Olusegun Kokumo Agagu

Olusegun Kokumo Agagu was a Nigerian politician who served as the governor of Ondo State from 2003 to 2009. He was also a federal minister of power and steel, and later aviation, under President Olusegun Obasanjo. He started his career as a geologist and obtained his PhD in petroleum geology from the University of Ibadan. He was involved in several oil exploration projects in Nigeria and abroad. He was elected as the deputy governor of Ondo State in 1992 on the Social Democratic Party platform, but his tenure was cut short by the military coup of 1993. He joined the Peoples Democratic Party in 1998 and became the governor of Ondo State in 2003. He was re-elected in 2007, but his victory was challenged by his rival Olusegun Mimiko, who eventually replaced him as governor in 2009 after a court ruling. Agagu was known for his achievements in education, infrastructure, and rural development. He was instrumental in making Ondo State an oil-producing state and establishing the Ondo State University of Science and Technology, which was later renamed after him. He died of a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 65. He was buried in his hometown of Iju-Odo, where a mausoleum was built in his honor.