For former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, becoming a governorship candidate was not something he had spent years planning for. The invitation came from an unexpected place.
In Seun Oloketuyi’s forthcoming book, How to Win an Election in Nigeria, Fayemi recalls how former Ekiti Governor Niyi Adebayo encouraged him to run for governor after recognising his work in the pro-democracy movement and his contribution to development efforts in the state.
At the time, Fayemi had never held an elective or appointed political position. By his own description, he was an outsider stepping into an established political structure. “I was invited to run by former Governor Niyi Adebayo,” Fayemi said.
But getting the invitation was only the beginning. Fayemi still had to convince party leaders and stakeholders that he was ready for the job. His pro-democracy credentials and his family’s history in Ekiti’s progressive political movement gave him some goodwill, but he did not assume that would be enough to win over the state. He went into the field.
Fayemi said he visited all 177 wards in Ekiti State at least three times, meeting key leaders personally and taking his message directly to the people. That experience became an important part of his understanding of Nigerian politics and the work required before an aspirant can realistically expect to win an election.
He also believes that entering politics does not necessarily mean placing yourself under the control of a godfather. “Mentors need not carry the pejorative godfather complex we often imagine,” he said, reflecting on the people who supported his own political journey.
For Fayemi, what a person does before seeking political office can sometimes matter just as much as the political ambition itself.
He believes genuine involvement in the community creates goodwill that cannot easily be manufactured when an election is around the corner. And in his own case, that goodwill eventually led to a phone call that changed the direction of his career. Fayemi’s account of how he went from pro-democracy activism and development work to becoming a governorship candidate is part of the stories explored in Seun Oloketuyi’s How to Win an Election in Nigeria, coming September 6.
