The Nation Newspaper

Tag: June 12

  • June 12: NUPENG commends Buhari for honouring MKO, others

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for officially announcing June 12 as the new Democracy Day in the country.

    Mr Williams Akporeha, NUPENG President, gave the commendation while speaking with newsmen at the 107th session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva on Thursday.

    It will be recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that the nation’s Democracy Day would henceforth, hold on June 12 thereby replacing the traditional ‘‘May 29”.

    Akporeha said the announcement was a welcome development as it was long overdue.

    He also commended President Buhari for conferring a posthumous GCFR award on the presumed winner of June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (of blessed memory).

    He applauded the President for conferring GCON titles on his running mate, Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe and human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) for their roles in the struggle to actualise June 12 presidential election.

    Akporeha, however, said names like Frank Ovie Kokori, (NUPENG former General Secretary), Late Wariebi Kojo Agamene (former President of NUPENG), former General Secretary of PENGASSAN, (Chief) Milton Gilchrist Dabibi and others should have featured prominently on the list.

    Read Also:When ‘ll Abiola be immortalised?

    According to him, the union is stunned that such high profile national recognition and honour was offered by the Presidency.

    “But no credit, whatsoever, was given to NUPENG and PENGASSAN despite the painstaking roles played by the leaders,’’ he said.

    He added that without any fear of contradiction, the democracy Nigeria has been enjoying since May 29, 1993 did not come on a silver platter.

    He noted that the leadership of these unions as well as their members fought for it, in some instances with blood, tears, freedom, career, adding that regrettably some people paid the supreme price.

    He said these fearless and irrepressible Nigerians gave their all to earn the nation’s democratic liberty.

    “For pecuniary gains and other reasons, some other Nigerians pitched their tent with the tyrannical military regimes.

    “However, our leaders were resolute and blatantly refused to compromise or to receive any form of gratification despite intimidation, victimisation, harassment and incarceration by the military despot,’’ Akporeha added.

    He, therefore, appealed to Mr. President to set a think-tank to look inwards and make necessary amends by reviewing the list in order to accommodate the names of the veterans mentioned above.

  • Aregbesola applauds Buhari on recognising June 12

    Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising June 12 as democracy day in place of May 29.

    In a statement made available to the media in Osogbo by his media adviser, Sola Fasure, Governor Aregbesola commended the president for mustering the courage to take this historic step 25 years after the freest and fairest presidential election ever held in the history of Nigeria

    According to Governor Aregbesola, “President Buhari has secured for himself an incomparable position in history for surmounting the courage to take this historic step of recognising June 13 as ‘Democracy Day’ and honouring Chief Moshood Abiola posthumously.

    Read Also:Ambode hails Buhari’s declaration of June 12 as new Democracy day

    “June 12, 1993 was the day democracy was born in Nigeria. It was the day Nigerians negated all the social and political constructs that had been thought would make national unity impossible and democratic governance impossible, but Nigerians in their heterogeneity overwhelmingly voted for a candidate whose very essence was in defiance of religious, ethnic and regional categorisation.

    “It is most regrettable that the election was annulled and Chief Abiola clamped in illegal detention where he later died.

    “Successive administrations had suppressed the significance of June 12 and resisted every admonition to recognise the date and honour Chief Abiola.

    We have since the advent of our administration shunned May 29 and celebrated June 12 as Democracy Day. We are glad therefore that President Buhari has taken this bold step and set the record straight. History will be kind to him for this. I commend him for this uncommon courage and demonstration of leadership”, the statement said.

  • PDP chieftain, lawmaker hail Buhari for declaring June 12 Democracy Day

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as a new Democracy Day and posthumously awarding Chief MKO Abiola, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

    The President  who announced this on Wednesday in a statement signed personally, said that June 12 would now replace May 29 as the Democracy Day.

    Abiola, who was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, died on July 7, 1998.

    Babatope, a former Minister of Transport and member PDP Board of Trustees, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone that the president’s motivation was right.

    “Even though one may question the timing, the motivation is right.

    “We should commend Buhari for the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day and the conferment of GCFR on the late MKO Abiola,” he said.

    Also  Mr Wasiu Eshinokun-Sanni, the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said that the truth had prevailed.

    Eshinokun-Sanni, who noted that he received the news with a mixed feeling, commended the Lagos State Government to have recognised Abiola and Chief Gani Fawehinmi, a late human rights lawyer.

    “The good part is that effort of Nigerians in forgetting religious and tribal sentiments as exhibited by the June 12 elections is not in vain. June 12 is Democracy Day is also symbolic.

    “What Obasanjo (former President) failed to recognise all this while in spite being the greatest beneficiary of June 12, a Nigerian of northern extraction has brought it to the front burner,” he said.

    “Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal Government has decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as the Democracy Day.

    ” Therefore, government has decided to award posthumously, the highest honour of the land, GCFR to late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled election.

    “His running mate as Vice President Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe is also to be invested with a GCON.

    “Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the actualisation of June 12 elections and indeed for democracy in general, the Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN, is to be awarded posthumously a GCON.

    “The commemoration and investiture will take place on Tuesday June 12, a date which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public Holiday in celebration of the Nigerian Democracy.” (NAN)

  • June 12 now Democracy Day – Buhari

    … Confers GCFR, GCON on Abiola, Kingibe Fawehinmi

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday directed that effective from next year, Nigerian Democracy Day would be marked every June 12 in honor of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Chief Moshood Abiola.

    Nigeria returned to democratic rule on May 29, 1999 and the day has been recognized as National Day by successive governments in the country.

    A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, reads: “To honor an illustrious son of Nigeria, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, who won a presidential election but was prevented from taking office when the results were annulled.

    “The late Abiola died while struggling to actualize the mandate.

    “Consequently, the late M.K.O Abiola will be conferred with nation’s highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, (GCFR) exclusively conferred on the holders of the highest office in the country, the President.

    “In the same vein, Chief Abiola’s running mate in that election, Amb. Babagana Kingibe, is to be conferred with the second highest honor of the Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON).

    Also to receive a GCON is the foremost pro-democracy activist, late Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

    “In a statement signed he personally signed on Wednesday evening, President Buhari said:

    “For the past 18 years, Nigerians have been celebrating May 29th, as Democracy Day. That was the date when for the second time in our history, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government. The first time this happened was on October 21st, 1979. But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by this administration, June 12, 1993, was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29 or even the October 1.

    “June 12, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest and most peaceful election since our Independence. The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the then military government does not distract from the democratic credentials of that process.

    “Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal Government has decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as Democracy Day. Therefore, Government has decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land, GCFR, to late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled elections. His running mate as Vice President, Amb. Baba Gana Kingibe, is also to be invested with a GCON. Furthermore, the tireless fighter for human rights and the actualization of the June 12 elections and indeed for democracy in general, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) is to be awarded the GCON.

    “The investiture will take place on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, a date which in future years will replace May 29 as a National Public Holiday in celebration of Nigeria Democracy Day.”

    END

  • NBA electoral committee to meet stakeholders June 12

    The Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) will meet with stakeholders on June 12 ahead of the association’s election next month.

    It has invited those who have submitted nomination forms to their formal opening.

    ECNBA Secretary Bolaji Agoro said the meeting would hold at the Conference Room of the President, Eighth Floor, NBA House, Central Business District, Abuja.

    The notice reads in part: “Consequent upon the closure of nomination on May 31, 2018, I am directed by the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Election Committee Prof. Yadudu Auwalu to invite you or your representative to attend a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the ECNBA to formally open all the nominations submitted by contestants for the national offices of the NBA.

    “At the meeting, inventory of all documents submitted by all those who filed nominations shall be taken in their presence as one of the steps to be taken to secure the integrity of the screening process that will follow immediately after the nominations have been opened in the presence of some invited Bar leaders.”

  • Nigeria: finding a closure to the June 12 crisis

    Nigeria: finding a closure to the June 12 crisis

    Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) Chairman Olawale Oshun chaired an event organised in Akure, Ondo State, to mark the 24th anniversary of the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Below is text of his remarks at the event.  The remarks of the Second Republic’s House of Representatives member are presented below.

    I will take a cue from Chief. Hon. Anthony Enahoro’s Alternative to Transition treatise delivered on Heroes day February 22, 1996 and start this short speech by paying tribute to our compatriots in the June 12 struggle. Where would one start from but in Ondo State, home of Chief Adekunle Micheal Ajasin, founding member of the Action Group, successor to the immutable Obafemi Awolowo, and a most hard working and disciplined leader of the June 12 Movement. I recall Hon. Chief Anthony Enahoro, the Parliamentarian reputed to have first moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence and NADECO (National Democratic Coalition) chairman, Senator Abraham Adesanya, Deputy NADECO chairman and Afenifere leader, Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, and Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, both former military governors who embraced the fight against injustice and turned their backs on military dictatorship .

    I have mentioned some of the leaders but the list is endless, cutting across class, nationality, age and professions. It may be impossible to do justice to all these people who suffered immeasurably, with some loosing freedom, some limbs and in extreme of cases their lives. Permit me therefore to mention a few other names, Chima Ubani, Ayo Opadokun, Abdulsalam Danladi, Femi Aborishade, Adegboruwa Ebun-Oluwa, Adeniji Adele, Olufemi Adesina, Micheal Ajayi, Kunle Ajibade, Samuel Asogwa, Moshood Fayemiwo, Ifowodo Ogaga, Frank Kokori, Olusegun Maiyegun, Sylvester Odeon Akhaine, Ladi Olorunyomi, and Bayo Osinowo. In another class of their own are, General Alani Akinrinade, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Dr. Amos Akingba, Senator Bola Tinubu, Chief John Oyegun, Dr. Beko Ransomekuti, Shehu Sanni, Gani Fawehinmi and Frederick Fasheun.

    These names can only be representative, they are not exhaustive and I therefore apologize to all those who deserve to be mentioned, but are not, particularly those who lost their lives including the thirty four young men who lost their lives on Ikorodu road, Lagos in a day of sheer madness when the military on the order of Sanni Abacha opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos.

    When Chief Enahoro spoke on the political heroes day, there was hope and expectations in the air. He was optimistic that the struggle for democracy would be won, and the sovereignty of the people would be restored. He was optimistic that there would be a monument in honour of the heroes, and that a message would reach them that they did not suffer in vain, and that ” by their labours , and their sacrifice, our heroes have earned immortality”.

    Chief Enahoro spoke twenty one years ago, a period when men and women threw themselves into the June 12 struggle, without counting cost. There was a determination that all would be done to ensure the reversal of the annulment of the June 12 elections.

    Chief Enahoro further contended that “whether Nigerians live in peace as respected and self respecting brothers in one family will not be decided by a corruptive primitive selection system.” He had gone on to recommend return to democracy through a three pronged approach, the kernel of which was the convening of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to put together “a new Constitution restructuring the Federation of Nigeria”.

    That was clear two and half years before MKO Abiola was murdered, and the new military government of Abdul salaam Abubakar against all entreaties insisted on a transition to civil rule without the pre-condition of restructuring. Abubakar, was however aided in his one sided unitary constitution pursuit by some of our leaders. Those leaders anxious to contest elections, argued, wrongly in my view, that what was necessary was to participate, secure executive or legislative offices and that restructuring would be easily added on to it. In other words, it would be apiece of cake. It was also obvious that if these political adventurers would not have their way, they were ready to throw the bath water away with the baby. I could recall the agony within the NADECO leadership, and how those like Papa Enahoro, Abraham Adesanya, Alani Akinrinade, Bolaji Akinyemi and others anxious to prevent an irretrievable split in the group, for that loomed as an inevitable end to the “let’s contest now or nothing” group that individual members were allowed to act as deemed fit.

     

    Lessons to Learn

    Almost twenty years after, and with many of those who clamoured for “contest now or nothing” attaining various offices in government, Nigeria’s purported federal Constitution hardens daily as a unitary instrument of control and domination by Nigeria’s ruling clique.

    The consequence – continued socio-economic and political decline, as may be considered by any indices of assessment. And because, over ninety percent of Nigerians bear the brunt of sustained misrule and unthought-of depth of corruption, the clamour for restructuring is louder today than it was twenty years ago. President Mohammed Buhari has helped, thankfully, to remove the veil on the depth and complexity of corruption in Nigeria and what is exposed to my mind strengthens the argument to restructure Nigeria. The Central government needs not amass all the nations wealth to itself, when the federating units could more efficiently apply the same resources for the greater benefit of Nigerians.

    Add to this, the recent political developments – IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra) – focus on seeking to exit from Nigeria,  and with the northern youths’ declaration, albeit a declaration that may be a northern red herring rather than the youths pursuit, that the Igbos leave their domain, the southern militants agitation to take control of their resources, and the still sublime Yoruba request for restructuring, now hardening up to include a hitherto unthought-of confederal arrangement or even exit from the Nigerian nation if restructuring is made impossible.

    And distinguished ladies and gentlemen, what other evidence do you need that the country is in a stranglehold of an invisible ruling clique, if almost 20 years into Abiola’s death, and almost 24 years into the annulment of his election as president of our country, some kind of post-hummus accommodation cannot be found for him. No recognition of his martyrdom, in any form, even by the beneficiaries of his struggle, and to think they argue that what you need is not restructuring. Is it that the country should die for them to exist, and like the parasite feasting on an organ, isn’t the death of the organ a precursor of the death of the parasite?

    Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) in a yearly ritual had been pleading with the ‘unitarised’ government in Abuja to recognise the freely given mandate of June 12, 1993, recognise Abiola’s martyrdom through a posthumous declaration, and build a national monument in his honour. The ruling clique would do nothing of such, as it digs deeper and moves further away from the founding fathers’ federalist concept, the deeper the crisis of nation state gets. We would be glad to have any other contrary evidence!

    Those who clamoured for the restructuring of our country twenty years ago knew there was deep seated crisis ahead of the country if it failed to restructure. I am certain however that they possibly couldn’t have imagined the depth and severity of the crisis now besetting us. If we fail to heed the warning now, can we truly imagine what would beset the country in 20 years’ time.

    And that brings me to what we ordinary citizens perceive should be the role of elected governments in Yorubaland. My message through you, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu to your other colleagues, is that if Nigeria would not acknowledge Abiola’s contribution, you have a responsibility to acknowledge it.

    It is immaterial what political party brought any of you into office, the quest to restructure Nigeria is for the benefit of all Nigerians, but it is remarkably clear also, that it is the only platform on which the Yoruba people can thrive. The question arises all the time, whether the only lot of Yoruba in Nigeria is to go down for any other to thrive. Why can’t we all thrive together.

    We implore you therefore, that you and your colleagues do more in the clamour for restructuring.  What if I may ask stops all Yoruba governments in coming together to build a joint monument in honour of Chief MKO Abiola? If the central government would not do it, should we be too timid to do it. As the various legal challenges ably handled by Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Lagos State, Prof Yemi Osinbajo earlier on, showed the underbelly of the unitary constitution foisted on Nigeria, so is it possible that the six or seven of you can and should act together to test the resolve of those who are determined to enslave other Nigerians. It took the resolve of one governor, Zamfara’s Sani Yerimah to assert the fallibility of the nations’ Constitution as it affects the values and culture of his people and in great measure the inapplicable and nonsensical constitutional declaration on policing and the powerlessness of the unitary government there-on, that you are working together can do more for your people.

    That to me is the challenge of June12, and why we gather here today.

  • June 12 and the continuing conspiracy

    Sir: As we annually remember the annulled 1993 election, the perspective with which the day is viewed differs from persons, tribes, zones and regions. Arguments still continue among many about the real intent of the annulled election; in fact, the personality of M.K.O has also been a cause for argument, while some argues him to be a good man, he is viewed by some in a very negative light.

    Suffice to say that M.K.O cannot be viewed in the same light by all Nigerians.

    While it is plausible that for the first time, South-west states rose above politics and all declared a public holiday, that not a single state from any other zone followed suit speaks volume of how most non-Yorubas interpret the event of 1993. There is no mistake assuming that most people view it as being a tribal issue other than a national one.

    Yes, some may say he is not worth celebrating, that what happened to him was his comeuppance, but we shouldn’t confuse and conflict our judgment about the character with the event that played out, liking him or hating him shouldn’t be the issue, the importance of what his personality was involved in should rather be the point of emphasis.

    When there was a botched military coup in Turkey last year, despite extant international condemnation of human right abuses by President Erdogan and the voiced oppositions to his government, countries all over condemned the coup and committed to democratic governance in Turkey; in the Nigerian context therefore, that a person is ‘bad’ should not mean we should rejoice in things that take us several steps backwards. The annulment of the 1993 election and the subsequent return to military rule is not a justified punishment for whatever anyone has against M.K.O, as a matter of fact, the aftermath of the annulment affected Nigeria more than the man; the consequences of that action still linger on.

    I believe the commemoration of the June 12, 1993 election should go beyond the personalities involved, beyond tribal, sentimental judgments and beyond political undertone. Rather it should be seen as a national tragedy, resulting in six years of democratic transition delay; a day whose yearly commemoration should cause sober reflection on the enduring pain of that unilateral action, a day which should lead to renewed commitment to democracy and democratic values, a day which should remind us of the typical selfless, untiring and relentless Nigerian spirit.

    There are arguments that the 1999 actors politically and technically avoided naming June 12 as democracy day and instead chose May 29: a day with a lesser democratic significance. The un-debatable fact remains that the June 12, 1993 event activated the untapped, dormant democratic spirit in Nigerians which eventually paved way for the now attained democracy. Instead of therefore seeing that day as a foundational day of our democracy, many have been unperturbed. A national remembrance of those that died and the event itself is not un-befitting for this day; a day when hope for democracy was thought to have been dashed but which instead renewed relentless pursuit for its actualization, a day which brought about days when activists and fighters of democracy were locked behind bars, a day which brought about days which made the environment of Nigeria un-conducive for preachers of democracy, a day which eventfully led to the exile of some Nigerians, separating them from their families.

    The day goes beyond Abiola; it goes beyond the Yorubas, it goes beyond politics, it is a day of national importance, it should be our democracy day, it should be a day of national commemoration, it should be a day that encourages us that no matter the threat and challenges, we can still come together to protest against tyranny, kleptocracy and whatever is inimical to the Nigeria culture and democratic values.

     

    • Popoola Abayomi,

    haybeereds@yahoo.com.

  • June 12, 1993: Saints and villains

    The declaration and celebration of last Monday June 12 as democracy day by the governments and the people of South-west states to mark the June 12, 1993 annulment of MKO Abiola’s pan-Nigerian mandate by General Babangida and some self-serving politicians offered Nigerians another opportunity to reflect on the heroic exploits of June 12 saints and the baleful legacies of June 12 villains.

    For those below 24 years of age who are too young to understand what June 12, 1993 stands for,  the date according to Joe Igbokwe  “reminds us of the most peaceful, freest and fairest election ever held in Nigeria since independence and celebrated and extolled by local, national and international observers and with the man who won the election and his deputy both Muslims; it was the first time in the history of this country Nigerians jettisoned both ethnic and primordial sentiments to elect leaders of their choice; there was no record of violence, intimidation, snatching of ballot boxes, multiple voting, rigging etc. There was no protest from any part of the country until IBB and his cohorts started brandishing ethnic cards to stop the silent revolution”.(Joe Igbokwe, Sahara Reporters  June, 2013)

    MKO Abiola as custodian of a pan-Nigeria mandate so freely given by enthusiastic Nigerians chose to make the supreme sacrifice rather than succumb to military intimidation. He was egged on by other principled Nigerians such as Abraham Adesanya, Adekunle Ajasin, Dan Suleiman, Commodore Ndubusi Kanu, and Bola Tinubu, Alani Akinrinade; among many others using NADECO as their umbrella body. They along with civil society groups openly challenged the desperate Generals on the streets of Lagos and in the international community. They constituted the forces which according to Senator Shehu Sani, “forced the military out of power and (later) rallied Nigerians to eject the PDP out of power.”

    Lined up against Abiola and his sympathisers were Babangida, Jeremiah Useni, Sani Abacha, David Mark who according to report allegedly threatened to personally shoot MKO Abiola if sworn in as president and General Oladipo Diya who while riding on the leopard’s back as Abacha’s deputy, had described the opposition NADECO as “Agbako”. The desperate Generals also had the support of notable Nigerians such as Obasanjo who said ‘Abiola was not the messiah Nigerians were waiting for’ but went on to become the greatest beneficiary of the June 12 coup He was brought out of prison and imposed as president by the disgraced military to pacify restive Yoruba nation and other determined Nigerians that wanted the military off their back.

    Obasanjo, according to Chief Frank Kokori, former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers who was prominent on the streets with NADECO members and civil society groups over the struggle for June 12 which he claimed “removed the military completely from governance in Nigeria”, unilaterally fixed Democracy Day for May 29 in collaboration with his military clique and former dictators who are still behind the problems of Nigeria” in order to bury June 12 1993.

    We can add Chief Ernest Shonekan who Babangida imposed as head of an illegal contraption called Interim National Government to upstage his fellow Egba man in the same manner Dr. Moses Adekoyejo Majekodunmi, was  used as a stop gap by Tafawa Balewa during his illegal declaration of emergency in the West to allow  Awo settle down in prison before installing S. L. Akintola, his estranged deputy and  the Hausa-Fulani preferred choice for the premiership of western region without election to spite the protesting Yoruba.

    We also have in the list, Arthur Nzeribe and his ABN (Association for Better Nigeria) who after being barred by the courts from campaigning for extension of military rule went on to secure a midnight judgment from the late Justice Ikpeme to stop the election. The midnight judgment given in spite of a decree precluding the electoral empire from litigation was one of the reasons pathetic Babangida gave during a laborious television broadcast to justify the annulment.

    On the list also was Bashir Tofa, the candidate for the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the 1993 Presidential Election. Tofa who before his endorsement as candidate had been campaigning for  extension of military rule  was Babangida’s last joker to hold on to power. He refused to concede defeat despite having been roundly defeated all over the country including his Kano base. Speaking to reporters during the 21st anniversary of the historic election, he had said “the June 12, 1993 Presidential election was a fiction and its anniversary not worth celebrating”.  For him, “Only those who don’t have anything to offer to this country to move forward can still be talking about June 12 Presidential Elections”.

    We can add to the list, Tony Anenih, the erstwhile PDP ‘Mr. Fixer’ who was recently retired from politics by Adams Oshiomhole, the immediate past governor of Edo State. There was also Tom Ikimi, the chairman of Babangida’s other decreed political party who by refusing to concede defeat as NRC chairman landed the position of a foreign minister under Abacha.

    And finally we can add to the anti-Nigeria list the current members of the military created ‘new breed’ political elite who have not only failed to acknowledge the immense contribution of MKO Abiola and others who laboured for the enthronement of democracy but have in the words of Senator Shehu Sani, gone ahead to “share oil blocks to themselves, share positions to themselves, share national honour to themselves.”

    But our youths must not despair. Abiola has not died in vain despite the institutional conspiracy by military and the new political elite to deny him recognition.  One proof of this was last Monday’s recognition and celebration of his heroic contribution to the enthronement of democracy by his people. That he lives in the heart of his people is all that mattered.  For Shonekan, the impostor and Chief Obasanjo, a former military head of state, a two term Nigerian President and a respected African statesman who craves for recognition by outsiders, Edmund Burke has an advice – charity begins at home. One cannot be a good representative of outsiders if he is not first a good representative of his people. This perhaps explains why for a long time to come, both will live in the shadow of MKO Abiola among the Yoruba people.

    Already Babangida, who prides himself as the evil genius, can read the hand writing on the wall. Today, very few remember his birthday which at the height of his power attracted as many as 200 pages of newspaper congratulatory advertisements. Fewer remember August 27, 1985, the date of his palace coup against Buhari which his palace jesters had placed ahead of October 1, 1960, the date of our independence. And while he held sway as the Maradona of Nigerian politics, traditional rulers from all the over 450 Nigerian nationalities were falling over each other to give him and his wife traditional chieftaincy titles while vice chancellors of Nigerian  universities tried to out stage each other in conferring honorary degrees on him and his wife.

    Unlike MKO Abiola, his victim, who lives in the heart of his people and admired not by a few Nigerians for his supreme sacrifice in the battle for the enthronement  of democracy, Babangida is derided  for institutionalising corruption, abridging our political socialization process and destroying, in the words of Obasanjo, ‘all the values we hold dear’. If he is remembered at all, it is by private jet-owning multi-billionaires he created at the expense of Nigerians who in recent times have been trying to humour him as he ages in solitude inside his 45-room hill-top Minna mansion.

  • ‘June 12’: Between nightfall and mid-day

    ‘June 12’: Between nightfall and mid-day

    General Ibrahim Babangida’s transition programme may still end with a bang, but the build-up to the June 12, presidential election of June 12, 1993, that was supposed to be its high point  has been a desultory march of intrigue, disinformation, and all manner of skullduggery.

    As I write these lines at 7:30 pm on Thursday, June 10, 1993, just 48 hours to polling day, it is  by no means clear that the election will actually take place.  The High Court in Abuja is yet to determine whether the National Electoral Commission (NEC ), the Federal Attorney-General, Clement Akpamgbo, and military president Babangida have furnished compelling reasons why the election should not be stopped, as demanded by the Association for a Better Nigeria (ABN).

    The Association has followed up its petition with a huge demonstration in Kaduna urging Babangida to stay on for four more years.

    The self-styled Council of Elder Statesmen(spearheaded by S.G. Ikoku and persons of like mind) is still busy calling for what amounts to a scuttling of the transition.  Curiously, its advocacy, dripping with contempt for the two political parties (the SDP and the NRC), their presidential candidates and indeed for the entire political class, is described not as a proposal but a Report, and is received in Abuja with all the pomp, circumstance and solemnity befitting a commissioned job.

    The newspapers are awash with unsigned advertisements excoriating the SDP candidate Moshood Abiola and the NRC candidate Bashir Tofa for all manner of misconduct, ranging from alleged purloining of an opponent’s letter to religious fanaticism.  The entire country is awash in rumours of dark plots and dire warnings.

    From his base in London, Second Republic minister Umaru Dikko, no longer fearful of being shipped home in a crate, is reported to have written to the Kaduna Mafia, warning that under no circumstance should a Southerner be allowed to win power.

    As if to add poignancy to Dikko’s rumoured epistle, allegations surface that Abiola and a conclave of Yoruba elders had completed plans to transfer the federal capital back to Lagos if Abiola won the election.  And if he did not win, Igbo properties in Yorubaland were marked for destruction.

    Such were the doubts and distrust sewn he week before the election and watered assiduously every passing day.

    Long, disorderly queues formed by panic-stricken motorists in the wake of a strike by petroleum workers strengthened doubts about the election.  A breakdown in electricity and water supplies reinforced the doubts.

    NEC chairman Humphrey Nwosu comes on the television screen as I write these lines.  Ebullient as usual, and reeling out in a sing-song, combative voice a trainload of things that must not be done on Election Day and assuring a national audience that everything was set for the historic poll.

    But I am immediately reminded of what someone who should know told me long ago:  “Never mind all the histrionics.  Good old Humphrey is not actually in charge and often does not know what is really going on

    At any rate, 48 hours to the election, no polling booths have been erected and no voters list has been put on display in Lagos.  It requires a degree of credulity bordering on extreme naïveté to wager that the election will indeed hold on June 12.

    The network news broadcast on the Nigeria Television Authority has just ended.  There is no mention of any developments in the ABN’s legal battle to scuttle the election.  The doubts remain.

    The applicable election law states categorically that no court action can stand in the way of the poll.  If this means anything at all, it means that no court can entertain any petition that seeks to stop the election.  Yet, the Abuja court not only entertains the petition, it allows it to drag on for one full week, and to cast grave doubts on whether the election will hold.

    At this point, I break off and go to bed, hoping to complete this piece on Friday, June 11, to meet my deadline.

    At 11:05 pm, the doorbell rings.

    Who can it be at this time of day?  It is Femi Kusa, The Guardian’s director of publications and editor-in-chief.  He has a message, and it is for my ears only, the security guard tells me.  I go downstairs to meet Kusa in the courtyard.

    Without the slightest trace of agitation or surprise, he tells me, first, that the Abuja High Court, Justice Bassey Ikpeme presiding, has ruled, first, that  election planned for Saturday, June 12, must not hold as demanded by the ABN; second, that the court has reserved ruling for one month on NEC’s countermotion, and third, that the police had granted the ABN a permit to stage a Babangida-Must-Stay rally in Abuja.

    Kusa said he thought I should not have to read the papers the next day before learning of these stunning developments.

    Even those of our countrymen who have maintained all along that the transition programme bears the markings of a cruel hoax and of a prologue to tragedy could hardly have believed that matters would come to this dreary pass.  But such, alas, is the level of triviality to which the final phase of the transition programme has been reduced.

    No sooner were the presidential primaries concluded than rumours spread that the candidates of both parties stood to be disqualified.  Damning dossiers on the twain were said to have been compiled, with ample help from the intelligence services of some Western nations.

    Since then, it has been one dark hint or another of gloomy portents.  Was this the “hidden agenda” finally unraveling?

    A hidden agenda exists all right, weighs in Vice President Augustus Aikhomu.  But it belongs to the self-appointed messiahs and their confederates who held a widely publicised meeting  at General Olusegun Obasanjo’s Farm in Otta the other day, not to the Babangida Administration,

    As I conclude this piece at 1:05 am on Friday, June 11, NEC has not announced whether it will go ahead with the election as planned, the Abuja court’s injunction notwithstanding.  The authors and managers of the transition programme have made no statement.  Perhaps they are satisfied that the transition is still “on course” and that the “solid foundation” they have been laying for democracy these past seven years is, if anything, stronger than ever,

    Or it may well be that they regard the latest developments as just another phase of the “learning process” that is the transition.

    Others of a different cast of mind cannot be blamed if on waking up today and hearing the news from Abuja, they felt, like Jacob, that they had for seven years been sleeping with an illusion.

    The foregoing was published in The Guardian on June 15, 1993 and reproduced in my book, Diary of a Debacle:  Tracking Nigeria’s Failed Democratic Transition (1989-1994).

    It remains to add that it was well past midday on Friday, June 11, when NEC finally announced that the election would hold as scheduled.

    The Babangida Administration’s affirmation that the election would indeed hold came only indirectly, in response to a statement by the United States Embassy, per its Counselor on Public Affairs, Michael O’Brien, that any postponement would be “unacceptable” to the U.S. Government.

    Thus were Babangida and his co-conspirators forced into a frenzied reworking of the script.

    Go through the motion of holding the election but pour the nation’s resources into cajoling, coaxing, bullying, bribing, suborning., manipulating and otherwise inducing hegemonists, quislings, expired warlords, revanchists, traditional rulers, religious leaders, judges, shysters, professors for hire, media racketeers, student bodies, rented entertainers and all manner of careerists to discredit the poll, demonise its winner, Moshood Abiola, and annul the hope he kindled.

    Their Final Solution to “the problem of June 12” was only a matter of time.

    But “June 12” lives on in salience and spirit, unconquerable and indestructible.

  • June 12 not a Yoruba struggle – Falana

    June 12 not a Yoruba struggle – Falana

    Human Right lawyer, Femi Falana, said on Monday that June 12 should not be seen as a Yoruba struggle but a national movement that gave birth to 18 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in Nigeria.

    Falana stated this at a public lecture to mark the 24th anniversary of the June 12 presidential election tagged:  ‘Hope ’93: Dream Deferred’ held in Akure, Ondo State.

    The event was organised by the Ondo State Government on the presidential election presumed to be won by the late Chief M.K.O Abiola.

    The election was later annulled by a military government headed by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd).

    He described June 12 as a national movement, saying “it is wrong for any Nigerian to tag it a Yoruba struggle.”

    Falana was quick to advocate for proper restructuring of Nigeria, which he described as not negotiable.

    He said political restructuring without economic restructuring was not the solution to the under-development of the country.

    Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, said the June 12 struggle remained a special day in the nation’s political history.

    The governor said many believed that the June 12 phenomenon transcended the individuality of late Abiola and should not be forgotten.

    He also renamed the Democracy Park in Akure as the MKO Abiola Democracy Park, saying the meeting was not a political gathering.

    NAN