Professor Kayode Fayemi is planning to contest for Ekiti State Governorship in 2007. During a recent trip to the US, he took time to answer questions raised by NVS Villagers in this Podcast.

Please tune in for more of this very interesting interview.
Total Length: 60 minutes.
Download Links  Link 1  / Link 2 / Link 3

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Manifesto for Ekiti Transformation
Imperatives of Transition from Activism to Politics in Nigeria

 About Dr Kayode Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, a political activist and academic, obtained degrees in History, Politics and International Relations from the Universities of Lagos and Ife in Nigeria. Following this, he joined the Development & Management Consultants, Lagos-Nigeria, where he began honing his interests in media affairs in Africa. As a Research Consultant at the African Bureau for Information, he played a vital role in beginning to alleviate the existing dearth of knowledge on the continent. In 1994 he was awarded a PhD in War Studies for his work on Post-Civil War Defence Planning from King's College, University of London, England.

Dr Fayemi's work has focused on security issues in correspondence with his PhD work. In this vein, he has served as an adviser on transitional justice, security sector and civil-military relations issues to various governments, inter-governmental institutions and development agencies. One of the most recent of these roles has been on the Oputa Panel in Nigeria, where he was a technical adviser to the Panel, investigating the atrocities committed by the military junta under the Abacha regime in Nigeria. He also served as technical expert to the Organisation for African Unity, now the African Union, and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) secretariats on peace and security issues. The union of the thematic issues of democracy and security has resulted in his brainchild, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) of which he is currently serving as Director.

Dr Fayemi's work has been of great relevance on the continent in governance and democratisation, human rights, civil-military relations and security sector issues in Africa. This is especially evident in his most recent (written & edited) publications namely Mercenaries: The African Security Dilemma; Understanding the Nigerian Military: Civil-Military Relations in a Democratising Polity; Securing Democracy: Democratic Control of Military and Security Establishments in Nigeria and South Africa and Deepening Democracy: Evaluating Zimbabwe's Constitution-Making Process, 1999-2000. Although a focus on Nigeria is significant, the thematic subject of security issues are not undermined as there is a simultaneous regional study mode employed, as in the observation of Nigeria's inter-relationship with South Africa as the "giants" of the continent and the study of Zimbabwe's fragile democracy. This has also been established by the Pan West African approach employed at CDD.

The international influence of Dr Fayemi's work has been palpable with his appointments on the Governing Board of the Open Society's Legal Institute of the Soros Foundation in New York, and as a member of the Africa Policy Advisory Group of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The policy work is also balanced by a maintained interest in academia as is evident with his Adjunct Professorship at the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, USA.

Kayode has been one of the foremost champions of democracy on the continent. This is principally evident with his role in the Radio Kudirat project, presenting a forum for the marriage of his passion for democracy and the closely related rights of the free press. His work on this front has no doubt contributed to the Nigerian Press' worldwide reputation for resilience in the most adverse of conditions. Radio Kudirat presented a vital response to the aforementioned military dictatorship of Sani Abacha in the mid 1990s and provided an outlet for fellow activists including Wole Soyinka and Julius Ihonvbere in championing the cause of democracy.

Village Square Radio will explore the personalities, principles and passions that influence Nigeria and her citizens and their effect on the nation in the larger world context, while advancing the tenor of dialog

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 28.05.2006 19:47