There comes a moment in the life of a nation when every patriot must stand up to be counted! At such a moment, no person worthy of a place in history can afford to remain ensconced in their comfort zone #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
When the totality of our being, and the very essence of our humanity are in violation, patriots must advance to recapture the present; and commit to re-defining the future. For our country, Nigeria, the moment is now! #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
The times are marked by rapid tumbling of our core values. These are times in our country when a decision has become imperative for those we have for too long pretentiously told, ‘the future belongs to you' #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
but for whom we have created only the basis for disillusionment in the present, and hopelessness in the future. They are times of growing frustration for the old; and bleakness of life for all #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
The truth, however, is that bad as these times are, they will not pass away, if we choose to remain on this same old path. The wanton killings currently enveloping the Middle Belt, and many other parts of the country, can indeed become the lot of the entire country #BecauseWeCare
The excruciating economic pains of today, can indeed become a mere introduction to what lies in the bosom of time for us all. #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
The unprecedented level of division, and distrust at individual and communal levels, with which we are faced today, can indeed spin out of control, and consume this dear country of ours #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
As a country, we are sitting right now on the edge of a cliff. Below is a massive inferno. Just a little push in the wrong direction will see us fall over the cliff into utter damnation! #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
Our present circumstances as individuals, communities, and country, have now made one thing clear. Ability to envision great ideas, and demonstrable track record, rather than place and circumstances of birth, must be the most compelling basis for investing candidates with power
This is, therefore, not the time to cheapen the dialogue by engaging in argument on whose turn it is to run the country. Rather, it is time to insist that only the best is good for Nigeria. #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
It is time to all march out and recall our past, take charge of the present, and launch out into greatness, as one inclusive, cohesive family #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
It is within the foregoing context that I situate myself. It is the reason why I find it so compelling to humbly declare today, my decision to seek election into the office of president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2019 #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
I'm Olusegun Mimiko, a Nigerian, Medical Doctor, an Ekimogun, from Ondo State.
I have the privilege of having grown up under the tutelage of parents, who by any standard were no individuals of humungous material means, but for whom love, hard work, and fairness to all, and fear of God, at all times, must take precedence over all things #BecauseWeCare
I had the privilege of being educated in public schools all my life, from primary, all the way to the former Uni Ile-Ife. I graduated from medical school in 1980, spent some time working in public hospitals, before setting up a medical practice of my own #BecauseWeCare
In my position as a medical practitioner, I was witness to how very small amounts of money made a difference between life and death for pregnant women
I saw where for lack of money for medical care, individuals with curable ailments often asked to be discharged from hospital, to go home and await death
I saw where for lack of money for medical care, individuals with curable ailments often asked to be discharged from hospital, to go home and await death
I came in contact with little children, whose future had been permanently compromised because poor parents could not afford for them the nutritious food needed for their brains to fully develop
It is unspeakable the nature of the pain I felt hearing the shrieking cries of a mother whose baby died because she could not bring him for medical attention early enough, for fear of fees
Confronted with this reality, it became clear to me that at best of times, with my clinic and philanthropy, I could only do so much to help the needy
I thus made a decision to seek political power, not as an end in itself, but as a vehicle for intervention in the lives of people, especially the poor and the weak for whom, after God, I believe we owe the ultimate responsibility #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
I thus made a decision to seek political power, not as an end in itself, but as a vehicle for intervention in the lives of people, especially the poor and the weak for whom, after God, I believe we owe the ultimate responsibility #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
My involvement with politics since then, remains predicated upon this firm conviction that in political power lies the most potent tool for positively impacting the lives of the greatest number of people #BecauseWeCare #Iroko2019
