Governor Mimiko

By Bola Bolawole

A couple of weeks ago, I visited my home town, Owo; it was an exhilarating experience. I had not been there in the actual sense of the word since I buried my mother there in 2006. It was a mixture of duty tour and relaxation and I did not have more than four hours of play – but it worthwhile all the same. The reunion with family members, old schoolmates, age-long friends, and other acquaintances made my day. Of course, on such occasions, discussions covered a lot of topics and interests and, including politics; especially with Ondo state on the countdown to its governorship election – which, barring any untoward event; is billed for later this month. I felt the pulse of the people. I had expected their answer to be straightforward. Expectedly, the answer was yes; but surprisingly also, it was also no.

Based on the age-old rotation of the governorship slot in Ondo state, the argument is that it is the turn of the Ondo North senatorial district, comprising Owo and Akoko, to produce the next governor. And based on the same principle of rotation between Owo and Akoko, it is the turn of Owo to produce the governor. I have participated in some of the brain-storming in Lagos by some groups desirous of having the governorship slot surrendered to Owo by the leading political parties as well as politicians. It did not quite work the way we had wanted it; the first obstacle being the recalcitrance of the deluge of aspirants from Owo\Ose, the two local governments making up the old Owo local government, to allow the zone present a common front. But as providence would have it, the All Progressives Congress’s primary produced Rotimi Akeredolu, from Owo, as its flag bearer. The controversy attending the primary notwithstanding, this was a welcome development – or so I thought.

The other strong political party was the Peoples Democratic Party; with the power of incumbency behind it, it was reasoned that the PDP flag bearer would be a hard nut to crack. Efforts were made to get Gov. Olusegun Mimiko to see reason with Owo and tailor the PDP primary to produce a flag bearer from Owo; he not only refused but also settled for his protégé, Eyitayo Jegede, a candidate from the same Ondo Central senatorial district as Mimiko, as the PDP flag bearer. The PDP as well as APC primaries gave rise to dissenting voices and defections but APC was the worst hit. National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and party National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, had to look each other eye-ball to eye-ball. The reverberations of that fight by two elephants was said to have been felt right up to the inner sanctuary of power in the Presidential Villa.

It was even said to have led to the unusual public umbrage taken by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, against her husband, Buhari. That front is quiet now, even if no one can say for sure what the disgruntled elements have up their sleeves. Politicians fight by proxies. They plot and execute sinister motives underground. As the APC front calmed, the genie of trouble surfaced in the PDP. “Cunny man die, cunny man bury am” is a saying that has got smart guy Mimiko rueing what hit him. When he thought he had coasted home to victory, he was ambushed by opponents who used the court to torpedo his boat. A controversial judgement from the blues knocked off Jegede as the PDP flag bearer and enthroned Jimoh Ibrahim, a business man who has had the pretentions and presumptions of a politician.

As it stands, Mimiko and Jegede are left dangling in the air a couple of weeks to the election. Their appeal against the “satanic” judgment has suffered from the usual delay tactics of lawyers. While they weigh their options, Ondo state is restive. Open display of disavowal of the surreptitious effort to ambush Mimiko and Jegede had led to dangerous street protests. For those who have a sense of history, Ondo is not a push-over when it comes to the question of what they perceive as electoral injustice. The facts speak for themselves, whether in the First Republic (1964\65) or in the Second (1983). The people must not be needlessly provoked into taking their destiny in their hands.

While I share the view of those who felt it serves Mimiko right that he has been taken in his political manoeuvres, I would have preferred that he was beaten blue and black on Election Day and not through this subterfuge. If this smart under-hand does not go as smoothly as some people expect, Ondo may burn. As a child, I watched it burn in the First Republic. Some of the pumps used to set houses ablaze in the “Operation Wetie” of the First Republic were forcibly taken from my father’s shop. I followed in their trail and they nearly threw me into the raging fire when, in childish ignorance, I protested as they sprayed petrol on the house of my Primary school classmate and friend, Azzez Olukokun (alias “Three Stones” because of the shape of his head) at Oke-Ijebu. I still remember those incidents as if they happened yesterday.

We must never have a repeat; and if we are not to, justice must be done. My friends were calm as we discussed the chances of Owo a couple of weeks ago. If Akeredolu (APC) wins; Owo wins. Akeredolu’s father, like mine, is from Owo. If Jegede (PDP\Mimiko); Owo has half of the yam; his mother being from Ipele (in Owo local government), my own mother and grandmother’s place of birth). If Oke (now in Alliance for Democracy) wins; Owo also have a third or quarter of the yam, his mother being from Imoru (in Ose local government, which used to be a part of Owo). Take Jimoh Ibrahim out of it and it appears a win-win situation for Owo.
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