Former governorship candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) in Ondo State, Abass Mimiko, has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves a second term in office, urging Nigerians to give the administration more time to consolidate its reforms.
Mimiko, who spoke during an interaction with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo State Council, in Ondo town, said the Tinubu administration inherited serious economic challenges which required difficult decisions.
He said Nigerians should assess the impact of the reforms by considering what could have happened if the government had failed to remove petrol subsidy and address other structural problems in the economy.
According to him, “We need to look at the counterfactual. Where would Nigeria have been if we had not taken some of these difficult decisions?”
Mimiko also challenged state governors to account for the increased funds accruing to states, saying the Federal Government should not be blamed for every hardship experienced by citizens.
He said governors had a responsibility to ensure that increased allocations translated into better living conditions, infrastructure and social services for the people.
“We cannot continue to blame the President for everything. Governors are receiving more money now, and they also have to account for what they are doing with those resources,” he said.
On his political affiliation, Mimiko said he remained a member of the ZLP despite his support for Tinubu’s second-term bid.
He disclosed that he was working on the formation of the One Love Coalition, a platform aimed at mobilising Nigerians outside the APC in support of Tinubu.
Mimiko said the coalition was not being established for political appointments or government patronage, but to mobilise support around what he described as the need for continuity of the ongoing reforms.
He said, “I don’t have to join APC to support President Tinubu. I am still a committed member of the Zenith Labour Party.”
Mimiko also advocated restructuring and greater devolution of powers to the states and local governments, saying the country needed a system that would bring governance closer to the people.
Speaking on the education sector in Ondo State, Mimiko advised the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to give priority to education, particularly the existing tertiary institutions, rather than establishing new ones.
He said the state should concentrate its resources on improving the institutions already in existence and creating conditions that would retain academic staff.
“It is not about the number of institutions we create. You first make the ones we have operate at the best level,” he said.
Mimiko specifically expressed concern about the loss of lecturers at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, the Federal Polytechnic, Owo, and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
He said“Akungba is losing lecturers by the tons. Owo Poly is losing them. UNIMED is empty. We just have to spend and incentivise our teachers at the higher institutions,”
He said the state government should make education a major priority, arguing that Ondo State had no reason to allow its tertiary institutions to deteriorate when education had historically been one of the state’s major strengths.
Mimiko also acknowledged some of the initiatives of the Aiyedatiwa administration, including the proposed free trade zone, but said there were areas where he would have adopted different approaches.
He added that if he were governor, he would prioritise the education of Ondo children and commit substantial resources to developing human capital.
“If I were the governor, I would spare nothing in educating the children of Ondo State,” he said