Sometimes in the autumn of 2006,his declaration to contest for the coveted governorship seat was received by the people of the state with great enthusiasm, His campaigns across the state were always attended by mammoth crowds, pump and pageantry. His votes by the people on election day were not only massive but were also tremendously more than those of other candidates put together. 

Even though his mandate was impiously subverted by a power wielding, ruling cabal backed by a despotic Presidency, he was regarded as the people’s governor until the fair-minded appellate panel sitting in Benin City unanimously upheld the initial verdict of the hope restoring Nabaruma election petition tribunal.

The verdict that confirmed him as the duly elected Governor of the State on the 22nd of February 2009 was received with wild jubilation devoid of violence in every nook and cranny of the state as it did not only reflect the wishes of the people but also rescued them from over 14 tortuous months of official subterfuge,political jiggery pockery,and official dissemination of mendacious ,misleading information which became the fundamental objectives of a state then in the stranglehold of an inviduous ruling cabal persistently seeking to rationalise and cover up the tracks of a stolen mandate.

When it was close to the expiration of his first term in office,it was so obvious that he will clinch victory once again in the ensuing re-election battle as he has succeeded in re-defining governance and exhibited a populist administration the type of which could only be traced back to the Obafemi Awolowo era.

In line with expectations of the generality of the people,his victory over his two closest opponents, was landslide which confirms the fact that the people were in approval of his populist agenda largely executed with such tenacity and fervour never before experienced in the land. 

Attempts by his vanquished rivals to rubbish his clear cut victory through the courts were not only futile and abortive but were also dismissed ignominiously as all sixteen judges that sat over the matter from the Tribunal through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court concurred with the October 21,2012 electoral body's verdict of victory in his favour.

This is the story of Olusegun Rahman Abayomi Mimiko, the Ondo born medical doctor turned politician who has combined his God-given attributes of credibility, charisma, character, compassion and competence (I call it his 5Cs) to turn the fortunes of his state around,such that he is being applauded accross the world for a job well done.

By the 23rd of February 2013 which makes it four years that he had been in the sadddle,Governor Mimiko has gotten nothing less than twenty awards and recognition by as many reputable national and international bodies and institutions that have pronounced him and his phenomenal life-changing projects as outstanding. 

Among them are The Worldbank (which not only declared his Abiye safe Motherhood scheme as the benchmark for Africa but also invited him to address its Spring session in New York on Community health in Africa),The UNDP,NUJ,The Academy of Entrpreneural Studies(AES), BEN TV in The UK, Nigeian Medical Association(NMA), The Nigerian Society for Gynecologists and Obstetricians, Radio Nigeria, Financial Standard, The NLC, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zik Leadership Foundation, RATTAWU ,The Nigerian Tribune,The Nigerian Tourism Board ,The Bill and Merlinda Gates Foundation which gave him an award for polio eradication, The United Nations which made him the first Nigerian governor to win its Habitat Scroll of Honour Award and The Nigeria Association of Nephrology which gave him the most kidney friendly governor award among others.

Six years on now and it still appears like yesterday in our eyes, but the performance of Mimiko and his team have been so impressive that one might begin to wonder how he did it. At the initial stage some of those who wanted him in power did so because they wanted a change, and they saw in him the ready alternative, many also supported him because they knew he possess the ability to turn things around. But as he commenced his campaign and began to reel out his manifestoes, with the phrase “I will work for you” which he usually elucidate with tenacity of purpose and sincerity to a cause, more and more people began to believe in him. 

For the first time in the annals of both democratic and non-democratic governance, Ondo state is experiencing dynamism and a wholehearted paradigm shift in governance as the Governor appears to have a Midas touch in almost every notable area of human endeavour.

The first area where Mimiko won national and international applause is the health sector. The ‘Abiye’ programme and the health rangers shceme to ensure positive change in infant mortality and health care delivery is a resounding success. For the first time in the state,we have a world class Diagnostic centre , two award-winning Mother and Child hospitals in Akure and Ondo,Nigeria's first Accident Trauma Centre,a vaccine storage centre,the Primary Health board building, the modern kidney centre, the diabetes treatment centre, five accident rescue stations at Owo,Bolorunduro, Ilaramokin,Epinmi and Ore,over sixty functioning basic health centres across the state,about sixty tricycle ambulance for pregnant rural women and so on.

And now,a bill establishing a state university of health sciences at the medical village in Ondo has been passed into law even as the trauma centre has been accredited as a Teaching hospital to kickstart the university.

The Governor also took the urban renewal drive to another phenomenal level touching areas hitherto unimaginable. The idea of the caring heart neighbourhood markets never cease to amaze me. As at the last count, nothing less than forty-five of them are in appropriate locations accross the state replacing the tattered, dirty unkempt, often roofless and boundless orthodox market style that are often extended to the major roads.

The new markets are constructed to meet up with international standards in the sense that they take trading totally off the streets, there are provision for enough parking lots, toilet facilities, concrete grounds, portable stalls with decent roofs, water supply, good drainage and electricity.

Also, the modern Automart,has taken the trade in automobiles totally off the roadsides. Not even in the whole of West Africa have I heard of an automart. It is something I was used to seeing whenever I travel out of Africa . The aesthetics and sense in this one will always be astounding to lovers of progress.

The Akure city beautification project is also phenomenal. Even though the past administrations did their best in this regard, they cannot match the reach,class and quality of this one. Most places that used to be rough and dirty habitats of thugs and criminals have been turned to modern parks with lush green fields, flowers and trees;and at night,never before has the city of Akure been effectively illuminated with street lights. Each passing day, new things are happening and the face of the capital city is changing accordingly. Even the cab drivers are receiving a great gift from the governors in the mould of a soon-to-be-commissioned ultra modern Motor Park . 

Little wonder that with the flurry of activities,so much has shifted to the state that it has moved from the 13th spot in 2009,when Mimiko took over to the sixth largest economy in the 2012 economic ranking of Nigerian states.

The establishment of the state independent traffic-control unit ,the provision for modern motor parks and beautiful bus stops on major roads of the city, to be complemented with modern buses will not only ease the city’s transport worries but is also fast changing its worldview to that of a millennium city.

In terms of roads and infrastructure,perhaps, the most phenomenal of all his projects is the dualization of the old Arakale road. It is amazing that as important and strategic as this road is, it never occurred to previous governors to embark on it, or may be they were scared of the intricacies involved. Very courageous of the governor to have even attempted it. And even exceptional was the way he compensated those whose houses were demolished without any clear cut remonstrance or complaints from them. Nevertheless, Mimiko's government also became the first to embark upon the dualization of roads outside the state capital with the completed and and close to completion works in Owo, Ondo and Igbokoda,while not forgetting the 27 kilometers- Ugbe-Ibiropa-Ise road in Akoko,and. The following are some of the other completed infrastructures Education Quality Assurance Building,Civil Service Commission building,Public Service Trainning Institute,Ilara Mokin,Orange Fm building ,Event centre Ijapo ,State Pry Health Care building ,ORIREWA (vaccine storage center) building ,M&C Akure,Phase 1&2, M&C Ondo,Trauma centre,Ondo,Gani Fawehinmi Diagnostic Building,Democracy Park Akure, New Civil Engineering building (4storey),New Governor's house building,Sunshine Housing Estate,Ilekun Housing Estate,Igbotako general hospital ,51 Mega schools,34 new structures at AAU,17 New structures at Osustech, 16 new structures at Rugipo, New Administrative buildings at the stadia in Akure and Ondo. 4 Agric Villages, 27 modern bus stops in Akure,8 new roundabouts in Akure,Owo & Ondo,47 neighbourhood markets across the state and the NEPA ultra modern Shopping Mall,Akure.

The State's civil service also received a big boost with the first comprehensive renovation of the State secretariat in twenty five years, while the lingering feud between the government and the civil servants arising out of the new national minimum wage has been successfully doused as Ondo state emerged with the highest minimum wage in the country.

Twice in his administration,the State has won the National Productivity Merit Award which it never won before.

To uplift the State judiciary, the government successfully completed the compehensive renovation of all the High Courts and Magistrate courts in the State and carried out a successful review of the State laws for the first time since 1976. The governor was also instrumental in bringing the Court of Appeal to Akure. This is by no means a small achievement when one consider the stress we used to go through travelling to Benin for appeal cases. He established Nigeria's first Prison High court,the state customary court of Appeal ,eighteen new magistrate courts and two new High courts in Idanre and Ifedore Local Goverment areas.

Talking sports, it is amazing how the fortunes of the Sunshine Stars Football Club has changed since Governor Mimiko came to power. Never in the history of the football in the state has any team from the State clinched a second spot in the Nigeria Premier League, won the bronze in the FA Cup ,got to the Semi-final of an African Cup and qualified for CAF Champions League where it reached the semi-finals . Also, in 2012, the second club side sponsored by the state government, Rising Stars also won promotion into the NPL while the female team Sunshine Queens emerged national champions. 

At the 17th edition of The National Sports festival held in Port Harcourt last year, the state also clinched an unprecedented 4th position leaving on it's trail all other South western state's. Also worth mentioning here is the Federation of International Swimming Federation- graded- Eight-lane-Olympic Swimming pool that was completed by the Mimiko government within it's first eighteen months,the synthetic pitch a d flood lights of the Akure stadium and the reconstruction of the Ondo stadium among others. It is remarkable to note here that it was since 1977 that the swimming pool project has been in the pipeline with succeeding administrations sidelining it, yet the state is one of the leading states in the sport that has produced many national champions.

The governor has also performed impressively in the Education,Housing and Tourism Sector. What, with the innovation of the Quality Assurance agency,the Free School Bus shuttle that is now operative in at least 15 Lgas,the transformation of AAUA which now has arguably the biggest university Senate building in the country,OSUSTECH and RUGIPO , the mega schools, the renovation of the unity secondary schools and other schools,The completion of at least two housing estates and the sensational Idanre Hills Resorts and the MARE festival which has become an annual event in Idanre town that has also attracted the attention of UNESCO.

Also,the Governor's novel community development ministry has seen the government completing at least one project in close to 800 rural communities.

On the personal note, the governor cuts the picture of a healthy, morally upright God-fearing and charismatic leader who frequently ensure physical inspection of projects while still creating enough time to attend to social activities.

The average Ondo state resident sees in him an entirely different Governor from what he was used to,he sees an energetic ,hardworking ,no-nonsense,kindhearted and sincere individual who is resolutely committed to lifting the state to enviable heights. 

The people of Ondo state have seen a great deliverance of the dividends of democracy in the past six years and I do not have any doubt in my mind that they would continue to vote in the direction of the Governor and good governance even beyond 2017 when His Excellency might have gloriously completed his two terms.