•Says his father threatened not to accept him

Olusola Fabiyi

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.

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