admin Former Ekiti State Governor and Minister of Solid minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has expressed his unwavering optimism that a much better Nigeria is possible in becoming a reality. 
He gave this affirmation as the Guest speaker at a special lecture organised by Ibadan Discourse Group to mark the 80th birthday of former ambassador to the Philippines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi.
The two-term Former Governor of Ekiti State, said his optimism is based on the huge natural resources bestowed on Nigeria and the pool of human capital at her disposal.
Before mounting the podium at the hall inside the Law Hub at Ring Road, Iyaganku Roundabout Ibadan, the Guest Speaker had been introduced as a man “standing on a three-legged tripod with one leg in politics, another leg in social activities while the third leg rests in journalism.” Few minutes into his well-researched paper presentation, Dr. Kayode Fayemi left no one in doubt that his choice as the Guest Speaker of the occasion was the right decision. Using a Lot of inferences from various historian authors, Dr. Fayemi noted that the general consensus among the among the populace is that the citizens are more disillusioned than ever before due to the apparent lack of evidence of the dividends of democracy they had hoped for.
The former minister of solid minerals under the President Muhammadu Buhari regime observed that various social commentators had identified various factors that are drawing back Nigeria’s development as it should be. These are; entrenched vested interests, open mistrust among the major and minor ethnic groups, use of religion as a political tool of divide and rule, flawed constitutional provisions, and bad governance among others. All these, he lamented, had made Nigeria a nation where louder calls for marginalisation, secession, and agitation for open separation had become the order of the day.
The former governor of Ekiti said that despite all these negative signals pervading the atmosphere he believes there is light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria. In his words, “The remaking of Nigeria does not require collapsing the entire structure, because nation-building is an unfinished business. History has taught us that the road to nation-building will never be completed as nation-building is a work in progress.”
Where do we go from here, he questioned? Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who has gone back to lecturing overseas, listed certain things that Nigerians must stop doing henceforth. These are “stop stigmatising differences and stop weaponising diversity because every nation is an engaging community. It is the efforts of the various components of that community that determine the growth of the nation.”
In rounding off the over-one-hour presentation in an audience whose population was made up of 95 percent journalists, Dr. Fayemi went philosophical and with the voice of a one-time broadcaster said “Despite the challenges facing Nigeria as a nation, we must press the reset button, we must destroy the demon of mutual suspicion, we must know that nation-building is a search for unending perfection, the path to nation-building is peace and path to peace is equity and justice and we cannot afford to abandon the work of building a prosperous nation of our dream.”
With a voice of undoubted assurance, the Guest Speaker whose presentation attracted spontaneous standing ovation remarked as part of his parting words, “We can not give up, we can not afford to give up we must confront injustice so that Nigeria can shine for all of us. I am a Wole Soyinka product, I am a product of Dr. Yemi Farounbi. These are people who believe that service to people is service to humanity. Resources must be provided for people to thrive because a better Nigeria is possible”.
The chairman of the event and former Minister of Education during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, Professor Tunde Adeniran, commended the Guest Speaker for what he called a job well done. He noted that the rich paper presentation is a deserved honour to Dr. Yemi Farounbi who turned 80.
Report by Tunde Olaore
