By Ayodele Oni
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has been dragged to the mud over his attack on elder statesman and founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, (ABUAD) Chief Afe Babalola.
Dr Fayemi had said that Chief Babalola was may be suffering from loss of memory due to age, following his condemnation of regimes of past Governors in the State.
A State-based group, Ekiti Patriotic Consultative Forum, in a statement signed by Secretary, Oluwagbenga Babawibe, described Fayemi’s comment as “uncouth and disrespectful.”
He said: “After a cursory look at the hogwash and senseless vituperation of the former Governor of Ekiti State, a supposedly Omoluabi, we came to the safe conclusion that the Isan Ekiti-born politician decided to descend on this iconic elder statesman, a man who still contributes immensely to the growth of Nigeria at 94 years old and who still invests at least 18 hours of active work daily in the development of education and industrialization in Nigeria.
“It should be noted that Chief Afe Babalola did not single out Kayode Fayemi in his review of the performance of the past government in Ekiti State as claimed.
“He intentionally vented his frustration and hatred on the Baba, which is very uncharitable and an act of irresponsibility for a man who ruled the cultured people of Ekiti twice.
“It should be known that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his government made Baba the chairman of the palliative committee, whereby Chief Afe Babalola donated a whopping sum of one hundred million naira, eight hundred bags of rice, and one thousand bags of garri for the state. What other support does this guy want again?
“The contradictory allegations raised by Fayemi over the issue of the airport, a failed project embarked on by him and an uncompleted project that was commissioned with fun fare.
“The truth is that Fayemi approached Chief Afe Baalola to build the terminal section of the airport, and Baba agreed to do so and had taken steps by constructing the architectural design of the terminal, which was fashioned against the best in the world.
“Without further consultation, Fayemi rejected the earlier agreed terminal to be built by Aare Afe Babalola and wrote a letter to him to build a guest house or hotel for the airport project.
“After messing up with the airport project, Chief Afe Babalola, who is interested in the completion of the airport because of its economic viability to the university and Ekiti State at large, has spent over 2.3 billion Naira of his personal resources for the purchase of instrument and landing equipment, an aerodrome ground lighting system, and the building of a befitting car park for the airport.
“There is no single individual with such a contribution toward the development of Ekiti state. There is no private investment that is as big as ABUAD in Ekiti, yet the government has not done anything to support this investment.
“As a group of patriots in Ekiti State, we hereby demand from Kayode Fayemi a public apology to be published in three major national newspapers and a one-on-one apology in which he must personally mobilize some respected traditional rulers in the state in the company of the state governor for that purpose.”
 Chief Afe Babalola.){kind=link}