[dropcap]L[/dropcap]oius Odion’s “Mimiko: Profile in Treachery” comes across as the first of many expected opinion pieces meant to rewrite the history of Ondo State and particularly that of Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the two-term governor of the state.
From the beginning to the very end, Odion rode on lies, half truths and ill-motivated assumptions to rail Mimiko and nail him for offences not quite clear. He was generous in insults, flowery in negative superlatives and unprofessional in recourse to falsehood!
He obviously was enamoured by the largely ignored piece penned by Sam Omatseye, another writer in The Nation’s stable who in the past took it upon himself to attack Mimiko and all he stands for.
The kernel of Odion’s unfortunate diatribe could be found in one paragraph, highlighted for effect in the original piece in The Nation of Friday, December 3, 2016. It reads: “Mimiko’s tragic flaw stems from the carnal assumption that political success is to be measured only by material acquisitions without subscribing to any enduring moral value. To believe in nothing and stand for nothing is the worst cardinal sin. Even common harlots are governed by some ethics – an obligation to keep clients’ confidentiality, for instance.”
How sadly wrong can a tainted viewpoint be? Mimiko’s most ardent critics, safe irretrievably corrupted minds like Odion, will exercise restraint before pouring the black tar of ‘material acquisition’ on the Ondo governor! Eight years as a governor, about two years as Minister, several years as commissioner, secretary to the state government, Mimiko will stand out as the least in terms of material acquisition and or affluence. Not for him a house in London, Dubai or elsewhere outside the shores of this country. Mimiko as we write own no house in Lagos, Akure or elsewhere in Nigeria other than a house in Abuja and another in his home town, Ondo.
These properties were all built long before he became Governor and Odion and his likes are free to carry out forensic investigation to show otherwise. Where then is the perceived assumption that “political success is to be measured only by material acquisitions? Odion and those who put him to this satanic attack will have to prove, if not openly now then in the inner recesses of their conscience.
Being a former commissioner and journalist, Odion knows governors who are billionaires in dollars, he worked with those who were paupers before becoming governors and have now become multi millionaires. He is media consultant to some across political divides. Sad that he has chosen the most modest of them all to attack and demonise. He has God and his conscience to judge him.
But that was not all he did. In another trip off reason and common sense, he gaffed thus: “In his hey-day, he conveniently chose to believe that politics and politicking could exist in a moral vacuum. A psychotic affliction which led my brother and colleague, Sam Omatseye, to memorably characterize him as “whitlow of the South-west.”
Yet another sinister manipulation of facts. Mimiko has always believed and has never ceased reiterating the fact that politics without morals is dangerous. He has always premised his policies and actions on the moral template of doing good to the greater number of people.
And when has it become the norm to accuse a public office holder of “psychotic affliction”? What brand of journalism allows a seasoned writer to so irresponsibly refer to another citizen let alone governor?
If Odion refuses to know, in all his politics, Mimiko has always advocated decency in language, modesty in material things, respect to the elderly, and above all, a fair deal to the other party. These are moral poles upon which relationships in Yoruba land where he hails from are built. Mimiko has never deviated from them. Which brings one to the oft touted allegation of treachery and betrayal against Mimiko. Odion and many like him refer only to a part of history, choosing all the time to conveniently black out the most important, the truth.
For example, to underline his allegation of treachery, he began tracing Mimiko’s political journey from the era of the late Adebayo Adefarati, ignoring conveniently the fact that MImiko had aspired to be Governor long before Adefarati came on board. Odion forgot that Mimiko became a health Commissioner with credible records of achievements under the Governorship of Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua. The warped historian that he is, he forgot to mention that even when Olumilua and Mimiko have chosen different political platforms at different intervals since the former made the latter a Commissioner, both have held each other in high esteem. Odion and many like him choose to credit Mimiko’s political ascendancy to the appointment by Adefarati and by so doing conclude that he betrayed his benefactor by working against him. Nothing can be far from the truth. The man who gave Mimiko the inroad was Olumilua, he has never for once failed to acknowledge this fact, even when emergency chronologists like Odion feel differently.
The ungarnished truth is that Baba Adefarati saw an asset in Mimiko, invited him and promised to support him after four years to actualise his ambition to become governor. If that deal did not fall through, it is not because Mimiko betrayed anybody. At best, the story must have been otherwise. But Baba Adefarati is dead and gone, one only hopes other players, conversant with the reality of the Adefarati/Mimiko affair, will rise above politics and speak out one day to the shame of revisionists like Odion.
One clear fact is that Mimiko has never hidden his quest to become governor. From his student union days in Ife, he has always proven to be a leader keen on acquiring power to wrought tangible change on the society. He repeatedly gave an account of how he knew that with the right intervention, maternal and infant mortality could be drastically reduced with his experience as a private medical doctor. He told those who cared to listen that being a governor, or holding executive position is the surest way to actualise those dreams. It is only emergency historian like Odion who could miss this important part of Mimiko’s history.
Like in the Adefarati case, the relationship between the late Agagu and Mimiko also goes along similar trajectory. Not only was Mimiko a contender for the office of Governor before Agagu. The late former governor sought out Mimiko for an alliance and offered him the post of SSG long before he became governor with an assurance that he will run for a term and allow Mimiko to actualise his dream of becoming a governor thereafter. On more than two occasions, the late Agagu openly said he would not run for office after his first term. If he changed his mind as he had the right to, it will not be right to now accuse a man who has been assured of his right to contest as treacherous.
Again, those who were in the cabinet with Mimiko and Agagu in Adefarati’s era and in Agagu’s era are still alive and one hopes they’ll be willing to write their sides of the story one day.
Yet, Odion did more than invert the truth in his ungodly denouement of Mimiko. He lied about a nonexistent pact with Jimoh Ibrahim arising from a phantom financial support. He, earlier in the piece, condemned Mimiko’s role in the crisis within the PDP and queried his efforts to make peace. He riled: “but even as the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Mimiko acted up his billing as a political sailor without moral compass. All along, he continued to flirt with both the Makarfi camp and the Sheriff faction, perhaps shamelessly hoping to bed one after the other.” Odion must be high on something to reason in this debased manner! Did he expect the Chairman of the Governors Forum to look on as the party is torn from all comers by forces within and without? Was his expectation such that Mimiko should just fold his arms and look on particularly when the crisis was to have ramifying effect on the election in Mimiko’s home State? How far can the the opportunity of a page to pour verbiage be negatively exploited?
Where is sense, where is reason, where is logic in Odion’s ungodly enterprise? Did Odion forget as he travels along the road to ridicule that it is this same Mimiko who took the legal option when all peaceful means failed to upend the Sheriff camp and the ‘dagboru’ group in Ondo? How do you hope to “bed one after the other” after you have taken the legal way out, Mr Loius Odion?
Time and space will not permit a point by point unravelling of the tissue of lies packaged as informed opinion by Loius Odion in the satanic piece. The Asiwaju Tinubu angle however needs some attention. Mimiko has never denied receiving support from Tinubu. The support came in the form of technical input from the Late Andrian Forty, not a dime came in cash form Mimiko has repeatedly made obvious. So, the nature of the support and the perception of what had to be furnished for it is the point that has been contested. Even at that, never has Mimiko insulted Tinubu or any leader since coming to office. When then President Obasanjo insulted Mimiko’s parents and queried his upbringing in the heat of politics, Mimiko never retorted. When Tinubu came into Akure with imports from all over the South West and poured invectives on Mimiko, not a word of insult emanated from his stable. It is on record that one of Mimiko’s aide lost his favour when he attempted to insult Tinubu in a press release. Where then did Odion get his lies from the pit of hell that Mimiko “…would turn round to publicly call his old benefactor unprintable names during this re-election bid in 2012.” Where?
As usual, Mimiko will be disposed to leaving men like Odion to their devices. When Jimoh insulted him in the report Odion celebrated as if Jimoh’ action represents decency and noble upbringing, Mimiko kept quiet. When Baba Obasanjo ridiculed him and threatened him with EFCC, he only said he has nothing to hide. When Asiwaju Tinubu came to Ondo and went bare knuckle on Mimiko, silence was the response from him. One is sure his media minders will do nothing on Odion’s infamy here. After all, they let Sam Omatseye, the pen merchant have his day in a series of diatribe against their principal not too long ago. As a citizen close to the theatre however, one has a duty to tell the truth as one sees it. Loius Odion’s piece on Mimiko comes out as a lazy effort by a man who is privileged to have a page to pour scum on others. He could have at least used his “The Bottom Line” to do better than the hatchet job done on Friday, December 3, 2016.
Mimiko may not have achieved all he set out to do, he has surpassed a lot of records in achievements. False opinion pieces like Odion’s may be emblazoned in prints for ever, they will however not obliterate the number of school children who have benefitted from modern schools built by Mimiko across Ondo State. Printed words, long as they may endure, will not erase the lives of children and mothers saved through the Abiye Safe Motherhood initiative of Mimiko.
Owo, Akure, Ondo and Igokoda Roads, turned to dual carriageways by Mimiko, will remain testimonies of his era. The community-chosen projects delivered across the rural areas will stand the test of time and testify to his pro-people government. Short as human memories may appear, the days and years ahead may yet smile on Mimiko and his good deeds in Ondo. For a man who shattered the ceiling as the first to fully run two terms, Mimiko is not the failure that Odion and revisionists like him would want the world to see.
He has played his part as governor of Ondo State, he succeeded in many ways, history awaits the man who will do better than him as governor of Ondo State.
Moyo Rex-Duyile is a political activists. He can be reached on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
