STAR INFORMATION: Re-Branding Ekiti State - Unveiling the New State Logo
Mobolaji ALUKO
RE-BRANDING EKITI STATE
THE NEW EKITI STATE LOGO
EXPLAINING THE LOGO’S SIX ELEMENTS
Ekiti's New Brand Identity
The Government and People of Ekiti State, Nigeria proudly unveil a new visual identity that speaks to the uniqueness of
our heritage, the physical attributes of our fruitful land, as well as the character and aspirations of our people.
We welcome you to the destination of choice for business or pleasure in a stable and peaceful atmosphere, to a State
where honour means more than all the riches in the
world.
The Six
Elements of the New Logo
There are six elements that make up the Ekiti
State, Nigeria brand. These elements were arrived at after extensive
research,
to determine features that make Ekiti State, Nigeria distinct in the comity of
states in Nigeria and beyond.
The Woven
Cord
The Woven Cord depicts the culturally homogeneous
nature of the Ekiti people. Ours is the only state where all the
towns and
villages are suffixed with “-Ekiti”.
The New
Dawn
The New Dawn symbolizes Ekiti’s place as the
emerging land of opportunities. It also symbolizes the hope and
optimism associated with the Ekiti people which makes us rise above challenges, to ensure we remain on the
path of peace and progress.
The Rolling
Hills
The Rolling Hills depict the topography of our
land, forming the backdrop of the beautiful scenery. It is the origin
of our
name “Ile Olokiti”.
The
Vegetation
The Vegetation depicts the fruitfulness of our
land. It symbolizes a land blessed with an abundance of a wide variety
of
natural resources. It also represents the mainstay of our livelihood - Agriculture.
The Water
The Water represents the springs in Ekiti State,
particularly the Ikogosi Spring - the only place in the whole world
where hot
and cold water springs naturally occur side by side. A wonder to the world, a
pride to us.
The Book
The Book depicts the enlightenment of the Ekiti
people. The Ekiti people love knowledge and celebrate wisdom.
THE SPEECH UNVEILING THE LOGO
The Speech of the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi during the unveiling of the new brand identity for Ekiti state on
Sunday March 6, 2011.
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Protocols.
“In o ra o kete omo
Ekiti!” It is a great pleasure to
welcome you all on
behalf of myself and the Government of Ekiti
State. Our gathering today is
special in more ways than one. The main reason we
are here, of course, is to
launch the new signature or identity-mark of our
great new Ekiti State. I am
sure you will all agree with me that this is
special in its own right, for the
new logo not only speaks to our legacy as well as
aspirations as Ekiti. All
three - our collective heritage, the aspirations
in its wake, and the logo that
embeds them all - also deserve to be celebrated
both severally and jointly.
About these I shall say more shortly.
Today’s event is also significant for its context,
of which there are at least
two aspects. First the event is taking place on
the 6th day in the month of
March. As the birthday of the late sage Obafemi
Awolowo (1909-1987), March 6 has
great resonance in intellectual, political and
economic circles across Nigeria,
and the more so in the southwest zone of which
Ekiti is part. Now there may be
observers out there who remember Awo as no more
than a former Leader of the
Yorubas. For some, the title speaks to Yoruba
irredentism at its most potent.
But there are those with a more nuanced sense of
political history in and
outside Nigeria for whom Awo was a public policy
practitioner and politician
extraordinaire.
For yet others, Awo was not just a foremost public
intellectual and public
visionary. He is Nigeria’s most prolific statesman
as yet. From this point of
view, death has in effect shot up the value of the
man’s political stock. It
is clear Awo is and can be perceived in various
ways. What is not in doubt is
that he stood up for what was best for the
greatest majority of the people. Some
of the character attributes that define us as
Ekiti, and are embedded in the
logo that is being launched today, can be traced
to some of Awo’s policy
campaigns in and out of public office. Ekiti’s
claim to be the “Fountain of
Knowledge” is in part because as Premier of the
Western Region in the 1950s,
Awo offered free education to all and sundry. Of
course, our parents and
grandparents took the opportunity. In doing so
they helped us mold some of the
building blocks of the heritage that we celebrate
today.
The second
contextual reason concerns the present venue. The Trade Fair Complex
and Adetiloye Hall in particular, can now be
likened to hallowed grounds of
sorts in the changing political discourse on
Ekiti. Each time we have gathered
on these grounds since October 16, 2010 - the day
that it pleased God to restore
to power those of us that you, the people, had
freely given your mandate in 2007
- it has been to mark a high point in the
transition from government to good
governance in Ekiti State. On Sunday, January 23,
2011, we assembled here to
commemorate 100 days of the return of your mandate
to its legitimate trustee.
Today, it is aspects of our collective past and
aspirations for the future that
are in focus. But in real terms every day since
the new dawn on October 16, 2010
can well be the proverbial festive Christmas. Our
commitment to best practices
in democratic governance is total. And our quest
for it has been relentless.
Only a few days ago, on Wednesday March 2, 2011 to
be precise, this same
Adetiloye Hall was where former public
office-holders in Ekiti had converged in
response to our call. Many had come with
reasonable assurance that they could
meet their set goals. Others probably came with a
cynical mind-set. A few may
have wanted to see with their own eyes what they
had thought would be a farce.
Anyway the mission was the same: to try to collect
cheques for, or as the case
may be submit required information in respect of
their severance allowance. Of
course many did collect cheques! In the fullness
of time up to 800 men and women
who had held public office in Ekiti State at
various times since 1999 would
smile to their homes, as it were.
The feedback has been full of insight, to say the
least. The images that came
across on our television screens, and the
statements by some of the
beneficiaries, are heart-warming. Some make the
administration of which I am
chief executive seem like a magician’s team, the
type that gets done quite
easily what many had long thought was the least
likely. Others have been fulsome
in their praise and best wishes for our team. It
is easy to presume that these
expressions reflect the momentary feelings of
people being conferred with an
advantage that many of them thought they had lost.
But it is far more useful to
remember that those who spoke are among the creme-de-la-creme
of the local
political class. Given recent political stirrings
in Ekiti State, no discerning
mind will seek to discount the nuances in the
views so expressed.
Still, the gesture needs to be put in perspective.
Was the Ekiti State
Government out to score political points?
Absolutely not! As far as we are
concerned, the government has liabilities that
date back before our days in the
saddle. One of the items just happens to be
severance allowance for former
public office-holders. In making payments as from
last Wednesday, government was
not doing a favour. Our team was merely doing its
duty by the people, its own
people. In doing so we have sought to redeem a
pledge I have made time and
again.
This government, it bears restating, is the
Government of Ekiti State. To be
sure its roots lay in social-democratic tendencies
expressed, in this instance,
in the Action Congress of Nigeria. That is what
tradition and the law require of
us. But ours is by choice a practice that is
bereft of rabid partisanship. As
contestants for power, we worked pretty hard to
earn your mandate. As your
trustees since October 2010 we have worked just as
hard to reach beyond narrow
traditions, to all nooks and crannies of the
state. As a government, we are and
we shall continue to be responsible and responsive
to all residents of Ekiti
State, without regard to ethnic origin, religious
creed, or political leaning.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the future. And it
has begun now. The new logo
for Ekiti State speaks volumes about our desire to
expand upon the opportunities
for change that now exist among us. Henceforth we
in Ekiti State shall,
together, celebrate our collective past. But we
shall do so without tying our
hands to our backs, so to speak. As the saying
goes, heritage is not destiny. We
shall not be slaves to our history, or glorify the
past at the expense of our
present or future aspirations.
To these ends we shall emphasise afresh those
attributes that unite us. But we
shall not fight shy of the challenges of social
and economic development.
Government’s personality and social orientation
programmes shall focus anew on
age-old values, such as those encapsulated in the
Yoruba concept of “omoluabi”.
In place of a bland acceptance of our place as subalterns in
the wider society, we seek to make ours “ile iyi,
ile eye” or Land of
Honour. We shall free, and then exert, idle and/or
trapped energies to bestow
further honour on Ekiti. But in doing so we shall
seek to break free from the
constraints that traditions had long imposed on
entrepreneurship and on other
forms of individual action.
Thank you all and God bless Ekiti State.