The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abiola

  • ‘Obasanjo’s greatest mistake is failure to honour Abiola’

    Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, former Minister of Aviation Mr. Femi Fani Kayode has described the failure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to honour the late Chief MKO Abiola as one of his greatest mistakes.

    Fani Kayode, who spoke in Lagos, said it was “most unfair” on the part of the former president not to honour Abiola, his wife, the late Kudirat and other pro-democracy activists, who struggled in vain for the actualisation of June 12.

    He said: “One of the biggest mistakes that President Obasanjo made; I say this with the greatest respect and affection for him and I will always respect him, but it is only fair to say that one of the greatest mistakes he made was that he did not acknowledge or honour the late Chief Abiola, the late Alhaja Abiola and those, who fought for democracy on the side of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). It is most unfair.

    “Many died, many were tortured, many went on exile and so on. These are the people that paid the price for the Obasanjo presidency. He should have honoured him, but he did not. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua did not do so too, and I believe in fairness to President Goodluck Jonathan, he attempted to honour Abiola (albeit) in a wrong way, by naming the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after him, but that was not even enough.”

    Fani Kayode said it would be difficult for the country to get it right if it failed to appreciate those who laboured in the past for it.

    He also said he recognised June 12 as the Democracy Day ahead of the May 29 declared by the Federal Government.

  • Abiola died playing for Nigeria – Kalu

    Abiola died playing for Nigeria – Kalu

    As Stephen Keshi leads the Eagles against Namibia tomorrow, former Abia state governor Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu wants the team to win in remembrance of Africa’s first Pillar of Sports Chief Moshood Abiola.

    Kalu who declared that Abiola died playing for the country reminded the Eagles of the man’s contributions to the development of sports.

    He said: “Playing on June 12, the day Nigerians are celebrating Abiola should ginger the national team.Victory in Namibia should be part of the party. Abiola did so much for sports that I believe he died playing for Nigeria.There is no trophy greater than democracy which June 12 symbolises.”

    The former governor prayed the Federal Government to name the Abuja National Stadium after the Bashorun since the renaming of the University of Lagos had gone beyond politics.

    “Abiola was the man who travelled round the world in 1992, from Canada to South Korea, looking for a model for a new Sportscity.The Presidential delegation included such equally great Nigerians as Chief Molade Okoya Thomas, late Chief Wole Adeosun, Alhaji Kola Balogun and a host of others. Abiola bankrolled the entire trip, and their arrival coincided with the European visit of then governor Segun Osoba of Ogun state.When they met at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, CAF President Issa Hayatou was also visiting. I would want President Goodluck Jonathan to name the Abuja stadium after Abiola, nobody will go to court over that,” Kalu explained.

    Extolling Abiola’s virtues, Kalu recalled an incident that happened in 1987.”It was a Mandela Cup tie between Nchanga Rangers, Zambia and Abiola Babes. Everything was done to frustrate the Nigerians. Abiola arrived Lusaka, chartered a bus, and drove the squad to the Copperbelt, risking bad road and nightfall. At the end, a 1-1 draw was good enough for his team.Not many could do that.”

     

  • Al-Mustapha: Appeal Court reserves judgment

    Al-Mustapha: Appeal Court reserves judgment

    The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on Monday reserved judgment in an appeal filed by Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan, challenging a death sentence handed them by Justice Mojisola Dada of a Lagos High Court.
    Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to late General Sanni Abacha, and Shofolahan former Personal Assistant to Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, were sentenced to death on January 30, 2012, for conspiracy and murder of the late Mrs. Abiola.
    Justice Amina Augie, who led the appeal panel, reserved judgment, after counsels to the appellants and respondent adopted their written briefs.
    Counsel to Al-mustapha, Joseph Daudu (SAN), while adopting his address, urged the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court.
    He argued that the trial court erred in law to have based its judgment on the testimonies of prosecution witnesses (PW1 and PW2), which were contradictory.
    “The testimonies of PW1 and PW2 were inconclusive and contradictory. The court drew inferences from these contradictory statements, to establish the guilt of the appellant.
    “It is my submission that those inferences upon which the court based its judgment, are merely political evidence formulated by the respondent, and which the trial court ought not to have considered.
    “I therefore urge the court to allow this appeal, and quash the judgment of the lower court” Daudu said.
    Lawyer to Shofolahan, Olalekan Ojo, also aligned with the submission of Daudu.
    He accused the trial judge of being patronising, adding that she discontenanced every submission put forward by the defence, while all evidence presented by the prosecution were admitted.
    He said: “It is obvious that the trial judge was sourcing for evidence at all cost to convict the appellant.”
    “The evidence of the star witnesses PW1 and PW2 had been described as not credible by the Court of Appeal and so, I wonder why the trial court held that the evidences were relevant.”
    In his response, counsel to the state government, Lawal Pedro (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower court.
    Pedro argued that apart from the evidence of PW1 and PW2, there were other evidences from the defendants themselves, which supported the counts off conspiracy and murder.
    He said that the statements of the defendants, which were tendered as exhibits, indicted them.
    Pedro urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lack of merit.
    The appeallants were arraigned in October 1999 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and murder of Mrs. Abiola in 1996 Murder, along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, of which they were sentenced to death by hanging.
    They had appealed the lower court’s judgment 24-hours after it was passed on them, praying the court to overturn the judgment.
    The appellants contended that the death sentence handed by the lower court was unwarranted, unreasonable and a manifest miscarriage of justice.
    They argued that the trial judge erred in law by arriving at the conclusion that they conspired to kill Alhaja Kudirat Abiola on June 4, 1996.
    The appellants faulted the judge’s treatment of the contradictory statements of Barnabas Jabila (aka Sgt. Rogers) and Mohmamed Abdul.
    They also faulted the court’s reliance on the testimony of Dr. Ore Falomo on the bullet extracted from the deceased.
    According to the appellants, the court’s rejection of portions of Jabila’s testimony which favored them and applying only areas which did not favor them, was a gross miscarriage of justice.
    Al-Mustapha submitted four grounds for determination while Shofolahan premised his appeal on five points.

  • Abiola’s daughter advocates equal rights for women

    The first daughter of the slain Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Mrs. Hafsat Abiola -Costello, yesterday said the democracy her mother fought and died for is yet to uphold the rights of women.

    She said women lack access to basic social services and the political offices enjoyed by men.

    The late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was the wife of the acclaimed winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, who died in military incarceration in 1998.

    Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was gunned down in Oregun, Lagos, on June 4, 1996, by suspected agents of the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.

    In a statement to commemorate the 17th memorial anniversary of her mother, Mrs. Abiola-Costello urged political parties to recognise and protect women’s rights.

    She said of the 54 per cent of Nigerians living in poverty, 60 per cent are women and children.

    Mrs. Abiola-Costello said: “After marking the most recent military to civilian handover date of May 29, 1999, political parties are preparing for the 2015 election.

    “Perhaps for the first time since the historic presidential election of June 12, 1993, the forthcoming election looks to be set for a contest between two strong parties, the Peoples Democratic (PDP) and, if registered, the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    “Yet, one question requires an urgent answer from the parties: Will the parties recognise the full rights of Nigerian women or not?

    “More than the other sex, women in Nigeria have borne the brunt of the hollow political pact that the post-colonial state has fashioned out with the Nigerian people.

    “In terms of social services, access for women and girls are worse than that of men and boys.

    “Ernst & Young recently reported a positive correlation between women’s participation in government and good governance. This finding is also supported by the Mo (Ibrahim) Index on Governance.

    “So it seems fitting on the anniversary of my mother’s assassination that all lovers of democracy rise up to demand that women be given their rightful place in Nigeria’s democracy.”

    Mrs. Abiola-Costello, who is the Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said in some parts of the country, 1,500 of every 100,000 women die during childbirth.

    She said women fare worse in the labour market, when they are looking for jobs.

    Mrs. Abiola-Costello said: “While only 10 per cent of the six million graduates produced by universities yearly will secure jobs, only 30 per cent of this already low figure will be women.”