Mimiko: I’ll Liberate Ondo People from Poverty If Elected Governor

Candidate of Zenith Labour Party in the November, 2024 governorship election in Ondo state, Dr Abbas Mimiko in this interview with Fidelis David speaks on the concept of gubernatorial rotation policy, his seven-key agenda for the state, among other issues.

Why do you want to be governor of Ondo State, especially considering the fact that your brother, Dr Olusegun Mimiko ruled just eight years ago?

One of the things that propelled me to coming back was when ‘Iroko’ wanted to run Ondo State . I knew the caliber of person he is, that if we can have a leader like this in the state, things are going to change for our people. So I said, let me come and throw in my 10 cents as the saying goes.

It is easy to sit in the comfort of your home and say, well, I’m a psychiatrist, I’m this, I’m that. When your next-door neighbor that is pregnant die because she couldn’t bring up N350,000 to pay maternity. When your next-door neighbor’s daughter that left in the morning looking beautiful, what you hear in the evening is that they amputated her legs after she had accident on motorcycle. Unless you don’t have consciousness of God in you, you won’t feel good.

So I kept asking myself, must it be like this? Must we continue like this? When are people going to realize that there is bigger joy in service than in what you accumulate personally? So, I said, let us take up this challenge.

Do you think your ambition is a cause worth fighting for?

Definitely, it’s a cause that is worth fighting. But it’s not something one can fight alone. Look, I’m a regular struggling person. If you want to take power from those who obtain N10 billion a month from federal allocation it’s going to be difficult unless the common people believe that they really want to take themselves out of the doldrums of poverty and disease and want a place of prosperity. It’s not a one-man show.

What is your agenda for the state?

We are running on the seven keys of prosperity. One is ‘Karije’ – food security for everybody. Two is  ‘Karimu’ – portable water for every citizen. The third one is ‘Karina’ – massive industrialisation, wealth creation, entrepreneurship that will take us to the next level in economic independence. ‘Karika’ – educational opportunity for every citizen, ‘Kanilera’ – that’s our health project, among others.

You are from the central district and going by the “unwritten” zoning arrangement in the state, the people of  Ondo South Senatorial district believe that it is their turn to produce the next governor. What’s your position on this?

Ondo State isn’t ripe for the concept of governorship rotational policy.We need an efficient running system that is productive for the people before talking of rotation. A place where people are already happy with their lives. I’m not using Lagos as a prototype of goodness but for example, Lagos state, it doesn’t matter if they have a very good governor or not because the system has a lot of businesses and a lot of things running, almost like an automaton.

But in Ondo state, we have to understand one thing, we are running basically on federal allocation. It’s extremely important that we have a leader that can use what we have to get what we want. That’s why I said, if everything was running smoothly, it would be an embarrassment. I personally felt embarrassed the first time I said, I want to run for governor.

It is like we are on a flight, and the plane is about to crash. We want the best pilot in the world to pilot that plane to safety, not the ones that come from a particular neighborhood. That’s my own challenge with regards to weather it’s the turn of the South, North or central. Until we have a system where every mother feeds herself and her children, where every father goes home proudly in the evening with money in his pocket to take care of the school fees of his children, we can’t do rotation now. Let’s get the best of the best.

Is your brother, Dr Olusegun Mimiko in support of your political move?

I don’t want him to give me any endorsement. What I need is the people, the endorsement of the masses and the people of Ondo State. I won’t vote for somebody whose brother is raising his hand saying I became governor, come and vote for my brother! No!

So I don’t want to be referenced, you can reference me as part of the success of the ‘Iroko’ phenomenon because we planned many of those good programmes together, but I can’t claim those programmes. I was not the governor, I want to be governor so that I can showcase the plans I have. ‘Iroko’s’ administration will be child’s play with what we have on ground for Ondo.

No doubt, the power of incumbency, structure and financial strength are some of the factors considered in an election, what are the measures you put in place to ensure that you defeat the incumbent government in the coming election?

Let’s look at this analysis. We are six million people in Ondo state and all the active politicians in Ondo state are not more than 50,000. At best, let’s say 60,000. That’s one percent  of six million. I’m not your run-of-the-mill politician. I don’t even consider myself a politician. I consider myself one of the people of Ondo state that are suffering, that want to liberate themselves from poverty, from disease, from want. So, I am not fazed by the idea that somebody is an incumbent governor who obtains N10 billion a month from federal allocation.

And that’s why some of the APC stalwarts are saying, ‘we would buy a vote for N20,000, we sweep you away. You have no idea. If we pay N20,000 per vote, the voters will not only sell their vote, they will sell their mothers in addition.’ They can say all they want to say. It’s left for the people of Ondo state to demonstrate that we are decent human beings, that we know what we want, that we’re not going to be sold off to Babylon again. It is our duty.

The level of insecurity in the country is worrisome,  what are your plans, especially areas where kidnapping is becoming unabated in the Northern part of Ondo State?

The level of insecurity is staggering, it is flabbergasting to say the least. That why the 7th ‘K’ of prosperity in my manifesto which means ‘Kani’ (Let’s have peace) will take care of security. The regular federal security agencies, Army, police, DSS, Federal Road Safety Corps, Civil Defence, all of them, we will strengthen them to the best of our ability.