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Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, on Wednesday inaugurated a 260,000 capacity, first private-owned cemetery, the first in the state.

Fayemi, while inaugurating the ‘CitiGate Park and Gardens Cemetery’ located at Emirin area of the state, said the facility had the capacity to avert environmental hazards and safeguard the health of the citizens.

Fayemi, represented by Mrs Iyabo Fakunle-Okieimen, the Commissioner for Environment, said the initiative symbolised the government’s efforts toward encouraging private investors in the state.

“The smooth take-off of this business is a testimony that Ekiti is encouraging private investors to invest their hard-earned money in the state.

“With this investment by a private body, Ekiti is no longer a rural setting.

“In USA, Britain and other European countries, you can’t just bury your dead at home.

“Aside the fact that it causes groundwater pollution, it devalues our buildings and reduces its aesthetic values.

“This is a public-private initiative but will be driven largely by the private owners.

“We appeal to the drivers of this business to try and replicate this across the 16 local governments in the state, so that our late parents can be buried easily in cemeteries that are neater and well laid out.

“This is cheaper compared to what you can get in Lagos and other cities and our people can now bring their dead parents home to be buried from other parts of the country,” he said.

The governor assured that every step would be taken to support business owners in Ekiti, through the relevant legal framework and giving of tax waiver.

Mr Abiodun Aluko, a former Deputy Governor in Ekiti and one of the facility’s Directors, said the concept of a private cemetery was universal, owing to growing population.

According to him, Ekiti should not be exempted from the emerging global civilisation.

“The land we have here can accommodate 260,000 corpses.

“But this pilot scheme we are starting is for only 260 corpses, with the hope to expand in future until we exhaust our land resource to a full capacity.

“We have provisions for both Christians and Muslims.

“With time, we will build event facilities like halls and Churches here, where people can hold their burial procession and even reception close to the cemetery to minimise cost,” he said.

Mr Ayodele Olaiya, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, described the investment as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) saying it would generate revenues into government’s coffers and prevent outbreak of endemic diseases.

“In this part of the world, we drink majorly from boreholes and wells, so, the cemetery should be far away from homes in order not to endanger our health,” he said.

News Agency Of Nigeria

The Ekiti State Government has advocated more private sponsorship of pilgrims to Mecca and Jerusalem, following government’s withdrawal from bankrolling the activity, according to remarks by the Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi.

Speaking on Tuesday, at a meeting with members of the State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board, led by its Chairman, Alhaji Babatunde Onipede, in Ado-Ekiti, Egbeyemi noted that both the federal and state governments had stopped sponsoring pilgrims on holy pilgrimages, to save funds for development purposes.

He told the board members, who visited him to familiarize themselves with his office, which supervises the Board in the state, that individuals interested in performing pilgrimage should do so through private savings, in view of the government’s withdrawal of sponsorship.

“Both the Federal Government and the State Government have said they will not spend their money on pilgrimages again, and that is why there was no budgetary allocation to it.

“Anybody wishing to perform his religious obligation of going to the Holy Lands must do so with his own personal savings, and that was what I told the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) when their executives made a similar request, because we must be fair to all,” Egbeyemi said.

The deputy governor, however, said that the board’s demand for office furniture and utility vehicles were legitimate and would be looked into accordingly, stressing that the state government was ready to assist the board in the performance of its statutory duties.

Egbeyemi also expressed satisfaction with the peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians in the state, which made them to live together as brothers and sisters.

Speaking earlier, Onipede expressed gratitude to Gov. Kayode Fayemi and the deputy governor, for finding him and other members of the board worthy of being appointed to serve.

Onipede revealed that the board was not run properly during the last administration, hence the need to draw the attention of the present administration to the situation for assistance.

“It was not functioning as a board during the Fayose administration; it was just lying fallow there and was not run like a board.

“In Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, we don’t have utility vehicles. Our utility vehicle in Saudi Arabia has been grounded since 2018,” he said.

Onipede said the board also needed furniture and more funds for the smooth running of the office, for quality service delivery.