Former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, in an exclusive interview with ThisDay newspaper, shared his journey to becoming the Minister of Solid Mineral Development during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fayemi, who initially anticipated an appointment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed his astonishment upon hearing that he was designated as the Minister of Solid Mineral.
According to him, he contemplated declining the appointment, expressing concerns about his lack of expertise in the field and the potential for embarrassment. However, his close advisors, including his wife and Otunba Niyi Adebayo, persuaded him to reconsider for the sake of serving the people.
During his three years as Minister of Solid Minerals, Fayemi highlighted achievements such as increasing the contribution of solid minerals to GDP, creating a comprehensive roadmap for the sector, initiating the aero-magnetic survey of the country, and conducting the national minerals exploration project.
He said, “Before I became a minister, I was Director of Policy for the presidential campaign and also worked in the transition committee, so I had a comprehensive view of what was going on in the Jonathan administration, but I wasn’t prepared to go to the ministry I was assigned to.
“When I was announced as the Minister for Solid Minerals, I must confess, I was surprised. I honestly thought I was going to be Minister of Foreign Affairs, an area in which I was a frontline adviser for President Buhari during the period leading up to the election and before Ministers were announced.
“In fact, I was with President Buhari on his last assignment at the United Nations before the ministerial list was released on the day we returned from the United Nations.
“I got home after we were sworn in and portfolios assigned and told my wife and our leader, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, that I was going to inform President Buhari that I couldn’t take the appointment. What do I know about the ministry? It was not even about being a dry or juicy ministry. I was not prepared to mess myself up, after coming this far. I thought the Ministry should go to a subject matter expert. So, I decided I wasn’t going to take it.
“But Otunba said, no, that would be selfish and that I must put our people into my consideration. I must take it. He added: “Kayode, your strength is in managing people and resources, and you are going to take it and make a statement. Having managed a whole state, you can manage anything.” And my wife aligned with him. But I was still not convinced but at least they stopped me from going to tell President Buhari I was opting out of the cabinet.
“Eventually, President Buhari explained to me that he was deliberate in sending me to the Ministry because he had three priorities – infrastructure, agriculture and solid minerals development and he wanted excellent hands in the three areas. I took it up as a challenge and I believe I grew into the job. In my three years there, we grew the contribution of solid minerals as a percentage of GDP, developed a comprehensive road map for the sector, started the aero-magnetic survey of the country, which was completed during Architect Adegbite’s tenure and also conducted the national minerals exploration project amongst many other initiatives.”