DR. OLUSEGUN MIMIKO – GOVERNOR OF ONDO STATE

DR. OLUSEGUN MIMIKO – GOVERNOR OF ONDO STATE Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, the Governor of Ondo State, was born on 3rd October, 1954 in Ondo. After his primary education in the town, he entered St. Joseph’s College, Ondo, in 1966 and left with his West African School Certificate in 1970. He also did his Higher School Certificate at Gboluji Grammar School, Ile-Oluji before gaining admission into Obafemi Awolowo University (then University of Ife) in 1972 to read medicine, graduating in 1980, after which he registered with the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council as a Medical Practitioner.
Dr. Mimiko for several years practised his profession in several establishments in his home state as well as in Rivers State, more specifically with the Nigeria Naval College (NNS Onura) in Onne, Port Harcourt between 1981 and 1982 before he went back home to join Ondo State Health Management Board before finally going into full-time private medical practice with the setting up of the MONA MEDICLINIC with headquarters in Ondo Town.
Beyond his professional and business callings, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko had an abiding interest in politics. This dates back to his university days at Ile-Ife where he held many offices in the students’ union. By 1983, he was also already in politics and served as the Publicity Secretary of the Ondo Local Government Chapter of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). In the Third Republic, he was elected twice as ex-officio member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Executive Council in Ondo Local Government Area.
As a result of his dynamism in his years in politics, he has been appointed twice as Honourable Commissioner of Health in Ondo State and introduced so many innovations into the State’s health sector.
Imbued with the determination to serve his state and country at a higher level, on November 7, 2002 Dr. Mimiko resigned his appointment as Ondo State Commissioner for Health, and on November 19, a fortnight later, he joined the gubernatorial race on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD). He lost and joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). After the victory of the party in 2003, he was appointed Secretary to the State Government.
He later joined the Labour Party (LP) under which platform he ran for Governor and won the April 2007 election. But because of the electoral dispute that attended that election, he could not take office until two years later and as such, governorship election is not due in Ondo State until 2012. Meanwhile, he improved governance a lot in Ondo, especially in the health sector.