WOMEN'S DAY: JKF Centre Berates Fayose For Alleged Debasing Of Ekiti Women

‎JKF Centre, a leadership and training centre based in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of using the celebration of Women Day to deceive and exploit the womenfolk and Ekiti people in general to present himself as a pro-masses governor.

He said such pretence has become the governor's pastime in his alleged fraudulent attempt to curry the favours of the masses after alleged various fraudulent activities to deny Ekiti people the benefits of good governance.

The centre also accused Fayose for allegedly debasing the integrity and honour of Ekiti women by forcing them to pay exorbitant prices for "ankara" uniform to deck themselves in solidarity with him on the occasion of this year's Women's Day celebration.

The Director of the centre, Mr. Biodun Omoleye, in statement described the sale of ankara to women at exorbitant prices by the state government as heartless and "intolerable harassment and coercion" of the women, especially female civil servants, to attend the Women Day celebration at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, as mere showmanship and jamboree with no bearing to improve the lives of the women.

According to Omoleye, the real way to celebrate women is not by forcing them to buy and  wear "aso ebi" while many of them, who are civil servants, have not been paid for several months while those in private businesses are overburdened with heavy taxation.

He said: "What Fayose is doing is a primitive exploitation of Ekiti women by first asking them to pay N500 each for the ankara while the price was increased to N1,500 almost immediately.

"This is mean and insensitive on the part of a governor who is intentionally owing these workers for six months after collecting more than N30b bailout and Budget Support Facility for payment of salaries but has refused to pay workers, still he is unconscionably claiming to be a friend of the masses."

Omoleye said there were various ways to concretely assist women to develop their potential for self-development, citing various empowerment and skills acquisition schemes by former Governor Kayode Fayemi to lift Ekiti women out of poverty, including  how the former governor celebrated womenfolk and upheld their dignity during past editions of Women Day celebrations when he was governor.

Citing various schemes through which Fayemi touched the lives of Ekiti women, Omoleye explained:

"Two thousand two hundred (2,200) Ekiti women under Fayemi's administration were beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme with each of them receiving N5,000 monthly and N100,000 at the end of one year while a total of 160 women groups were empowered across the 16 local government areas.

"779 families with multiple births and 21 families with triplets were beneficiaries of the Multiple Birth Trust Fund with cash and product support, besides the Gender Equality and Empowerment Scheme that was one of the eight cardinal programmes of the administration.

"Also in aid of women, the administration enacted a law, the Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, to protect women from domestic violence and other abuses, including  domesticating the National Gender Policy which ensured that Ekiti women were given top positions in government, including Deputy Governors, six Commissioners and Special Advisers, while many were heads of boards and parastatals but today, women have been subjected to various abuses in the Government House while Ekiti women have been relegated to the background with little or no presence in Fayose's administration."

He added that 70 top female government officials were trained in leadership and assertiveness skills while cancer check for women was introduced, including the establishment of Funmi Adunni Olayinka Diagnostic & Wellness Centre  at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, for early detection and treatment of breast cancer.

Omoleye went further to say that Fayemi celebrated and recognised both women within and outside the state who excelled in their chosen fields. Iconic women like Alhaja Adepeji Afolabi,a musician, Moji Olaiya, an actress, late Prof Mrs Ikulayo, first female Professor of Sports and Professor Funmi Olopade who was appointed as Special Adviser to Former President Obama on Cancer Research were all honoured by the Fayemi administration.

Omoleye also explained that to cater for the women at the grassroots, Fayemi instituted Ekiti Development Foundation that worked with  the Ministry of Women Affairs to establish Igede Women Skills Acquisition Centre where many women were trained in various vocations.

He added: "The Market Outreach Programme was another empowerment scheme of the Fayemi administration where women groups across the 16 LGAs benefited from cash grants and other empowerment materials, including provision of  18-seater bus for each of the 16 local governments for the use of the Iyalojas.

"Apart from this, Erelu Bisi Fayemi visited women in the farmsteads, giving them cassava and palm oil processing machines to assist them in their businesses for self-sufficiency in contrast to Fayose's token gestures that go with a lot of drama to distract and deceive the women to the pleasure of the governor."

Lamenting the state of despondency of Ekiti women, Omoleye said, "women pensioners are dying daily,while children are forced out of school, food and other items are expensive in the market, life expectancy have dropped while crime is on the increase. Women now steal pot of amala on fire, obviously, it has never been this bad for Ekiti women!"

Omoleye regretted the callous exploitation of women by Fayose, saying "what we have today is total neglect of women and crass exploitation of already impoverished women who were not paid salaries for months and are under the heavy yoke of Fayose's taxation".

Biodun Omoleye

Director.

March 8, 2017

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