Madam Muyinat, mother of the outgoing Governor of Ondo
State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has said that his son disappeared from her womb
when his pregnancy was five and half months old.
She said that it was amazing that his son’s pregnancy
suddenly disappeared while her hitherto protruded stomach became flat.
She added that the baby inside her womb was also not kicking
anymore.
The governor’s mother stated this in his son’s new book titled “Mimiko’s Odyssey: A
Biography of Revelations.”
The book was presented to the public in Akure, the Ondo
State capital on Wednesday.
Madam Muyinat said, “His birth? I had a child before him.
The governor is my second child. When his pregnancy was about five and a half
months, it suddenly disappeared.
“It didn’t kick, not any sign of pregnancy in my womb again.
The stomach that was protruded suddenly went flat.”
Apart from the alleged disappearance of the governor’s
pregnancy, the book also revealed that his father, Pa. Atiku Famimikomi, took
seriously ill when his (the governor’s) mother was carrying the pregnancy.
The ailing father was said to have insisted that if his wife
was not delivered of the baby on October 3, 1954, then he was not responsible
for the pregnancy.
However, the book said that the father did not divulge the
reason why he picked the date to anyone before he died.
The book said, “Aside the pregnancy seemingly disappearing,
as narrated by Mama Muyinat Mimiko, it is also on record that the conception of
Olusegun Mimiko coincided with when his father, Pa Atiku Mimiko, took seriously
ill.
“The father, even on his sick bed, kept reiterating to
whoever cared to listen that if the child was not delivered on October 3, then
it would mean that he was not responsible for the pregnancy.
“Why he was so emphatic about the date is unknown to anyone,
and may never be known, as the father did not divulge it before his demise.
According to Mama Mimiko, Pa Atiku was used to guessing the
time for her deliveries but had never been so insistent on the exact date as he
did in the governor’s case. As fate would have it, on the morning of
October 3, 1954, Mama Mimiko started feeling the pangs of childbirth and was
taken to the hospital by her mother.
“She had moved to the mother’s house when the pressure from
her in-laws was becoming unbearable. According to her, the family members were
uncomfortable about her husband’s illness and blamed her for it. This was
compounded by her husband’s insistence on the exact date on which the child had
to be born for him to accept it.
“At noon on October 3, the child was born and the news got
to the family. The father was filled
with joy and he exclaimed, ‘That is alright. Alhamdulilai, Oluwasegun!’
This was to become one of the names of the newborn.
“As is customary in most cultures, including the Islamic and
Yoruba, a child is formally named on the eighth day. Eight days after his
birth, therefore, Islamic clerics gathered and the child was first named
Abdulrahman, then his father named him Oluwasegun (meaning, God has given us
victory) and his mother named him Abayomi (Ota i ba yomi Oluwa ni oje), meaning
“but for God, my enemies would have derided me”.
The book also explained how Mimiko is now popularly known as
“Iroko”.
It said, “The versatility and complexities of the
personality of Iroko are invoked in the socio-political character of Olusegun
Mimiko, who had named his farm Iroko Farm because the Iroko is generally
perceived as the King of the forest.
“Following his numerous political battles and triumphs, his
political calculations and strategies, strength of character, courage in the
face of adversity, and daring political manoeuvres, Mimiko has been transformed
in the eyes of his followers into that feared and revered Iroko man in Yoruba
mythology with his superhuman capacities.
“The name Iroko, by spontaneous popular concession, buoyed
by Mimiko’s political exploits, has been foisted on him to emphasise his
indomitable political adventures and politicking, especially after facing
internal and external opponents in his re-election bid and triumphing
gallantly.”
Mimiko, whose tenure would expire as the governor of Ondo
State on February 23, also explained how he became a politician.
He said his first political party was the defunct Unity
Party of Nigeria, but explained that he joined the faction under the leadership
of the late former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Chief Akin Omoboriowo.
During this time, the UPN was then factionalised between the
former governor of the state, Chief Adekunle Ajasin and his deputy, Akin
Omoboriowo.
Both of them are now late.
Mimiko said, “That time, there was no question as to what
party I was going to join. UPN was
already my party. The first day, I just wanted to register with a political
party. I went to the UPN Secretariat; I said I wanted to register.
“Then they asked, ‘Which faction?’ Then I said, ‘Faction?’
That was 1982. I had my NYSC in 1981. They said which faction because there was
Ajasin faction and Omoboriowo faction. Then I remembered that Ogunye, my
lecturer, was also a UPN activist.
“ I then said there was a lecturer called Dr. Ogunye. I
asked which faction he was. They said that was the frontline man in
Omoboriowo’s camp. Then I said that was where they should put my name. “
He explained that there was no other reason why he joined
the faction other than his lecturer’s radicalism, especially how he said he
(Ogunye) slapped a contractor at Ife, which he said was still fresh in his
mind.
“There was no other reason other than his radicalism,
especially how he slapped a contractor at Ife was still fresh in my mind. And
when I was to be disciplined, he stood and defended me.” he added.
0 Comments