*Photo: Dr Abbas Mimiko *
Dr Abbas Mimiko is a major political player in Ondo State. In this interview, he speaks on the build up to next year’s governorship election in the state while also appraising the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Excerpts:
Q:The next Governorship Election in your state, Ondo, is slated for 2024. How has the administration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu fared? Do you see his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) retaining power or will it swing to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or a third force?
A: The Governorship election in Ondo State is slated for November 16th, 2024, barely a year from now.
The people of Ondo State are in the best position to judge the performance of the present APC Government in Ondo State.
We know for a fact that Governor Arakunrin Akeredolu has played his part. The people will be the judge. What I personally admire in him is that he is a man of conviction. He demonstrated courage under fire on the formation of Amatekun.
With Bros Aketi, what you see is what you get. He led the Southwest Governors’ Forum to establish Amotekun, our regional security apparatus, at a time when it was risky for him to do so. Remember, he had his faith hanging in the Supreme Court and could easily have lost his governor’s seat.
And we all know what the then Cabal in Aso Rock felt about the idea of Amotekun at that time. Yet Aketi stood his ground.
The more pertinent question now is: why are those in the APC government who stood their ground when Aketi cancelled the free school shuttle bus service, the free Maternal Care and Childcare service, among a myriad of lofty, people oriented programs of Olusegun Mimiko, saying they want to succeed Arakunrin Akeredolu? Again, that is for the people of Ondo State to decide.
If performance is the factor upon which the people will decide, neither APC nor PDP will fly. A third force is anyone’s best bet. People are tired of being lied to by the long-existing political establishment in Ondo State. They need something new and promising. They want to look out for their common good by themselves, instead of surrendering their franchise to those they believe impoverish them using the instrumentality of power.
Q: Basically, what do you feel the people of the state need from the next Governor?
A: Ondo State is richly endowed by God in human and natural resources. We have no excuse to continue to wallow in poverty. And our people are not asking for the moon. They need
- Food security
- Portable water
- Vibrant business and investment environment to prosper
- Access to good education and vocational training
- Affordable mass housing projects
- Comprehensive and affordable healthcare services and a
- Secure environment within which to prosper.
Our people are not really asking for the moon.
Q: So where do you stand in all these calculations? Are you going to contest for the next Governorship Election?
A: As the political season nears, speculations are rife all over the place as per who and who are going to run or not run. A lot of people have approached us to consider a rescue mission for Ondo State. We keep all our options open, while praying for the best for our dear Sunshine state.
Q: Lets go to the Federal level. How will you appraise the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration since it came on board on 29 May 2023?
I believe President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is the right man for the job of President and Commander-in-Chief of our country at this critical moment of our existence.
Our economy has been so badly mismanaged over these years and we were in the doldrums.
The man was handed an economy where 90% of revenue was going into debt servicing alone! Where youth unemployment is quoted on paper to be 4% but we know in reality it can’t be less than 60%; and if you add under-employment, you are probably going to be talking over 80%!
He was handed a country where the centrifugal forces that threatened to pull us apart were virtually overwhelming the forces that want to keep us together.
He was handed a country where the lives of citizens had become so cheap in the hands of terrorists, bandits and miscreants of all genre.
He was handed a country that priced foreign exchange differently for friends and foes.
He was handed a country where the oil subsidy scam could drown the economy of even a first world nation, talk less of a gasping one like ours.
In short, he was handed a country that could virtually pass for a failed state.
In his short time as president, has demonstrated uncommon courage. Take for instance, his unification of the exchange rates, that will ensure that scarce foreign resources go to real importers of essential goods.
He announced removal of oil subsidy on assumption of office to stem the hemorrhaging of our scarce resources in the hands of a very powerful few.
He could simply have positioned himself to be the primary beneficiary of those scams but he put his foot down in order to resuscitate our moribund economy in the immediate and ensure its resurgence in the near future.
He understands that we have to undergo a painful process of rebirth of a new Nigeria and he is not shying away from the tough decisions.
He is focusing on FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) to jumpstart our economy.
I will plead that we give him time and our wholehearted support as citizens.
I will also advise that Mr President looks more inward to grow the economy as well.
He must also, without delay focus on restructuring the country in order to unbundle and unleash the latent strength of the component nations that make up this country, which for too long has been caged and suppressed by this disingenuous unitary system that we operate.
In summary, I see President BAT as the man for the tough job and I have no regret to have campaigned and voted for him in the last presidential election.