John Olukayode Fayemi was a former Governor of Ekiti State and currently the Minister of Solid Minerals Development. He was born on 9 February 1965, a native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government of Ekiti State, Nigeria. He is a lecturer, journalist and researcher.
He attended Christ’s School Ado Ekiti from 1975-1980. He also holds degrees in History, Politics and International Relations from the Universities of Lagos and Ife in Nigeria and a Doctorate degree in War Studies from the prestigious King’s College, University of London, England, specializing in civil-military relations. His research and policy interests include: Democratization, Constitutionalism, Security Sector Governance, and Regionalism in the Global Context.
Kayode Fayemi is a former Director of the Centre for Democracy & Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa. He worked as a Strategy Development Adviser at London’s City Challenge; research fellow at the African Research & Information Bureau in London, UK, reporter with the newspapers, The Guardian and City Tempo, editor of the political monthly, Nigeria-Now, management consultant at Development and Management Consultants and lecturer at the Police College in Sokoto, Nigeria.
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As a prominent leader of the Nigerian opposition to military rule in exile, he was responsible for the founding and management of the opposition radios – Radio Freedom, Radio Democracy International & Radio Kudirat and played a central role in the opposition’s diplomatic engagements in exile.
Kayode Fayemi has lectured in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has also served as an adviser on transitional justice, regional integration, constitutionalism, security sector reform and civil-military relations issues to various governments, inter-governmental institutions and development agencies. He was the main technical adviser to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel), which investigated past abuses and currently serves on the Presidential Implementation Committees on Security Sector Reform, NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals.
He was technical expert to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on small arms and light weapons and United Nations Economic Commission of Africa on governance issues. He is also a member, Africa Policy Advisory Panel of the British Government. At other times he has served as a consultant to the OECD on Security Sector Reform and chaired the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s Committee of Experts on developing guiding principles and mechanisms of constitution making in Commonwealth Africa.
Kayode Fayemi is a Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan, Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., USA. He was also a Visiting Professor in the African Studies Programme at Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004. Dr Fayemi serves on numerous Boards including the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, Baobab for Women’s Human Rights, African Security Sector Network, and on the Advisory Board of the Global Facilitation Network on Security Sector Reform and on the Management Culture Board of the ECOWAS Secretariat.
He has written various books on governance and democratization, civil-military relations and security sector issues in Africa. Among his recent books are: Deepening the Culture of Constitutionalism: The Role of Regional Institutions in Constitutional Development in Africa (CDD, 2003), Security Sector Governance in Africa: A Handbook (edited with Nicole Ball, CDD, 2004) and Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Nigeria (CDD, 2005).
On 16th October 2010, Kayode Fayemi was sworn into office as Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Upon assuming leadership of the state, his administration launched a mission statement, tagged ‘Collective Rescue Mission.’ It forms the bedrock on which Fayemi’s government would transform Ekiti in the next four years of his tenure. His vision is summed up in an 8-point Agenda which centres around: Governance, Infrastructural Development, Modernising Agriculture, Education and Human Capital Development, Health Care Services, Industrial Development, Tourism Development, and Gender Equality and Woman Empowerment.
Fayemi was also the first governor in Nigeria to sign into law the Freedom of Information Act on Monday, 4 July 2011. He is aspiring to run for the Governorship election in Ekiti State in 2018 under the platform of APC.
