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Tag: Mimiko

  • Ibidapo, Mimiko in Olowo’s Palace, commiserate with Owo indigenes

    As the ancient town of Owo in Ondo state begin the traditional burial rites of its departed monarch, Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi,a prominent indigene of the town,who is the Aare-Atunluse of Owo, Chief Rotimi Ibidapo yesterday described the departed monarch as a huge loss to Ondo state and Nigeria as a whole.

    Ibidapo who  was in the palace to mourn the departed law lecturer turned monarch commiserated with the family of the late oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi and described him as very distinguished  and  accomplished human being.

    According to him, during his reign as Olowo, the ancient town of Owo witnessed unprecedented development and all-round peace stressing that Ondo state will greatly miss him.

    Ibidapo said, “He was a loving man, he lived an heroic life which would never be forgotten. It was during his time that the son of Owo town  became the state governor.

    “Personally, during his reign, I got breakthroughs in life, he will be living in our minds forever”.

    The Aare Atunluse of Owo however prayed that the existing peace and unprecedented development would thrive in the town during the reign of the next Olowo.

    Also at the palace yesterday to identify and commiserate with the people was the former Governor of the state, Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

    Mimiko while describing the late monarch as an epitome of good deeds, said the monarch lived a fulfilled life.

    He said, “I have no doubt in my mind that he is in the bosom of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a former governor of this state for eight years, I benefited a lot from his counselling as traditional ruler.

    Mimiko prayed that the next monarch in Owo should sustain the good virtues of the departed traditional ruler.

    The lawmaker representing Ondo North senatorial district, Prof. Ajayi Boroffice yesterday also commiserated with the people of Owo kingdom over the demise of Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi.

    In a press statement signed by his press secretary, Kayode Fakuyi, Boroffice described the demise of the monarch as huge loss to humanity.

    It said “On behalf of my family and the people of Ondo North senatorial district, I commiserate with the Olagbegi Royal family, the Olowo-In-Council and the people of Owo kingdom over the demise of Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade Olateru Olagbegi.

  • Restructuring: Kolade chairs VOR roundtable

    In a bid to further consolidate on the demand for restructuring of Nigeria’s Political, economic and political structures, a renowned Yoruba Interest group, Voice of Reason (VOR) will on Wednesday January 30th 2019 host all the candidates of major political parties in South West, Nigeria to a roundtable meeting at Oranmiyan Hall, Airport Hotel, Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos.
    In a statement made available to News Men on Wednesday in Lagos, the Chairman of the group, Dr Olufemi Adegoke said the roundtable, with the theme: ‘Imperatives of Restructuring For National Unity, Development and Security’ will be chaired by a former Nigerian High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, CON.
    On the aims and objectives of the roundtable, Adegoke said the town hall meeting is being convened to sensitise all aspiring candidates for elections to the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government in South West on why the restructuring of Nigeria’s Political, Economic and Social Structures is key to the progress of Yoruba Land.
    “We want to lobby all aspiring candidates for election to the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government in South West for their support to back the restructuring of Nigeria for the sake of the future of Yoruba Land and the survival of Nigeria and to also find out from the candidates on how they plan to get this constitutional request actualized if elected in 2019.
    “Most importantly, we want to foster Unity, Harmony and Cohesion among Aspiring Candidates in South West so that Yoruba Land can speak with one voice on Restructuring”
    The statement further said that the draft of the proposed constitution written by VOR for Nigeria will be introduced to all the candidates during the roundtable for a possible adoption when they get the insignia of power.
    According to the statement, invitation has been sent to all the Candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Allied Peoples Movement (APM) across South West geo-political zone through their state party chairmen.
    “Governors who are running for Senatorial elections like that of Oyo and Ogun States, Senators Abiola Ajimobi and Ibikunle Amosun respectively and former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Biodun Olujimi, Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa and the Governorship Candidates of APC, PDP and ADP in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu, Jimi Agbaje and Babatunde Gbadamosi respectively are expected to grace the event” the statement said.
    All candidates are expected to be seated at 9am.

  • Ondo, Mimiko and senatorial contest

    Former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko is the senatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for Ondo Central District. How far can he go? Grace Edema writes on his quest for a seat in the National Assembly.

    Dr. Olusegun Mimiko’s decision to contest for the Ondo Central Senatorial District of Ondo state has been greeted with joy, support and acceptance by his party members and other followers in the state.

    Mimiko who initially declared his interest to run as the presidential candidate of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has held town hall meetings in Abuja and Ibadan where he declared his interest publicly.

    Having considered the political weight and sagacity of the APC and PDPpresidential candidates, mentioned major candidates, the leadership of ZLP decided to appeal to their presidential candidate, Mimiko to rescind on his decision so that the party could channel their efforts to a more achievable goal while they can also mobilise support for either of the two popular presidential candidates. As an avid follower of the Nigerian politics, there is no mincing words that the contest/election is simply between Buhari and Atiku. ZLP corroborated this in a report recently.

    As such, within the short while,  the initial candidate for Ondo Central Senatorial District, Gboye Adegbenro, also accepted the new development and dropped his ambition to support Mimiko as ZLP senatorial candidate.

    Without doubts, Mimiko’s decision to contest for senatorial seat Is quite a laudable decision. His several years of experience in the political sphere as a two time former commissioner, federal Minister, a governor is a major admirable factor which the people of the state should harness in their favor. As the saying goes that, experience is the best teacher, they will indeed have a good representative at the Senate come 2019 if Mimiko is unanimously voted in by the wellmeaning people of the district.

    As an achiever with vast political experience, making relevant and effective laws that would better and uplift his people wouldn’t be a challenging task for Mimiko. He is in a familiar terrain. Mimiko already understood the political sphere of his state, the federal and Nigeria as a whole.  Also to his advantage are the knowledge, ideas and understanding he has about  Ondo state while he was the  governor for eight years. This will in no time assist him to come up with relevant and impactful bills and projects to execute for the good of his people. He also knows the right steps to take to ensure his choice of bills are accepted and passed by leadership of the senate. It boils down to his experience, familiarity, intelligent and goal getting nature.

    Furthermore, there are some senators who are not productive. They have the opportunity of transforming  their society and the lives of their electorates but they miss used or allowed the opportunity to slip away.

    One or two abnormalies which marred his term when he was the governor was the salary crisis which he always has an explanation for. Unlike Chief Obafemi Awolowo who remained loyal to his party,  Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), until his death, some quarters do not admire Mimiko’s incessant change from one political party to the other.

    Beneficiaries of his Abiye, free education, establishment of the first  medical university in Nigeria,  kaadi igbe Ayo projects to mention afew still show appreciation and recount how this great man whose leadership is first to none has impacted and changed destinies for the best.

    Mimiko’s meritous achievements and commitment attracted the World Bank, UNICEF, Academy of Chocolate Award held in London to the state who all in appreciate of his uncommon dedication to the progress of the Ondo people gave him awards and special recognition for his great initiatives.

    In 2015, the first Nigerian chocolate bar produced through the administration’s Cocoa Revolution Project won a Chocolate Silver award from the Academy of Chocolate Award, held in London

    As it is a known fact,  the people of Ondo state are enlightened, forthright, diligent, intelligent and courageous.

    Therefore, it is of utmost importance for them to elect an assertive, experienced, visionary political leader to represent them at the Senate.

  • NLC, LP kick as Mimiko declares for president

    The immediate past Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday declared his intention to contest for the President in next year’s general elections on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

    But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) rejected plan by former National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Abdulkadir Abdulsalam (Salam), to adopt the former governor as the party’s presidential flagbearer.

    NLC President Ayuba Wabba and Labour Party’s (LP’s) National Publicity Secretary, Mrs Ebere Ifendu, expressed their opposition to Mimiko’s ambition at a joint media briefing yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    Wabba said: “It is not possible for Mimiko to run under the LP. We want to say ‘no’ to that, as Mimiko has no business as a member of LP.

    “The party is registered by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Market Women Association and students. They registered the party and the certificate is with the NLC General Secretary.

    “Therefore, bringing money to buy the party or its structure will not work. We do not share the same ideology with him. It is a party with a difference.

    “Therefore, I want to call on Minimko once again to make sure he get his hands off the party. A. A. Salam cannot continue to function as the chairperson of the party.”

    Mrs Ifendu warned Nigerians and political aspirants to disregard yesterday’s purported LP’s convention in Abuja.

    She said: “It has become necessary for the leadership of the LP to draw the attention of the public to the fraudulent collection of Expression of Interest and Nomination Form fees from innocent and unsuspecting political aspirants.

    “That is for those who desire to contest various elective positions under the LP through Alhaji A. A. Salam, the former national chairman of the party.

    “It would be recalled that A. A. Salam was removed at the special national convention of the party on October 3, last year.

    “This illegality was also confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) report, presented by the three INEC officials that were detailed to supervise its conduct.”

    The LP National Publicity Secretary said the party’s counsel, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), had served the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), A. A. Salam and Julius Abure, the contempt of court summons.

    She warned them not to proceed with “the illegal party convention” or risk arrest.

    Mrs Ifendu said: “Credible information reaching us revealed that A. A. Salam has concluded arrangements to pull a rented crowd to declare Olusegun Mimiko as LP’s presidential candidate.

    “This illegal event is schedule to hold today (yesterday) in Abuja. This is a total violation of Article 27, Section 1, subsection i and ii of LP’s constitution.

    But at his declaration at the LP national headquarters in Abuja, Mimiko described the country as a graveyard of dreams, which should be changed to an incubation hub for great ideas.

    “It is high time we replicated over our country, that indomitable spirit of Nigerians, that spirit of accomplishment, which has made stars of individual Nigerians all over the world. The only way to do this is by electing capable hands. It is by electing a great President, that can drive this national vehicle to greatness.”

    He also listed his achievements as governor.

  • ‘I’ll surpass Mimiko’

    Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has said his administration will surpass the achievements of his predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, in quality, accessible and affordable health care.

    Akeredolu spoke in a phone interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States,  stressing that his administration was doing a lot, continuing from where Mimiko left.

    The governor hailed his predecessor for providing health care for the people, a feat that gave the state international recognition.

    He said: “We are doing a lot; we have Five Cardinal Points. We have like a contract with the people of Ondo State. One of them is for us to make healthcare affordable and accessible. This is what we are trying to do.

  • 2019: APC faction, Oyinlola, Mimiko meet Ladoja for merger talk – News

  • 2019: APC faction, Oyinlola, Mimiko meet Ladoja for merger talks

    A faction of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, a former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko yesterday met with former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    They met in separate meetings with Ladoja at his Bodija, Ibadan home amidst a crowd of supporters.

    The meetings, it was learnt, were reportedly called to enable the top politicians plan ahead of next year’s general elections and discuss strategies for the merger of opposition parties in the Southwest.

    In Ladoja’s team were former Secretary to the Oyo State Government (SSG), Sharafadeen Alli, Senator Femi Lanleyin, Peoples democratic Party (PDP) leaders in Oyo State, including Otunba Yemi Aderibigbe, Bayo Lawal, Dr. Nureni Adeniran, Nureni Adisa, Bashiru Lawal and Bimbo Adepeju.

    Oyinlola, who arrived Ladoja’s house around 9 a.m yesterday, said his meeting with Ladoja was not political.

    “I am here to visit my brother,” he said.

    Also, Mimiko, who recently defected to the Labour Party (LP), declined comments but later said: “This is a private visit, please.”

    A source close to Ladoja confirmed that members of the Unity Forum, led by Senator Monsuratu Sumonu, were on their way to meet the former governor to prepare the ground for them to work together.

    “Unity Forum members were talking to our leader before now and they are on their way to Ladoja’s house,” one of Ladoja’s loyalists said.

    A member of the former Oyo State governor’s team, who spoke in confidence, said Mimiko and Oyinlola wooed him into their parties following the seven-day ultimatum given to the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP by Ladoja’s group over the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

    “We have not decided now. We are going to meet with our leader, Ladoja, to decide our next move. But we may have a merger at the end of the day,” the source said.

    It was further learnt that after the meetings, Ladoja and his team would need to review the visits before announcing their next move.

    Ladoja recently issued a seven-day ultimatum to the NWC of the PDP over some unsettled crisis rocking the state chapter of the party.

    The APC faction, also called the Unity Forum, following a face-off with Governor Abiola Ajimobi, had threatened to quit the party, if the NWC refused to address the crisis.

  • Mimiko … on the move ooooooooooo …

    It’s still the season of fidelity to June 12, with its rehabilitation 25 years after.  So, it’s fitting to remember some MKO Abiola campaign sound bites, in the run-up to that election.

    On radio and television (not much Facebook, or Twitter or Instagram penetration then) the song started with something like Nigeria on the march again, but ended with the enchanting and captivating refrain, which children sang and capered to in the street: “MKO … is our man oooooooooooooooo”

    Those were the days, of MKO’s Hope ’93!  And fidelity to that hope, which climaxed with being martyred for his mandate; and fidelity to the sanctity of the vote, by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the Campaign for Democracy (CD) and indeed most of the human rights community, have reaped the great 2018 rehabilitation and MKO’s electoral sainthood.  Call it an ode to fidelity!

    But how many of the beneficiaries of MKO’s martyrdom, from the restoration of civil rule in 1999, bear any fidelity to the sanctity of the party system, the party that forms the organizational basics for democracy?  Only a few.

    And among the many free-wheeling, wide and merry sons and daughters of partisan infidelity, Olusegun Mimiko, former two-term governor of Ondo State, holds an especially notorious candle.

    Check his partisan record, as a “progressive”, the Nigerian lingo for social democracy, a capitalist left of the ideological spectrum, against the rightist or the centrist: from Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999, to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2003; Labour Party (LP) in 2007; back to PDP in 2014, at the tail end of his governorship, even presenting and backing a PDP gubernatorial candidate.  Now, four years later in 2018, after all the power and the glory, and the climaxing full vacuity, he’s back to LP!

    What a tour!  Indeed, a critic has dismissed Dr. Mimiko as the most peripatetic, itinerant and nomadic politician so far in the 4th Republic.  Others less courteous in their diction have bombed him with the tag of unfazed political harlotry, with a concentrated contempt for ideological propriety.  Mimiko’s only living and thriving world, they say, is ideological infidelity and political prostitution!

    But Mimiko, he of the Gba Sibe electoral battle cry, has pushed his democratic right to hold and change political opinion.  The other day at the Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya 10th year memorial, at the Shell Hall of Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, Mimiko mounted a lecture on ideological fealty in Nigerian politics!

    Apparently touting himself as a “progressive” in that polite and cultured company, he carpeted what he called the neo-Liberal ethos which, he claimed, had under-developed Nigeria!  Not a few helped themselves to a quiet and polite snigger — a Mimiko preaching ideology!   Might Gba Sibe be totally lost in the ideology-neuter jungle he has created and snarled himself?

    As at then, he was in PDP.  Now, he has made the move back to LP, perhaps walking his ideological talk.  But some LP lobbies swear they would resist Mimiko’s move, alleging he is nothing but a mole that would betray LP as he allegedly did before.

    But in all of these to-ing and fro-ing, can Mimiko the man recognize Mimiko the ideologue?  Can the Mimiko the falcon hear Mimiko the falconer, in this dense ideological jungle?

    But don’t be confused, just sing as the kids did along with MKO in 1993: “Mimiko … is on the move ooooooooooooooooo”!

    This time though, it’s ode to infidelity, ideology be damned!

  • Why I returned to Labour Party, by Mimiko

    Former Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko yesterday dumped the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Labour Party (LP) at an event witnessed by a huge crowd from the 18 local government areas of the state.

    He earlier collected the LP’s card at his Ward 7 in Ondo West Local Government Area before he drove in a long motorcade through major streets of Ondo town and later addressed party supporters at the Ondo Civic Centre.

    Mimiko used LP’s platform to serve the state as governor for eight years.

    He dumped the party in 2014 for the PDP to support former President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, which failed.

    The former governor was received into the LP fold by its National Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadri Abdulsalam, amid other National Working Committee (NWC) members.

    Observers say Mimiko may be preparing for the next presidential contest, from his utterances.

    His supporters and political associates, loyalists and kinsmen at the rally urged him to contest the presidential election under the platform of the LP.

    They assured him of their support.

    Mimiko, who was not categorical about his political ambition, said: “We should thank God for what He has done for me. He has done it before and I am sure He will do it again. He is taking me to somewhere, and by His grace, I shall get there.”

    His speech, titled: Ideological Platform for Incisive Political Engagement: the Labour Party Experience in Ondo State and Beyond, reiterated his determination to serve the people at any level.

    The former governor said his decision to return to the LP was borne out of his ideological belief in an egalitarian and a just society.

    He said: “I most humbly announce to Nigerians today my decision to quit the PDP and return to the LP, my true political family. I have taken this decision out of the conviction on the need to catalyse a greater focus on the ideological content of the Nigerian political firmament. Recall that I was of the LP, and had won my two governorship elections on the platform of the party, prior to my decision to move over to the PDP in 2014.

    “The implication of this is that there was practically no personal gain in focus for us in moving over to the PDP as at that date. The decision was also not borne out of any disagreement with LP – either ideologically or operationally. It was simply a decision that we needed to take in the higher interest of our country. We particularly had in focus the agenda of restructuring, which frontier the then President had extended a bit by convoking the National Conference.

    “We thus felt compelled to work with his party,

    hoping that his victory in the 2015 election would translate the vision of restructuring the Nigerian federation into reality.”

    Mimiko added: “Recall also that the INEC had tweaked the order of the 2015 election, joining the presidential and National Assembly elections to hold on the same day. It posed a huge practical challenge to get our supporters to vote a PDP presidential candidate and LP legislative candidates, in the same election, on the same day.

    “We thought helping to elect a presidential candidate, who had demonstrated this commitment to restructuring of the country, was well worth the risk associated with our having to step out of our LP platform to the PDP, on which the former President was running.

    “Even now, restructuring remains for us the critical plank without which the much-needed stability and functionality of our country cannot be procured.

    “We have also come with the conviction, consequent upon several years of practical involvement in the nation’s political process, that the need for ideologically focused political engagement is now more pressing than ever before. Virtually all the existing political parties in Nigeria today belong to the right of the centre, ensconced as it were in a neo-liberal mental construct, the name or mantra they choose to enrobe themselves in, notwithstanding.

    “This is evident, not in terms of the pretentious claims they make to ideological purity, but in the way and manner they have used power, including the extent to which they have mainstreamed the interest and welfare of the weak and poor in our society…”

     

     

     

    “This ideological fluidity, within which the nation’s extant democracy has evolved since 1999, deserves now to be fully interrogated with a view to engendering a transition to a more ideologically defined system of engagement.

    “This will at once allow for a nuanced

    examination of the context and content of governance, provide the Nigerian people with real alternatives and help the electorate in making informed decisions as to which individual or platform to invest with power and how to hold such to account at all times.

    “We have come to the conclusion that these are the missing links in our political process, which have tended to make an all-comers’ game of it, and one in which the interest of the mass of the people has been greatly marginalised in several of our governance spaces since 1999.

    “To be sure, our thought here is not a mere theoretical exposition. It is one that is consequent upon years of active participation in the political process – at the local, state, and federal levels – since the early 1980s and especially these past two decades.

    “Labour Party and its few ideological soul mates, among the legion of parties in the country today, provide the requisite platform for this type of deep ideological introspection. Without doubt, this social democratic mantra, which LP and its soul mates represent, remains the best possible outlet for leading Nigeria into a new era of progressive governance.

    “By the grace of God, using the platform of the LP, we demonstrated for eight years in Ondo State (2009 – 2017) what it means for government to be pro-people. It is our hope, moving forward, that working within LP and hand-in-hand with other Nigerians of like minds, we would begin to sharpen the ideological divide in Nigerian politics with a view to mainstreaming the welfare and interest of the mass of our people.

    “It is for the foregoing reasons that I, and Nigerians across the country, and in the Diaspora, who admire what we represent, as demonstrated in our varied accomplishments in government, have elected to have us return to the LP.

    “This is a decision we consider as correct, reasonable and patriotic. With this, we are no more restrained from offering to the Nigerian people a pristine, truly ideologically-driven, well-thought-out and historically valid alternative for repositioning our country.”

     

    Ex-governor’s return excites Labour Party

    The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) has expressed delight at the return of the immediate past governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to the party.

    LP’s National Chairman Abdulkadir Abdulsalam said the return of the former governor and his supporters would add more value to the party.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, the chairman urged the public, especially party members and supporters, to discountenance remarks credited to Mike Omotosho that Mimiko was not welcome back into the party.

    The statement reads: “The Labour Party wishes to dismiss …a statement credited to Mike Omotosho purporting to reject the return to the Labour Party of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past governor of Ondo State and his teeming supporters.

    “We state that the position expressed by this individual does not reflect the position of the executive and members of the party across the country.

    “The Labour Party is elated that a social democrat like Dr. Mimiko, who through his sterling performances as governor mainstreamed pro-people and pro-poor policies, programmes and projects, is returning to add value to the party…”

  • Mimiko’s return excites Labour Party

    The leadership of the Labour Party has expressed delight at the return of former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to the party.

    The National Chairman of the LP, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, who was excited by the turn of event, said the return of the former governor and his supporters would add more value to the party.

    Abdulsalam, in a statement issued on Thursday also, urged the public, especially party members and supporters to discountenance remarks credited to one Mike Omotosho, saying Mimiko was not welcome back to the party.

    The statement reads:  “The Labour Party wishes to dismiss in its entirety a statement credited to one Mike Omotosho purporting to reject the return to the Labour Party of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the immediate past Governor of Ondo State and his teeming supporters.

    “We state that the position expressed by this individual does not reflect the position of the executive and members of the party across the country.

    “The Labour Party is elated that a social democrat like Dr. Mimiko, who through his sterling performances as governor mainstreamed pro-people and pro-poor policies, programmes and projects, is returning to add value to the party.

    “Contrary to the views expressed via the said statement, we state that the Labour Party is open to all Nigerians who subscribe to her goals, programmes and social democratic ideology, and does not owe her existence to any single individual outside the provisions of its constitution.”