By Issa Aremu
Democracy Day celebrates liberty to choose and elect those who volunteer to serve. Conversely, it damns and condemns military dictatorships which suffocated Nigeria and Nigerians for half of its 60 years of independence.
From 1881, when Lagos was forcefully annexed through successive century of brutal British colonial/military campaigns with its trademarks of Sorrow, Tears and Blood, to the lowering of Union Jack in 1960, Nigeria passes for a military outpost! Never again should any group through conquests and coup d’état govern Nigeria without the democratic mandate of the people.
As a labour delegate, I recall that the echoes of June 12, 1993 presidential election reverberated during the annulment anniversary on the floor of the National confab in 2014.
An observation on a matter of national importance was raised by a conference delegate Mr Orok Duke. He wanted the presumed winner of the historic election accorded national honour in addition to a minute silence for all fallen heroes of the great struggles for democracy in the 1990s.
After much heated emotion which often trails June 12 discourse, the plenary under the chairmanship of Justice Idris Kutigi eventually obliged the delegates to pay tributes to all those who died for Nigeria’s democracy including late MKO Abiola with a minute silence.
I bear witness that the star delegate of 2014 National Conference was elder statesman Edwin Clark. He argued audaciously that for the “small mindedness of someone” (his words!), June 12 should have been Democracy Day and not May 29! “May 29 is because somebody came into office and decided to make it as democracy day in this country. June 12 is democracy day in Nigeria”, Chief Clark had unapologetically declared.
This year’s Democracy Day assumed special historic importance. For one, June 12 officially replaces May 29 as the national Democracy Day.
Undoubtedly, the focus was on the historic role of Chief Moshood Abiola, (the leading star actor of the annulled 1993 presidential elections) in the struggle for democracy. My recollection of Chief Abiola is an admixture of ideological contestation and political admiration.
Schooled in the best of the radical traditions of the then Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in the late70s, we certainly loathed the bourgeoisie class the star representative being the flamboyant chief himself.
We chorused happily Fela’s I.T.T. (International Thief Thief). In 1979, the legendary Afro beat king in the album damned ITT, an American multinational of which MKO was the vice chairman.
ITT had earlier assumed notoriety as the company the CIA allegedly used “as a means of disguising the source of the illegitimate funding” of the anti-democratic forces led by General Pinochet which brutally overthrew democratically elected Salvador Allende in 1973. There was once a “democratic” United States of America (USA) which sponsored illegal overthrow of democracies!
In 1978, as the Secretary General of the Socialist Movement for a Progressive Nigeria (MPN) in Ahmadu Bello University ( ABU), I led members to attend the 2nd anniversary of the assassination of the late patriot, Military Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed at Bayero University ( BUK ) Kano.
To our bewilderment, the guest speaker was MKO! There was an instant resistance by predominantly radical audience against the chief whose fraternity with late Muhammed was not clear to us.
As he took the podium, MKO courageously stood his ground. He proudly disclosed his valued friendship of the late Head of State who he hailed as a patriot. Dr Patrick Wilmot in one of his, INTERVENTIONS series disclosed that “Murtala had begun despising him for his pushy, contractor attitude, refusing to see him. But when they met, the General grew to appreciate the chief’s positive qualities of generosity, openness, humour and intelligence and they became good friends”.
MKO spiritedly denied being a stooge of American imperialism. On the contrary, he boasted that Africans can and must build their own multinationals without being apologetic to the West.
With the benefits of hindsight today, it is clear that MKO was the first promoter of Afri-capitalism in words and actions! His chains of enterprises in telecom, publishing, food and beverages, shipping among others at the time the state controlled the commanding heights of the economy are indelible signatures to free enterprise.
Graduating from University of Harcourt, I had my compulsory National Youth Service (NYSC) at the Concord Newspapers, as Lagos Labour/Economics Correspondent between 1985 to 1986.
I was subsequently employed with the Business Concord. The pioneer President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Hassan Adebayo (HA) Sunmonu is a good friend of the late Chief. On one good day, Abiola had a guided tour of the Concord Press for his friend.
At the newsroom, Hassan spotted me and there and then impressed on chief to release me to the NLC then rebuilding its capacity. MKO was a paying employer of labour who commendably ensured decent work. I earned in Concord twice NLC’s minimum wage! If Chief Abiola reads this tribute, he would have grinned with an ideological snapshot and repeat Will Durant’s jab at comrades: “There is nothing in socialism that a little money won’t cure”! Paradoxically, it is the political MKO, June 12 mandate partisan Abiola which captures national and global imagination.
Notwithstanding the judicial order restraining NEC from conducting the presidential election on June 10, 1993 by Abuja High Court, with Justice Bassey Ikpeme presiding, myself and my late wife in Kaduna on June 12, 1993 joined millions of Nigerians to vote in the Presidential election adjudged the best in electoral practices.
Our first votes! There was an orchestrated national suspense between the time of election and the eventual annulment by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida on June 23, 1993.
Of course, it’s now history.
\Last Friday, the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare, unveiled the National Stadium Abuja renamed after Chief Abiola.
As the pillar of sport of Africa, the late politician earned the singular posthumous honour President Muhammadu Buhari conferred on him last year. However tributes for MKO call for more than renaming monument. Nigeria must deepen democracy he and others fought and died for.
This year marks almost 30 years of the annulment, 21 years of uninterrupted civil rule and 60 years of independence achieved through democratic mass struggle.
But there is “insufficiency in democratic practices” among the politicians in turn worsening the crisis of governance in the country.
Security and economic challenges can only be overcome if ordinary people are involved in governance. Democracy Day 2020 takes place during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What would have been the reaction of MKO in times of the current pandemic? Abiola did not live for politics and his mandate alone.
As a generous giver and big spender, I bet the Chief would have upscaled the bagful of palliatives possibly in cash which he always gave even at the times it was not popular to give.
I bet that MKO would have given to mitigate the negative impact of the disease which has claimed as many as almost 400 deaths, infected almost 15000 in Nigeria and killed 400,000 people globally. Of special importance is MKO’s inclusive economics of banishing poverty and promoting prosperity for all.
At the height the lockdown, both the CBN monetary and fiscal authorities commendably announced feverish stimulus measures and bailouts for big, medium and small businesses.
There have also been palliatives and handouts for the vulnerable. Unfortunately, as the nation gradually eases out, we are again reading about “budget cuts”, “austerity”, “retrenchment” and even wage cuts. It’s time for continuous “Solidarity Economics” which will promote productivity, mass employment and eradicate poverty.
- Aremu, is Member of National Institute, Kuru Jos.
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