Mimiko assumes office, pledges sweeping reforms
From Niyi Bello and Julius Alabi, Akure
AT exactly 1.40 p.m. yesterday, Dr. Rahman Olusegun Abayomi Mimiko took the oath of office as the sixth civilian governor of Ondo State and the 16th helmsman of the 33-year-old state.
The inauguration of the Labour Party (LP) administration yesterday ended his 22-month struggle to reclaim the mandate conferred on him on April 14, 2007, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave to Dr. Olusegun Agagu, who the Appeal Court, Benin Division, removed from office on Monday.
The appellate court, which dismissed all the grounds of Agagu's appeal, affirmed the earlier verdict of the Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on July 25, 2008, which quashed Agagu's controversial victory on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mimiko, who arrived at the gate of the Akure Sports Stadium at about noon, could not gain entrance to the main bowl because of the mass of people at the venue. It took him and his wife, Oluwakemi, about 40 minutes to get to the podium, which was only about 200 metres away.
Dressed in a dark-coloured locally-made fabric sown in the popular Mimiko free style with brown sandals, an elated Mimiko threw clenched fists to the frenzied crowd in a manner reminiscence of his state-wide campaign that shook Ondo State to its very foundation during the three months between the formation of the LP and the April 14, 2007 elections.
In his inaugural speech after being administered with the oath of office by the state's Chief Judge, Justice Gladys Olateru-Olagbegi, some three minutes after same was administered on his Deputy, Alhaji Alli Olagunju Olanusi, Mimiko told the mammoth crowd that "I will be the governor of the entire people of Ondo State," adding that the machinery of governance would be overhauled.
Apparently thinking that because of their jubilation, the audience might not have heard him very well, Mimiko repeated: "I promise before you all today (yesterday) that I shall be the governor of the entire people of Ondo State. There shall be no witch-hunt of any kind. This administration needs the support of everyone to succeed."
Mimiko also said he had forgiven everyone, including those that stole the mandate of the people in the last 22 months.
The governor promised to look into the activities of the previous administration. "We shall review the activities of the government of this state in the past five years, with emphasis on programmes and projects embarked upon by that government in the last two years."
With shouts of Iroko (nickname and symbol of his political base in the state) renting the air, the governor said that his administration would only continue with projects of the Agagu administration that were well thought out.
Mimiko, who also spoke extempore and in Yoruba, amid songs of praise to "the Almighty God for seeing us through this dark tunnel," noted that every government thrives on the people's trust, adding that what we are celebrating today is your trust, the mandate you gave me, the mandate you fought and the mandate you have rescued from those who stole it."
It was a carnival of sorts with popular musician, King Sunny Ade rendering tunes to which the audience danced to.
He promised not to fail the people, saying: "I shall fulfil my pact of the social contract, which I enter with you today. This social contract shall be built on the prosperity of the people. Why we subscribe to the workings of a liberal economy, this must be within the context of our social reconstruction programme, which focuses on resources being vested in the people through communal initiatives. This administration shall empower the people to drive the development of the state."
Amidst deafening cheers from the crowd at the venue, Mimiko pledged "a completely new paradigm of governance under which we shall use existing communal structures and our legendary 'my-brother's-keeper' spirit to drive development."
As early as 7.00 a.m. yesterday, the streets of Akure were adorned with the orange and green colours of the LP and new posters of Mimiko as hundreds of vehicles carrying party faithful from across the 18 local councils in the state arrived in the state capital in long convoys of jubilating people.
It was also an unusual gathering of politicians from across party lines. Conspicuous among them was LP National Chairman Dan Anyanwu and his Action Congress (AC) counterpart, Chief Bisi Akande; former PDP Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh; a member of the party's Board of Trustees (BoT) and director-general of President Yar'Adua's campaign, Chief Bode George; AC chieftain from Edo State, Tom Ikimi; and the party's National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed. The presence of PDP leaders was said to be with a view to getting Mimiko back into the party.
To also show this multi-party solidarity with Mimiko, several groups from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) carried aloft their banners and hundreds of others. The AC camp waved brooms at the crowd while others made jest of the PDP by hoisting tattered umbrellas made in the party's colours.
The body of opposition in the South-West zone was well represented with the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu leading his colleagues - Chief Olusegun Osoba (Ogun State), Chief Niyi Adebayo (Ekiti), AC governorship candidates in the last polls, Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti). The entrance of Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole caused a stir inside the capacity-filled stadium.
A full complement of the leadership of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba association, was also in attendance with personalities such as its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti and former Finance Minister, Chief Olu Falae. Even the breakaway faction of the group, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), led by Chief Bayo Ademodi, was not left out.
Several bands of traditional dancing groups entertained the crowd with the Ebira community of Ondo State, to which the PDP claimed Mimiko belonged during the build-up to the last polls to insinuate that he was not an indigene of the state, taking the central stage to celebrate "one of their own."
Promising a new dawn in the state in terms of economic prosperity and social stability, Mimiko said the entire people would be mobilised "for the task of taking the state to an unprecedented level of meaningful existence.
"Our government is a people-oriented government in which we shall help the masses to take decisions that will empower and ennoble them, a people-driven development programme that involves ownership in conception, prioritisation, execution and monitoring."
The governor however assured the people of free health and education, saying that the LP government remained committed to providing free healthcare for all children from age zero to five and all pregnant women from conception to delivery.
Mimiko said because education is a vital key for breaking the yoke of poverty and ignorance, his administration would remain committed to the provision of free and quantitative education for children up to senior secondary school level.
"Our scholarship scheme shall be merit-driven. And bursary to our students in higher educational institutions across the country shall henceforth be paid on time to make such support system meaningful to the beneficiaries," he said.
Other dignitaries at the event were former governor of the state, Bamidele Olumilua, businessman Oyewole Fasawe, Anglican cleric, Rev. Bolanle Gbonigi, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, Femi Falana, Chief Wole Babalakin and prominent traditional rulers from the state.
