A former governor of Ondo State Olusegun Mimiko said the devaluation of life in Nigeria is one of the reasons he is contesting for the presidency.
Mimiko governed Ondo State between 2009 and 2016 on the platform of the Labour Party and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), respectively.
After returning to Labour party in June, he dumped the party in September to join the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) where he unanimously emerged as ZLP presidential candidate.
The presidential candidate said the devaluation of life and the high rate of maternal mortality are the major reasons he wants to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
“This country is in a state of anomy, things have not been this bad, especially in terms of unity and the devaluation of life,” Mimiko said in an interview with Inspiration FM.
“The chances that woman will die in pregnancy is high in Nigeria” he added.
Mimiko was lauded during his tenure as the Ondo State governor for his role in the reduction of the maternal deaths in the state. His tenure recorded a 75% reduction in maternal mortality rate with the Abiye Safe Motherhood programme.
During the interview, Mimiko affirmed that “the body language of the government” does not reflect that the ruling All Progressives Congress Buhari-led administration value the lives of Nigerians citing the recent killings by the herdsman and the recent abduction and killing of some Red cross staff by terrorist group.
The terrorist group has killed at least 20,000 in the country’s remote north-east and displaced millions of people.
The two-term governor confirmed that one of those things he achieved while in government was the minimization of the maternal mortality in the state.
He stated that the high rate of poverty in the country is also one of those things driving him to contest in 2019.
The presidential hopeful also promised restructuring which the People’s Democratic Party’s candidate, Abubakar Akiku, is also an advocate of.
“All our challenges, not one will go until we restructure, we have to restructure, we have to devolve power to sub-national groups,” Mimiko said.
He argued that the more states and sub-national groups are granted autonomy, the more productive they will be. They will be able to leverage on their God-given endowment.
“The more you decentralize, the lower the propensity to be corrupt. The more concentrated power at the center the more propensity for corruption,” he affirmed.
Mimiko, therefore, stated that his experience and all the opportunity he has achieved will influence his governance when he is elected
