPSA’s outstanding matters with him. He looked at me and said, “Mr. President, what do you want from me for the Association.”
I immediately responded by raising the issue of the methodology workshop for our female members that had earlier come out in my presidential address at the conference. He asked a follow-up question, “how much will be needed for that’’? I told him it was going to be between N3-4m but he said conclusively, “I will give you (NPSA) 5m for it.” The money was used to organize the workshop for our female members that held in Ilorin in June, 2024.
The fifth time was when he invited me to his 60th birthday celebration, which held in Abuja last February. On all these occasions, I saw him as a man with strong convictions, whom his political opponents are reading rather wrongly. That is always the case when one is profoundly knowledgeable and has an air of confidence around him for good performance.
Earlier in his career, before he joined the political train, he had served as an adviser on transitional justice, regional integration, constitutionalism, security sector reform, and civil-military relations issues to governments of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Ghana. He had equally served as the main technical adviser to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigative Commission (Oputa Panel) during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Dr. Fayemi’s services have been extended to ECOWAS, where he once served as an adviser on small arms and light weapons; NEPAD on the Millennium Goals; and other bodies.
Dr. Fayemi is a visiting scholar in the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan; Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan; an adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, USA; and a Scholar-in-Residence in the African Studies Programme at Northwestern University, Evanston, USA, in 2004.
He has equally enjoyed some board appointments, including the Open Society Initiatives Justice Institute, Baobab for Women’s Rights; African Security Network; and among others. Dr. Fayemi has won many grants, including the Global Coalition for Africa (World Bank) on Demilitarization of Security in Africa (1999); Ford Foundation, USA, Research Consultancy on Public Participation in Constitution-Making in Zimbabwe (2000); Department of International Development (DFID/UK) Research Consultancy on Demilitarization, Poverty, and Security in Ghana (2002); and others.
The celebrant has published eighteen books and has contributed chapters to numerous books and written many reports. His last two books, Unfinished Greatness and If This Giant Must Rise, tell a story of Nigeria, a country that is well-blessed but has been laid prostate and therefore become a disappointment to the rest of the world due to a governance environment that is inclement for the desired vision.
Flowing from his rich academic background, he is a notable public speaker who has delivered lectures and papers to a wide range of audiences. Shortly before entering politics, Dr. Fayemi was a staunch advocate for democracy, serving as the pioneer Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in Abuja from 1997 to 2006. This role inspired his transition into politics.
Under his leadership, the Centre became a hub for promoting democracy and fighting for its return in Nigeria during the military era. As a significant promoter of democracy, Dr. Fayemi became a target for the military due to his demands for a quicker pace for cultivating democracy in Nigeria.
This points to the connection between him and the pro-democracy group, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), that jolted the military and gave them the needed inconvenience for their manifest reluctance to vacate the governance environment in the country. He was, no doubt, harassed and chased everywhere because of his effective coordination of the diplomatic engagements of opposition in exile.
He remained undaunted because of his strong belief in the democratic route to governance. He later threw his hat into the ring by vying for the governorship seat of his home state of Ekiti.
Faces at his recent birthday event
The road to realising his political ambition was tough and rough. He had to fight a long-drawn battle that extended to the courts for adjudication. After a tortuous legal battle spanning about three years and a re-run of parts of the governorship election in Ekiti State, he was declared the winner of the election and assumed the position in 2010, ruling for four years in the first instance.
Perhaps informed by his approach to politics, which relegated “stomach infrastructure” to the background, he lost his bid for a second term as Governor of Ekiti State to Ayodele Fayose in 2014. The latter built his return bid for the governorship seat on what one can call the “street approach” to politics, prioritizing popular street issues at the expense of the higher ideals that have characterized Dr. Fayemi’s thrust of politics/governance approach.
It is instructive to note, however, that the election in question, beyond the street approach that defined it, also had the character of Nigeria’s elections coming to the fore, as there were ample instances of rigging colouring its conduct. Dr. Fayemi, however, despite its ugly side, refused to challenge it in courts and accepted its outcome in less than twenty-four hours after the announcement of the final election results. From the record, he was the first in Nigeria’s recent history to have done so.
His second coming to office in 2018 was preceded by a lot of drama staged by Fayose, a somewhat godfather rooting for his deputy to succeed him in office.
Informed by desperation and the high stakes in the election, Fayose suddenly became a clergyman tutoring his political disciples some lessons in biblical injunctions and a new prayer pattern by asking his candidate in the election, Prof. Kolapo Alaka, to publicly kneel down for his blessings, which the Professor-candidate obliged, as a mallam would sheepishly do to his Sheikh.
One cannot rule out the important lessons that Dr. Fayemi learnt during the four years he was out of office as the Governor of Ekiti State. For instance, the experience of being out of office for four years brought him to the realisation of the ultimate concerns of the voters and the dimensions of elections in the country.
He surely appreciated them and went into reconciliation with the aggrieved parties in the state and beyond, which later increased his confidence level of winning the governorship election in 2018.
It is factual to admit that the failure of his successor in office, in sustaining the consensus that brought him to power in the first instance among Ekiti voters, contributed significantly to his historic second coming.
Thus, Dr. Fayemi is on record as the second politician in the history of Ekiti State to have made a dramatic political return to office after four years of being displaced by Ayo Fayose as the Chief Tenant in Ado-Ekiti Government House.
Fayose himself was the first person who staged the first successful comeback in 2014 against Dr. Fayemi before the latter had a revenge in defeating Fayose’s anointed candidate in 2018 gubernatorial election in Ekiti State.
Based on some accounts, he did his best during his second outing as governor, having realized what frustrated his initial second-term bid as governor of Ekiti State. He brought about some infrastructural development, made notable social investments, including the introduction of a monthly allowance of N5,000 for each aged person above 65 years old.
His intervention in education and health produced instant results, as the data on them began to look bright under Dr. Fayemi’s administration, which vitiates the feeling and assumption that his administration was not people-centered in its approach to governance. The available statistics have not shown that.
The only offence he committed, in my view, was his heavy reluctance to be doling out cash in an ‘unstructured manner’ to the people, as some politicians are oriented to do. His philosophy paid off when the statistics began to look bright again for the state. For instance, the level of multidimensional poor in the state got reduced to the point of gaining national and international recognition, as it was a phenomenon, judging by the situation when he became the Governor of Ekiti State in 2010 and 2018. The state, no doubt, moved up the ladder. The life expectancy also improved significantly under his administration in Ekiti State.
I want to believe that one important other lesson he must have learnt after his first term in office was that the period of politicking in our nation extends well beyond the normal time permissible by law or convention, as politicking and governance go hand in hand for all seasons in our peculiar political environment in Nigeria.
One remarkable thing that endeared him to keen watchers of Nigeria’s politics during his days as governor was his refusal to probe his predecessor in office when there was a basis for it on account of infractions of the law, especially governing finances. He had said something on the occasion to the effect that he would not probe the Fayose administration, he would rather leave Fayose to God. This was unusual in our environment where a successor-governor is perpetually at war with his predecessor-Governor over what one can appropriately consider as issues bordering on primitive accumulation.
Not only was this not the case, Dr. Fayemi made a surprise appearance at the wedding of Ayo Fayose’s son in Lagos as Governor of Ekiti State in 2021, showing elements of politics without bitterness that the late Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri adopted as his campaign slogan under the Second Republic in the country.
It was during his second coming that he was able to give testimony to his capacity as a leader of men and women. He assumed the chairmanship of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, which had been engulfed in a leadership crisis a few years back. He restored stability to it and pursued a centralist policy that made the body to speak with one voice most of the times, a tendency that some Nigerians saw as being self-serving to the group.
Indeed, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had disagreements with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, which led to legal battles. The issues in contention were taken to courts for interpretation, highlighting the tensions between the Federal Government and state governors, notwithstanding Dr. Fayemi’s position in the kitchen cabinet of the Buhari administration.
This matter of ‘overbearing’ influence of the Governors’ Forum, making incursions into the governance arena sometimes suing the Federal Government in the process, created issues between the body and some politicians across party lines that led to the conclusion that the wings of the body that is not recognised by the country’s constitution must have to be cut for governance to be on a transparently speedy level.
On the specific issue of the headship of the Governors’ Forum by Dr. Fayemi, the development disturbed some nerves and ruffled some feathers to the extent of it having to claim a big casualty in APC. It is no longer news that Adams Oshiomhole’s ouster from the APC’s national chairmanship position was caused by the series of political engineering on which he has blamed, among others, on our celebrant for today.
The khaki-wearing labour leader’s EXCO was replaced by a somewhat shaky caretaker committee which itself generated tensions among members and produced more injuries in the ruling party.
After leaving office in 2014, he was catapulted into the position of Minister of Mines and Steel Development between 2015 and 2018. There, too, he did his best, especially by creating the leeway for states to be more involved, changing their orientation as on-lookers in the mineral sub-sector of the economy.
His era as minister was also marked by extending the derivative principle to the mining sector, enabling states to benefit from the 13 per cent derivative principle in the sector. He was not done, it was during the period of his ministership that some mining companies were licensed to prospect for minerals, some of which are doing fantastically well in the sector today.
On the never-completed Ajaokuta steel project, he tried his best in reviving the project but I suspect that the issues around it are too complicated for his relative stay in the ministry as minister to have made any impacts.
Meanwhile, his noticeable impact was his resolute commitment not to perpetually make it an ATM machine for some privileged Nigerians, while it remained uncompleted due to multiple arbitration engagements. It is to his credit that the arbitration angle was disposed of but it was still unable to produce steel because of the combined effect of national and international conspiracies against the project at that point in time and even now.
The environment and the opportunity of being a minister provided enabled him to hone his strategic steps for his later return as governor of Ekiti State in 2018. There was the angle of the federal might which this time around was reversed in his favour as the APC was now in control of the centre with all the complements that went it. This was in contrast with the situation that obtained when he faced Ayo Fayose in 2014. He was indeed lucky with his coming back ambition.
In session years back!
Towards the end of his tenure, Dr. Fayemi was confronted with the politics of succession. The issue of agreements reached with some political actors in Ekiti State was raised. The environment became acrimonious with high political stakes. Meanwhile, throughout the period of the high-wired politics in his state between 2021 and 2022, he maintained his posture, while defending the primary process that ended the political ambitions of the unlucky aspirants on that occasion.
His anointed candidate in the primaries was the incumbent Governor of the state, Biodun Oyebanji (our member who we have sent a congratulatory to but no reply has been received so far from him), on whom he staked everything for him to be elected as the governor of the state. After his endorsement of Biodun Oyebanji as his successor, the tensions that arose from it from the gladiators would appear to me to have been well managed as the losers on the occasion were placated in Ado-Ekiti, Lagos, Abuja, Ila Orangun, and other places and urged to close ranks for the main election which Biodun Oyebanji won effortlessly at the expense of the much-challenged opposition parties in the state in 2022.
Although some are suspecting that there are issues between Dr. Fayemi and his successor in office, Governor Oyebanji, given the nature and trend of politics in Nigeria, the relationship between them has been much cordial, devoid of negative headlines. This showed clearly during the 60th birthday celebration of Dr. Fayemi in Abuja where Governor Oyebanji openly showed gratitude to his predecessor in office and referred to him as his political leader. Dr. Fayemi too, in his words: “I have no problem with my successor in any way…I give him the respect and the space he deserves to do his work without interference.’’
One observes that the former governor should be applauded and commended for anointing a successor who has turned out to be another bridge-builder in his own right by working to lessen the political tensions in the state. Little surprise, most of the former governors of the state have endorsed him barely a year in office for a second term. It is beyond doubt that the sense of judgement exhibited by Dr. Fayemi on the matter of his successor in office was strategic as it is not always common to see a Successor-governor prioritizing the promotion of unity in his state by pursuing a centralist tendency in a highly literate state like Ekiti state.
In 2022, a remarkable political event took place in the ruling party in Nigeria as well as in other political parties. I am referring to the primaries of the registered political parties that were held in the country. Specifically, a number of presidential aspirants purchased the nomination form to vie for the ticket of the APC that was put at the sum of 100m Naira. Dr. Fayemi was one of them, despite the exorbitant cost of the form.
The support of his colleagues in the Governors Forum was solid, or so it appeared for his bid until a certain bigger masquerade defiantly and menacingly emerged on the scene and refused all entreaties made to him to step down for a consensus candidate. He was unfazed by the waving of an unfriendly flag at his aspiration for the biggest public office in Nigeria from party apparatchiks. This Nigeria’s man of politics soldiered on with his battalion of political soldiers.
Expectedly, some aspirants who could no longer withstand the political pressure stepped down for the giant candidate in APC at the venue of the primaries. Nigerians had long expected that to happen based on political movements within the polity relating to the APC. It eventually happened, and Dr. Fayemi was one of those who stepped down at the Eagle Square, venue of the party’s primaries, in support of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s candidacy.
The subsequent expectation was that he would feature prominently in the ensuing government as it was expected that the gale of stepping downs had some compensatory packages attached to them. While some of the aspirants have been lucky with their expectations, others have not been considered for patronage. Why? One may want to ask this pertinent question. In answering this question, one would have to interrogate some issues and factors which this tribute has no luxury of doing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fayemi remains one of the politicians who some Nigerians look up to as someone who can resolve Nigeria’s problems, apparently because his own baggage is lighter as compared to other presidential hopefuls. This perspective seems correct for several reasons. Firstly, he is a bridge-builder in politics; he has many friends across party lines. His last birthday celebration, which politicians of all stripes attended, is a testament to this assertion.
Secondly, his political sermons, each time he makes an appearance, have philosophical contents that resonate with the Nigerian youths. Thirdly, he is like a philosophical king, the band of whom, Isa Aremu, the Director-General (DG) of the Michael Imoudu Institute, Ilorin, has called upon to be more involved in Nigeria’s politics at the first colloquium organized for the late Prof. Nuhu Yaqub that was held at NILDS, Abuja on March 3, 2025. The perspective of the DG is that with the way things are in Nigeria currently, all hands must be on deck to turn things around positively; the intellectuals have no choice but to join politics in rescuing the country. Dr. Fayemi is definitely one of them who is already involved in politics. Fourthly, he is consummate and not overbearing in his attitude to governance. Fifthly, he is considered a new bloc in Nigeria’s politics with little baggage, if any.
A fellow of King’s College, University of London, where he holds some teaching appointments, Dr. Fayemi is a scholar who believes in investing in grooming African youths for future challenges. The Amandia Institute he unveiled during the celebration of his 60th birthday last month is a testament to his belief in the liberation of minds as a crucial step towards African renaissance.
He is, no doubt, worried about the current state of Africa and the place of youths, the inheritors of the African governance system. Herein lies his interest in Pan-Africanism. Dr. Fayemi is into politics but he has been working more consistently around governance and issues pertaining to it.
Among others, he is the president of the Forum of Regions of Africa. The Forum coordinates the presidents of the regions and works with the AU to achieve its Agenda 2063 and the UN’s SDG 2030.
His association with the NPSA in recent times has been rewarding to the Association. He was the greatest supporter of the methodology workshop that was held for our female members in Ilorin in June 2024. Two months before that time, he was the Keynote Speaker at the 34th Conference of the NPSA held at Lokoja. In April 2025, he will again be on duty for the NPSA as the Lead Paper presenter at our first online conference devoted to local government administration in Nigeria.
A belated happy birthday to you, Your Excellency, Dr. John K. Fayemi, the teacher, journalist, scholar, researcher, politician and strategy development adviser.
Many happy returns!
The author is President, NPSA
