The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, delivered a New Year's address to the people of Ekiti State on January 1st, 2012. In his address, he thanked God for the blessings of the past year and expressed hope that 2012 would bring new opportunities. He highlighted the challenges of 2011, both within Ekiti State and globally. He also assured the people that the government remains committed to delivering on its 8-point agenda through 2012 and beyond. Finally, he wished the people a happy and prosperous New Year and encouraged them to work hard to overcome poverty and fulfill their dreams.

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2012 NEW YEAR BROADCAST OF THE EKITI STATE
GOVERNOR, DR. KAYODE FAYEMI ON SUNDAY,
1ST JANUARY, 2012
My Good People of Ekiti State,
I rejoice with you today as we celebrate the abundant grace of
the Almighty God for seeing us through the out-gone year and
ensuring our glorious entry into this New Year.
The year 2011 no doubt meant different things to different
people. It was indeed a year of many challenges which
confronted us not just as a state or individuals but at the national
and global levels. However to us as a State, we have all the
reasons to thank God for preserving us.
As the 2011 passed by, we cannot fail to remember its joyful and
sad moments. We can only hope that this year will give back to
us the lost opportunities and make a success out of our
undertakings as a people.
Of the truth, the past year provided an opportunity for this
government to establish a solid framework for governance and a
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virile environment for business, entrepreneurship
and participatory development. The steps we took were
deliberately aimed at charting a new course for understanding our
peculiar potentials for growth and development.
We have built bridges across the divide using the 8 Point Agenda
of the administration as a platform to pursue the Ekiti Recovery
project. Without attempting to reel out the many achievements
of the government in 2011, it is however necessary to assure the
good people of Ekiti that the government is well focused to make
2012 a year of further delivery on our promises as encapsulated
in the 8 point Agenda of government
The emerging national security challenges have thrown up the
need for all of us to be security conscious in all dealings. I wish to
use the opportunity of this season therefore to appeal to you all
to continue to co-exist peacefully as members of the same family
in the State – indigenes and residents. We must join hands
together to ward off infiltrations of any kind that may jeopardize
our cherished community life and threaten the foundations of our
society built on trust, respect for life and human dignity.
The focus of this government is tailored towards building a great,
enterprising and friendly state that will be a destination of choice
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of all across the country. We are not only optimistic
but also anxious about the events around us as we chart a new
course of action to make us proud of our land and the great
opportunities she offers.
As you may have noticed we are in the vanguard of the regional
integration plans in the Western Nigeria. This is because of our
belief in the advantages derivable from such project since ekiti
cannot be an island. This agenda cuts across strategic areas of
human existence including socio-cultural, sports, infrastructure,
and energy among others. In recognition of our roles in the
development agenda, Ekiti State is, at the moment the secretariat
of the regional integration platform. But in pursuing our regional
development agenda, we are also committed to the Nigerian
project and the international development agenda.
You will also notice, Great Ekiti people, that in the course of the
year which coincidentally marked our one year in office, I spent a
great deal of time deepening our intergovernmental bonds with
federal establishments and this has started yielding dividends
with the establishment, in the year, of the Federal University of
Oye/Ikole, Technology Incubation Centre in Ado Ekiti, adoption of
Ekiti as the MDG Headquarter in the South West, a Military
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formation, among other federal institutions in the
State, not to mention our pride of place in the Governors forum
Peer Review Process..
Equally our development partners – World Bank, DFID, UNDP,
USAID, UNICEF, European Union and several other non-state
actors in global interventionist programme have not only taken
inter`est in our State, they have actually commenced full
operations in critical areas of our needs. I have mentioned all
these to assure you all that Ekiti State is in for fundamental turn
around in the New Year.
It is also necessary for me to state here that all projects launched
for execution during the out-gone year - road, electricity, water
etc - and particularly the Urban Renewal projects would be closely
monitored for early completion and to specification. It is my
expectation that all our compatriots will engage in their own
form of citizen monitoring of the projects.
I want to specifically remind you all of the enormous
responsibility placed on our hands as we go to the polls in this
month of January to elect our representatives at the local
gover+nment councils. I urge you not only to perform your civic
responsibility of voting but also to be peaceful at the polls and
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maintain a civilized conduct of decency and
decorum. I also appeal to all our politicians and other
stakeholders in the electoral process to ensure fair play devoid of
incitement, hooliganism and every form of indignity that
characterized our elections in the past during the exercise. As all
eyes would be on us, we should display to the whole world, our
capacity to conduct peaceful and credible elections at our own
level.
I admit, most humbly, that there are areas we have already
identified for improvement and better performance. We have
seen some fallow grounds beckoning on us for hard tilling. We
are equally not unaware of our potentials that can be further fully
exploited for the common good of all of us.
Good people of Ekiti, we have never pretended to have all the
solutions to our myriads of challenges. We never claim the
monopoly of knowledge in the task of making Ekiti the land of our
dream. However, one credential that we have proudly displayed is
our sincerity of purpose, dignity of virile leadership and the
integrity of character to make a clean break from the ugliness of
the past. Good enough we have been privileged to earn your
prized goodwill. At the critical point of history of our land, even
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when it became quite attractive to maintain a
cowed silence, you stood your ground to retrieve what belonged
to you. As I echoed during my inauguration, this government
which, I am privileged to preside over, represents your voice and
your choice.
As we triumphantly move into the new year, I again offer myself
to be at the head of the renewed struggle to liberate the land
from want and insufficiency. I promise you a life of dignity and
purpose; a life of brightness and splendor; a life of outstanding
fulfillment where all will be citizens with equal rights, not
subjects; a life of peace, security and stability; and a life that is
really worth living in. This is my word which is also my bond with
you all.
The tasks ahead are truly enormous. The pathway to our
greatness as a people, as it is common in all giant strides, is still
rough, full of bends, undulating hills and valleys and many
obstacles. Nonetheless we are undaunted after all even our
fathers had passed through the same route before. Even in our
recent past, the road was not smoother. As we move on the
rough edges sometimes precariously, we shall all weather the
storm to earn the crown of victory over poverty. From this very
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beginning of the New Year, the battle shall be
more decisively fought, the swords shall be sharpened and the
focus shall be unbending and unyielding.
We are proud of our rich culture that has played critical roles in
our lives as a people through which we have defined our
moments of triumph in the face of hard challenges and seemingly
insurmountable adversaries. I am proud to remind you of the
unusual weapon we uniquely possess that puts us ahead of
others in turning adversities to opportunities. This has strong
expression in our abiding faith in God, our strength of character,
laced with boundless optimism, our resilient determination and
belief in the endowment of the human spirit. We are a people
with drive, initiative, creativity and innovations.
As we respond to the arrival of the New Year, let us wish one
another well in love and happiness. Let us pray for the souls of
the departed in 2011. Let us dream great dreams and more
importantly work towards the practical actualization of our
dreams.
Let us look into the New Year with great passion for excellence
and much creativity to outwit the common enemy this
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government has come to dislodge, that is, poverty
as it manifests in all strata of our society.
Happy and prosperous New Year, great people of the Land of
Honour.
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