•Says accountability is what any leader should expect from day one

Sixty years old today, former Ekiti State governor and one time Minister of Steel and Solid Minerals Development, Dr. John ‘Kayode Fayemi, has paid his dues. Whether in the academia, politics, journalism, civil society or activism, he has his imprints across the stretch of the enduring human endeavours. In this commemoration interview with Olawale Olaleye, Fayemi went back in time, and relived his reminiscences with a glimpse of what his life looks now. Excerpts:

You’re sixty years old today. What has changed with the man John ‘Kayode Fayemi?

There’s no question that age and experience mellow every person over time. But I’d like to think my core essence and values have remained the same, shaped by fate, time and experience. As Alfred Tennyson reminds us in that timeless poem, Ulysses, it is still a case of “one equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will.”

I may no longer be in a position to do what I used to do in my age of innocence or in my 20s or 30s, run around continents, take unbridled risks challenging authorities and attempting to change the world around me for the better. What is important is to state that I’ve been blessed in all ways by God Almighty and have a lot to be grateful for at 60.

In what ways did your childhood and upbringing shape whatever you’ve become today?

My childhood was a normal, nuclear family type. My father was a civil servant by the time I was born but started his professional life as a teacher. My mum was a trader. They are both deceased now. I leave you to imagine how teachers behaved in those days. Although the last born in my family, my disciplinarian parents did not spare the rod.

I must say that the values instilled in me have consistently shaped my character. I also grew up as a Mass server, an altar boy in the Catholic church. It’s a position of early responsibility and discipline as well. When you combine home training with religious teachings and standard school direction, you get the picture of my upbringing.

Some people often speak about the roles their parents or either of them played in their lives. What would you say of yours?

Both my parents had an impact on my life growing up. And my siblings too. They were both very present and monitored my upbringing closely. I wrote in my exile memoirs, Out of the Shadows, that my early obsession with reading newspapers was picked from my Dad, who was an information officer with the Western region and later Western State government.

And that must have contributed to my early consciousness and interest in what goes on in my environment. So, my career trajectory as a journalist, academic, activist and politician could not be disconnected from this upbringing.

Looking back, which of your childhood memories do you still reckon with today as a relevant factor?

As I said, it was a normal childhood, not a pampered childhood. So many memories flood my mind but I’m not sure any of them is extra ordinary. It was a very routine, loving childhood.

Since you left office as governor in 2022, you’ve been up to different things including lecturing at the King’s College in London. But there’s a baby of yours that is yet to come on stream: Amandla Institute. How is that coming on?

Yes, I went back to my alma mater, King’s College, London, after my tour of duty as governor. Although that may not be common in our climes, but it is not uncommon in other places. In fact, it’s the norm and it’s usually a revolving door between academia and public office.

I have been back at King’s for almost two years and being at King’s has helped me to conduct personal research, mentor students and operate in an environment that has enabled serious reflection. In fact, the book I’m releasing to mark my birthday, ‘If This Giant Must Rise,’ is a product of the last two years.

I have also been busy as the pioneer President of the Forum of Regions in Africa (FORAF). This is an association of sub-National governments, who are closest to citizens on the continent working just below the sovereigns to improve livelihoods and development at the subnational level.

And you’re right, The Amandla Institute, has been in gestation since I left office two years ago. But it’s being formally inaugurated on Thursday, February 6. It is a pan African “think and do tank“ which seeks to drive bold initiatives in harnessing leadership acumen and policy frameworks for the transformation of the African continent and the progress of global Africa.

What gave rise to the idea of the institute in the first place or did you conceive it as a gift to yourself on your 60th?

The Institute is a product of my experience in public office. Before I went into public office, I was involved in building an institution, which is thriving very well in the civic space. Everyone knows the work the Centre for Democracy and Development that I founded in 1997 but I’m no longer involved in the day to day running of that organisation.

The context of its founding was also different. That was a context of the post Cold War struggle for democratisation in the continent. In this instance, and having served at the subnational and national offices for almost two decades, I have seen the practical challenges leaders face in office even when they are well meaning.

Amandla Institute is my own contribution in helping to address and mitigate such challenges by providing young public sector actors with the resources and the tools to function in public office. The assumption that undergirds the work of the Institute is that leadership and policy matter each on their own, but it’s when both work together seamlessly that we can begin to change the narratives, lives and livelihoods for the better.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2025/02/09/kayode-fayemi-at-60-i-cant-take-unbridled-risks-any-longer-i-believe-our-nation-will-surely-rise-again/?amp