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Tag: June 12

  • June 12: How Nigeria can immortalise Abiola- Ambode

    June 12: How Nigeria can immortalise Abiola- Ambode

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday led the call for Nigeria to entrench viable democracy saying that said one of the best ways Nigeria can immortalise what the late winner of June 12, 1993 Presidential election, Chief M.K.O Abiola, stood for.

    This, he said can be achieved through the practice of true federalism.

    The governor who spoke at a forum organised by the state government to mark the 23rd Anniversary of June 12, said Nigeria owe the late Abiola a duty to entrench democracy in the system and practice it the right way.

    Speaking on the theme: “Democracy And Inclusiveness: Basis For Good Governance,” Governor Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, said June 12 would continued to be remembered, but that the country must be prepared to travel through the journey of ensuring the right things are done in proper ways.

    He said, “This is a day we must continue to remember because we have been practicing democracy and at the end of the day, we are not actually doing what we should be doing. If you look at the topic of today, it says Democracy and Its Inclusiveness, what we have today, we still have a long way to go, and that is to say that we are not practicing true federalism.

    “What we owe Nigeria today is nothing but true Federalism and for us to be able to achieve true federalism, we have to work hard for it and that is the message the Governor has asked me to deliver.

    “We still have a long way to go. If you want to live by Abiola’s memory, if you want to honour him, we owe him a duty to ensure that we install a viable democracy and that viable democracy can only be installed if we have true federalism which we are presently not practicing, and that is very important,” he said.

    The Governor added that the federating units of the country must be allowed to develop at their own pace, saying that it was important for the country address the very evident wrongs of the past.

    He said: “For us in Lagos here, Lagos as it is today has everything to stand by its own. We run the police, we have the most viable infrastructure in the whole country, yet we are not given what we deserve.

    “Look at the number of Local Governments we have, if we run true federalism, we would not be having 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 20 Local Governments. We should be able to create the number of Local Governments that we desire,” he said.

    In his brief remarks at the forum, the former Military Governor of Lagos State, Rr. Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd.) painted a gloomy picture when he said, “We are at this time struggling to build and we may still have the chance to build the country but it is a dwindling chance. Whatever is happening now in the country either militancy, Independent People Of Biafra and others will not stop until we go back to the Nigeria that we are expected to build; a federal Nigeria.

    “We should brace up and be prepared. Prayer will not solve the problem. We have to get back to a federal Nigeria. If not, we should be prepared because what we are seeing is just a child’s play. I have not lost faith in the country’s old anthem.”

    Also speaking, General Secretary of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Pa Ayo Opadokun, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently recognize late Abiola as a former President of Nigeria and name a national monument after him.

    Opadokun lamented that it was unfortunate that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he described as the major beneficiary of the June 12 struggle, failed to accord Abiola the due recognition throughout his eight year-tenure, but urged the Federal Government to write the wrongs to Abiola by paying his family for the crippling of his businesses during the struggle.

    Besides, Opadokun said it was unthinkable that Nigeria, which is the 8th largest exporter of oil, still has the poorest people in the world, adding that the country may not get out of the wood until the restructuring of the skewed and lopsided national structure.

    Opadokun also called for urgent address of injustice in the system, saying the federation must be reconfigured to make every Nigerian equal and totally remove the traces of injustice and unfairness.

    He said: “For instance, in 1960, there were four political divisions in Lagos and two in Kano. As we speak, Jigawa State has been created out of Kano with 27 Local Government Areas, while Kano itself has 44, making a total of 71. Lagos, on the other hand, has just 20 Local Government Areas. This is injustice.

    “Something must be wrong with us. Something wonderfully is wrong with Nigeria. Let me say here that Nigeria will never get out of the wood until we restructure this skewed, warped, lopsided national structure. We will continue to grope in the dark. We will never find our bearing until we restructure the country.”

  • June 12, the Cornerstone of our Democracy-Tinubu

    June 12, the Cornerstone of our Democracy-Tinubu

    June 12, the Cornerstone of our Democracy-Tinubu

    On this 23rd anniversary of June 12, we must not only cast our minds back to the events of that period, but we must never forget our patriots who lost lives and limbs in that epochal struggle. Beyond being a watershed, the June 12 election, the annulment and its aftermath remain the cornerstone of our democracy as a people today.

    Because a few courageous ones across the broad spectrum of the Nigerian society formed a coalition and lead from the front, the military was unable to get away with its constitutional impunity.
    Fired on by patriotism, resistant of years of oppressive military dictatorship and willing to do something about the situation Nigerians pushed the limits of civil disobedience against tyranny. By so doing, Nigerians pushed the military out, demanding for democratic governance and since then, there has been no looking back.

    The seed of democracy that was sown during the June 12 struggle of which Chief Kashimawo Abiola remains the spirit and the moving force is the fruit we now enjoin. Nigerians sustained the fervour and the patriotic disposition necessary for a new political culture to take root. However, 16 years after that struggle ended and the military departed, a new kind of struggle began. With a government of the people, by the people and for the people, the desire for rapid development and a disciplined and accountable leadership became an agenda item. In the hands of the PDP led government, Nigerians got a raw deal.
    But again desirous of a change, Nigerians were again galvanized into voting the PDP out and voting in the APC with its message and philosophy of change.
    But beyond the historic mandate given to the All Progressives Congress, APC is the urgent need to have every citizen be part of the change we want to see. From the streets and crannies, from the classrooms and boardrooms, from the lecture halls and the corridor of power, from the lawmakers, Ministers and leading politicians this is a season that demands our contribution, requires we make sacrifice and seeks that we work together towards building a critical mass that will see to the processes of the change vision now unfolding.
    Nigerians must exact from its leaders performance and accountability.
    Just like in the moving spirit of June 12, Nigerians must speak up against any form financial recklessness and corruption in high places, in their States or local administration and wherever this is found. Beyond speaking against and exposing corruption, Nigerians must speak for and in support of the on-going concerted efforts being coordinated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
    The lessons of the June 12 struggle abides. To June 12 we must return to rekindle our love and devotion for democracy and Nigeria.
    We Know that no change comes easy and we must be mindful of the fact that the success of the APC led government is the success of all of us.

    On this occasion, I shout out to all my colleagues from the days of the June 12 struggle encompassing the NADECO foot soldiers still alive today, the pro-democracy activists, the civil society and the professionals who stood up to be soldiers in defense of the democratic rights of Nigerians. With the new converts and company that have joined our rank and file, let us again stand guard and be vigilant to ensure that disgruntled elements and the powers of yesterday who we overthrew with our votes do not destroy our democracy.

    Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National leader, All Progressives Congress and former Lagos State Governor.

  • Restless ghosts of June 12

    Restless ghosts of June 12

    TODAY is another anniversary of the betrayal perpetrated some 23 years ago by a conspiracy between Nigeria’s military and political leaders. That conspiracy, wide-ranging, deep-seated and remorseless, robbed Moshood Kashimawo Abiola of the victory he achieved in the 1993 presidential election, and the nation of the unique opportunity to remould itself into a real African and global player. Chief Abiola won the election, but for a long time, top Nigerian leaders and politicians schooled themselves to talk of the late politician as either the person widely believed to have won the election or the presumed winner of the election. Everyone evaded the truth and spoke surprisingly profanely of the fair and credible process the world witnessed. Then, except perhaps most of the Southwest and an insignificant number of people around parts of the country, every other person justified the annulment of the election and counselled the need to bury the past and look forward to a bright future.

    That bright future has proved to be a chimera. And though everyone has stopped wrestling with a troubled conscience and now speaks more definitively of Chief Abiola as the winner of the election, no one has claimed responsibility for that moment of madness. The closest anyone came to accepting responsibility was when the military ruler who annulled the poll, Ibrahim Babangida, grudgingly spoke about the event taking place under his dictatorship; yet, even he has never really agreed the portentous step he took was wrong. He justified it as gamely as the leading beneficiary of that annulment, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, decried the protests that followed. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the military ruler under whom the detained Chief Abiola died, either naturally or murdered extra-judicially, has refused to come to terms with the horrible death that took place under his watch. Twenty-three years after the annulment, and 18 years after Chief Abiola’s death, the nation has treated the late politician as a pariah, and his family, some of whom were orphaned, completely ignored.

    The consequence is that the Nigerian Fourth Republic is founded on gross injustice, even as Chief Abiola’s family remains disconsolate over the inordinate sacrifice they were compelled to make. The electoral dynamics that produced that injustice are well known. The personalities that conspired to concoct the debacle, notwithstanding their remorselessness and even arrogance, are also well known. Just as there was no closure to the Nigerian civil war, there has also been no closure to the June 12, 1993 presidential poll. No lessons were learnt, and the fissures and folly that underpinned that electoral debacle continue to complicate politics and governance, in addition to the still horrifying abuse ethnic and religious relationships are subjected to.

    June 12 gifted the nation a fortuitous leap over ethnic and religious divisions, with the unusual and unorthodox victory by the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Chief Abiola and Babagana Kingibe poised to break the disconcerting moulds that held the country back. Had Nigerian leaders been deep enough to appreciate that serendipitous leap towards civic culture, they would have defended it with their lives. Instead, the victory represented by June 12 was quickly reversed. And since then, the ethnic and religious fissures afflicting Nigeria have ossified. It has now become inconceivable for any political party to present a same gender, same religion, or same ethnic presidential or even governorship ticket. As religious distrust worsens, so too has ethnic animosity and barbarity. Chief Abiola seemed enlightened and intelligent enough to break many of the barriers decades of misgovernment and parochial politics brought upon the country had he assumed office. Sadly, those who rubbished him and have ruled since he was betrayed have in different forms entrenched narrow-mindedness and extremely insular politics.

    There has been no closure. Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar took no step towards finding a closure, neither acknowledging the dead hero’s contributions nor compensating his family, nor yet immortalising his image that was so cavalierly brutalised by what is perhaps the most robust and Machiavelian conspiracy ever. Chief Obasanjo benefited the most from the sacrifice of Chief Abiola. But for the eight years he served as president, he did not even so much as acknowledge that someone like Chief Abiola ever lived, let alone that he gave his life that democracy might take root and flourish. Going by his scurrilous aside that Chief Abiola wasn’t the messiah Nigeria needed, it seemed the braggart general actually had more contempt for the late hero than he had for even Gen. Sani Abacha, the maximum ruler who put him (Obasanjo) in jail and nearly murdered him.

    Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan succumbed to pressure to immortalise Chief Abiola. But whether out of conviction or mischief, perhaps out of a distinct lack of a sense of history and a thoroughgoing disdain for due process, Dr Jonathan seized upon another national and historical icon, the University of Lagos, to immortalise probably the most accomplished Nigerian hero of democracy. The effort of course miscarried as spectacularly as it was dramatically mooted. Since then Chief Abiola has been in limbo, an ungrateful nation rendering him a cipher, and an envious leadership elite groaning with guilt trip and a wounded conscience.

    With every change in government, despite being elected and seemingly democratic, Nigeria has often always returned to default mode. Chief Obasanjo left office without laying the foundation for democracy; and his successor also left without doing democracy that vital service. There is nothing on the horizon to indicate that 23 years after Chief Abiola and democracy were betrayed, the country would not always return to that offending and retrogressive default mode. After all, May 29, rather than June 12, is still Democracy Day. And most abysmally, in a nation shorn of history and contemptuous of character and learning, even the remembrance of Chief Abiola, not to say his huge and imponderable contribution to the anchoring of democracy, is fading.

  • June 12: Futile battle for sanctity of ballot box

    June 12: Futile battle for sanctity of ballot box

    Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the lessons of the historic June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the flag bearer of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), the late Bashorun Moshood Abiola, the heroic contributions of the pro-democracy movement and the treachery of military collaborators who aborted the dream of a peaceful transfer of power in the ill-fated Third Republic. 

    It is a story of great betrayal; an illusion of hope. The soldiers of fortune and their collaborators yelled as Nigerians cast their votes to draw the curtains on the military rule. The embattled military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, had his game plan. When he criminally annulled the most credible election,  gloom enveloped the country. There was despair. There was commotion. The battle for the sanctity of the ballot box had been won and lost instantly.

    June 12 underscored the miracle of a free and fair election. It was a vote for national unity, mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence by the North and the South. It was a lost opportunity. Since then, the miracle has not been repeated.

    Twenty three after the historic presidential election won by the late Chief Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola, the candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), was cancelled, the sanctity of the ballot box is yet to be fully restored. Elections are nightmares. At random, winners have become losers. In many instances, the contest has often shifted from the ballot box to the courtroom.

    Had Babangida thread the path of honour, perhaps, the situation would have been different today. His reluctance to relinquish power, which he had acquired through a cunning way, wrecked havoc on the country. As the contest was annulled, the SDP national chairman was aloof. The Publicity Secretary said the party had seen the futility of insisting on its revalidation.

    A pro-democracy battle ensued. Lives were lost in civil-military clashes. But, the gap-tooth General  was later forced out in disgrace. As he stepped aside, he installed an interim contraption; a joke that later collapsed on the head of its symbol, the highly respected technocrat, yet a political novice, Chief Ernest Shonekan.

    Up came the late Gen. Sani Abacha, a dictator who cajoled the gullible political class to team up with him, following his vague promise of handing over to Abiola, the president-elect, who later died in detention after five years of futile battle.

    June 12 was a watershed. Ethnicity and religion were not the factors that shaped the presidential contest. Unlike last year’s election, Nigeria was in one accord. Abiola and his running mate, Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe, were Muslims. But, Nigerians did not raise eyebrow. Despite the dictatorial foundation of the two parties, as they were imposed on the beleaguered nation, the diverse people resolved to adopt them as platforms. The umpire, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, and his team were up and doing.  The electoral process was tedious. But, it made internal democracy more compelling for the two parties. Both Abiola and his rival, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC), passed through the stressful nomination processes at the ward, local government, state and federal levels. The procedure was long, but transparent.

    Nigerians were full of eagerness. They were tired of being tossed around by the military. In Nigeria, military rule had become old-fashioned. On poll day, the voters across the six geo-political zones declared a legitimate war against the military marauders.  The popular mood reflected the collective determination to restore civil rule under a credible leadership freely elected by citizens.

    However, the midwife of the elongated transition programme was the main obstacle. When people trooped out for the civic duty on June 12, nobody had a premonition of a looming disaster. On long queues, people endured the tedious accreditation and voting process. According to the civil right activists,  no violence was reported.The open ballot method and two party system made rigging impossible.

    Around 4pm, it was evident that the people had voted to end the military rule.  Nigerians, irrespective of their tribe and religion, had elected Abiola as the President. Hailing the voters for the feat, the legal luminary, the late Chief  Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), pointed out that, even in the barracks, Abiola won. But, on June 23, 1993, the hope was dashed by the annulment. Nigeria was on the retrogressive path. It was the greatest act of betrayal by the military. Nigerians started perceiving soldiers as national liabilities.

    The June 12 saga also unveiled the hypocrisy of the progressive leaders-turned antagonists of the popular will. Many of them are still fighting hard to redeem their dented image after using ‘June 12’ to bargain and trade with military authorities in expectation of juicy appointments, oil blocs and huge contracts. Some influential leaders cleverly suggested the interim government as a way out of the mess, hoping to either head the transitional government or nominate the head. To them, what mattered most were positions, and not principle.

    The division in the military was obvious. Some wanted the military to extend its rule; others said that, in utter sensitivity to the wind of change, their time was up.

    The ‘June 12’ is still a reference point in the nation’s quest for free and fair elections and political stability. It was a tragedy that, when the June 12 struggle later heralded the civil rule, the progressives who were at the front burner were at the back seat.

    Abacha, who disbanded the interim government, and Abiola, the custodian of the mandate, died in the battle. Abiola died while struggling to reclaim the people’s mandate; Abacha died while resisting the people’s will. Under Abacha’s successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the hawks returned to the drawing board. While civil rule was restored in 1999, Nigeria is still in a fruitless search for democracy, 17 years after.

     

    Heroes of June 12:

    The ‘June 12’ battle was not for men of frail will. On the battle field were great fighters who dared the military. These democratic forces were scattered at home and abroad. Many lost their lives and property. When the fight became hotter, some developed cold feet, betrayed the cause and deserted the battle. However, many also endured the heat and fought to the end during the delicate period.  For example, Abacha sent a strong message to Air Marshall Ndubusi Kanu to either desert the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) or face bullet. A General, who hosted the first meeting of the agitators at his Ikeja residence, later demurred. The likes of Senator Abraham Adesanya, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Chief Ralph Obiorah, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Dr. Amos Akingba and Commodore Dan Suleiman were been hunted by the military. Some of them fled the country. Abiola’s wife, Kudirat, was killed during the struggle. So was Chief Alfred Rewane, a great financier of the struggle. Many crusaders, including Ayo Opadokun and the late Dr. Beko Ransom-Kuti, were detained.

     

    Abiola

     The billionaire businessman had a vision-the abolition of poverty. He was a friend of the military. He knew their tricks, but he could not understand all. Apparently, Abiola may have been underrated too by his soldier-friends. His credential was highly intimidating. He was a household name; a philanthropist and a man of the people.  On the podium, he was electrifying. He demonstrated an uncanny knowledge of the economy. It appeared he had solutions to the problems. Largely perceived as the liberator of the people from the military cage, Abiola received massive support, beating his rival, Tofa in his native Kano State. He pulled 8,341,309 votes, representing 58.36 percent of total votes. When Babangida annulled the election, there was sporadic protest. Up to now, the ghost of the annulment still hunts the Minna-born General. Abiola declared himself President-elect at Epetedo, Lagos Island. He was the martyr.

     

    Kudirat

     Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was one of Abiola’s numerous wives. She was a wife in a million. The annulment catapulted her into the pro-democracy movement. She was endowed with a heart of steel and stone. Kudirat faced the odds with determination. She was unstoppable. Whenever she stormed the meeting of the pro-democracy groups, agitators believed that Abiola was around. She was bold, fearless and courageous. She challenged the military over her husband’s  solitary confinement. Her leadership motivated other pro-democracy groups to spring to seek the actualisation of the mandate.  In 1994, Kudirat was actively involved in sustaining the oil workers strike. She was arrested, and later, released on bail. Despite this harassment, she was unwavering. When protesters were detained, she would promptly visit police stations to secure their release. Kudirat knew that her life was in danger. The Amazon was planning to process a visa to leave the country before she was killed. On June 4, 1996, a few days to the third  anniversary of the June 12 election, Kudirat was shot dead by assassins in Oregun, Ikeja.

    Ajasin

     Chief Adekunle Ajasin, former governor of Ondo State, doubled as Afenifere and NADECO leader. He was a principled fighter and moral voice who offered inspiration to the democratic forces. Already an old man, Ajasin, despite the threat to his health and safety, never wavered. The Owo politician had objected to the participation of progressives in Abacha government. Bbut Abiola prevailed on him to give his consent. His bedroom was invaded by former Governor Ibe Onyearugbulem, who had the mandate from Abacha to make Ondo State uncomfortable for the NADECO forces. In June 1995, his house was invaded by soldiers. His followers were arrested. He followed them to the state police headquarters, Akure. They were released 24 hours later. Ajasin was enraged over Abiola’s detention. He passed on when the battle was still hot.

     

    Rewane

     Rewane used his pen and money to fight the military to a standstill. He was a pillar of financial support for all NADECO and many human rights activities. His motive was the de-annulment of the June 12 election. He also personally campaigned against official graft in high places, lack of accountability and gross violation of human rights by the military. But on October 6, 1995, he was murdered in curious circumstances which elicited wide outcry.

     

     Adesanya

      Adesanya, Awoist, lawyer, and Second Republic senator, became the leader of Afenifere after the death of Ajasin. His Personal Assistant was Rev. Tunji Adebiyi. Adesanya’s compatriots in the group who also fought the military were Chiefs Ganiyu Dawodu, Bola Ige, Lam Adesina, Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, Solanke Onasanya, Femi Okunrounmu, Olabiyi Durojaye, Cornelius Adebayo and Dr. fredrick Fasehun, the founder of the oodua Peoples Congress (OPC). Some of them suffered bruises. Rev. Adebiyi was bearing a letter from NADECO leaders in Lagos to Ajasin at Owo when he was arrested at 10 pm at Maryland by the police. Persistent pleas by Kudirat Abiola secured his release. Adesina was captured by soldiers during a protest at Ibadan as a “prisoner of war”. Durojaye, Adebanjo and Dawodu were detained. Assassins were also trailing Aremo Segun Osoba. He escaped been hit by bullets by whiskers. In 1997, Adesanya miraculously escaped assassin’s bullets. He remained undaunted to the end. Under his leadership, Afenifere intensified the battle for restructuring and true federalism.

     

    Enahoro

    Chief Anthony Enahoro, a nationalist, was the chairman of NADECO’s Steering Committee. In 1995, he was detained for almost three months without any charge by Abacha. Before he escaped abroad, he was a torn in the flesh of the military. He also chaired the Movement for National Reformation (MNR) and the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO). Enahoro was the leader of NADECO abroad.

     

    Tinubu:

     In the Third Republic, he was a senator. In the Upper Chamber, Senator Bola Tinubu was the rallying point for senators seeking an end to military rule. He challenged IBB to a duel. When the military leader annulled the poll, he demanded for explanations. Tinubu dared the military, urging the masses to resist the brutal act. He was briefly detained and released. After escaping abroad, he became one of the leaders and financial pillars of NADECO abroad.

     

    Fawehinmi

     Fawehinmi was an outstanding lawyer and world-acclaimed human rights crusade.  He was detained for a long period by the military government.  He provided legal, moral and financial support for freedom fighters. Even, IBB acknowledged him as a man of courage and principle.

     

    Soyinka

     Nobel Laureate Professor Soyinka was one of the brains behind Radio Kudirat. Other frontline activists behind the opposition radio were Enahoro and Dr.Kayode Fayemi, who made broadcasts leaking plans by the soldiers to wipe out freedom fighters from Nigeria. It was the radio that alerted people to the plot to assassinate Ajasin and Adesanya. In 1994, Soyinka lived in exile in the US and France after leaving Nigeria. He mounted a strong international campaign against Abacha’s dictatorial regime. In 1997 he was tried in absentia with other opposition members for a phony charge of bomb attacks against army. The Abacha regime sentenced Soyinka to death in absentia. He still lives to tell the tale.

     

    Akinyemi

    Among those who offered intellectual support for NADECO activities were Professors Akinyemi, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Segun Gbadegesin, Ropo Sekoni, Ade Banjo and Adebayo Williams. They wrote numerous incisive articles denouncing the annulment, military rule and rights violation. They were targets of attacks by the military. They fled the country to continue the onslaught abroad. Banjo had purchased 3,000 riffles to launch a guerrilla war against Abacha. He was caught and detained before he escaped to Ghana.  If the asylum proposed by Prof. Akinyemi had been accepted, Abiola may not have been killed. But, the chief rejected the asylum, saying that the President-elect of the most populous nation in Africa could not be seeking asylum in American Embassy.

     

    Kokori

     Chief Frank Kokori, a fearless Labour leader and former Secretary-General of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) organised the oil workers’ strike that rattled Abacha in 1994. He was arrested by the security operatives and was moved round different prisons, mostly in the northern part of the country.

     

    Carrington

     Walter Carrington  served as United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Nigeria between 1993 and 1997. He actively supported the struggle for the validation of the election results, chiding the military for the annulment and human rights abuses. His remarks were weighty and they influenced the United States to mount pressure on the military to vacate power.

     

    Adebanjo

     Ayo Adebanjo,  a fearless politician,  was staunch member of NADECO. Despite the threat to his life and property, he was resolute in the fight for the restoration of Abiola’s mandate. It was ironic, because Abiola and his leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, never politically agreed. Since he passed on, Adebanjo has been calling for the immortalisation of Abiola.

     

    Epetedo Group

     Among the agitators who organised the Epetedo Declaration were  theb late Senator Dosunmu, the late Prince Ademola Adeniji-Adele, Tokunbo Afikuyomi, Omotilewa Aro-Lambo, Senator Ajayi from Ekiti, Hon. Adesina from Abeokuta,  and Sikiru Shitta-Bey.

     

    Opadokun

     Opadokun was  the General Secretary of the Afenifere and NADECO. For five years, he was in detention. It is painful to him that, after the restoration of the civil rule, military apologists and collaborators became the beneficiaries of the battle in 1999.

     

    Oshun

     Olawale Oshun is a former Chief Whip of House of Representatives. When the IBB regime cancelled the election, he was among the legislators who denounced the criminal act. He was one of the few people that planned the ‘Epetedo Declaration’ for Abiola. When Opadokun was seized by the military, he became the NADECO secretary. He was later released, after which he fled abroad to continue the fight. He wrote his book, ‘Clapping with one hand’, in detention.

     

    Kanu

    The former governor of Imo and Lagos states was at the forefront of the agitation for the actualisation of the mandate. Abacha once told him to deck his khaki and face him with his gun, instead of joining forces with civilians to rubbish him. When he persisted in his NADECO activities, his businesses were crippled by the military. His private residence was searched by security agents. He was accused of planning to importing arms and ammunitions.

     

    Nwankwo

    Among the organisations that formed NADECO was the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU) led by the irrepressible advocate of human rights and good governance, Clement Nwankwo. He shared that virtue of consistency and bravery with Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who were prominent NADECO chieftains. A fierce speaker and prolific writer, Nwankwo was never afraid of detention camps.

     

    Ige

     The Cicero of Esa-Oke had shunned the IBB transition programme, following Awo’s admonition to his followers to learn to dine with the devil with a long spoon. However,  the entry of the late Chief Bola Ige, after the expiration of ‘siddon look’ period, inspired the pro-democracy agitators to fight on. He was a leading fighter under NADECO and Afenifere, where he was deputy leader. Ige had a caustic tongue, which he used to bite the Abacha regime. It was he who described the five political parties of that period as five fingers of a leprous hand. He was detained at Epe.

     

    Balarabe Musa:

     The former governor of Kaduna State refused to join the bandwagon of tribal egoists. He believed that June 12 offered a redemptive option to the country in its quest for legitimate leadership. To him, the annulment was a national calamity and the struggle was not a sectional affair as wrongly projected by military spin doctors. On few occasions too, prominent northern leaders, including the late Dr. Ibrahim Tahir, spoke forcefully against Babangida regime for foisting an avoidable crisis on the country.

     

    Abubakar Umar

     As military governor of Kaduna State, he had shown the tendency of a radical. The political scientist was of the view that the military had overstayed in power to the detriment of the masses. Col. Abubakar Umar Dangiwa (rtd) spoke forcefully in defense of the Abiola. To him, the symbol was not the main issue, but the seizure of the nation’s collective passport for a genuine flight to the horizon of democratic progress.

     

    Ondo NADECO

     These were NADECO members based in Ondo State. Prominent among them were Chief Segun Adegoke, a lawyer and Awoist, the late Chief Adebayo Adefarati, who later became governor, Mrs. Bolaji Osomo before she joined Abacha cabinet, and Senator Okunrinboye. When the late military governor, Onyearugbulem, and some soldiers invaded the Owo country home of Ajasin, an encounter ensued between the governor and Adefarati. The governor asked Adefarati  whether he was a NADECO member. Adefarati, beating his chests three times, answered in the affirmative. The soldiers could not arrest him in Ajasin’s room.

     

    Falae

     The former Secretary to the Federal Military Government and Finance Minister was very active in Afenifere and NADECO. He was one of the ardent supporters of Abiola during the battle for the revalidation of the annulled results. Other Afenifere leaders who were active during the struggle included Senator Ayo Fasanmi, who resigned from the Constitutional Conference Commission set up by Abacha, Chief Supo Sonibare, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, Baba Omojola, Chief Rafiu Jafojo, Chief S.K. Babalola, and Rev. Tunji Adebiyi. Before they joined Abacha government, the duo of Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Ebenezer Babatope were also at the forefront of the clamour for the de-annulment of the june 12, 1993 election.

     

    Lam Adesina

     A disciple of Awo and former federal legislator, Adesina was always opposed to military rule. He had used his column to spite the soldiers of fortune who milked the country dry. For participating in the anti-military demonstrations at Ibadan, Oyo State capital,  Adesina was ‘captured’ by the Military Administrator, Col. Usman, as a prisoner of war. He languished in detention. Adesina later served as governor.

     

    Bishop Gbonigi:

     The activist-cleric, Rt. Rev. Bolanle Gbonigi, was nicknamed the ‘NADECO Bishop’ because of his principled position on June 12. He decried the injustice from the pulpit and offered moral and spiritual support to the pro-democracy agitators.

     

    Akinrinade:

     Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd) was one of the leaders of NADECO abroad, who committed enormous time, energy and resources to the struggle for justice. His private residence at Ikeja was torched by suspected government agents. The same tribulation befell his compatriot, Dr. Akingba, a former university don. He was harassed by the military. His residence was also attacked in Lagos.

     

    Labour, right groups and media:

     Human rights leaders-Dr Beko Ransom-Kuti, his brother, Prof. Olikoye Ransom-Kuti, Femi Falana, Femi Aborisade, Chima Ubani, Joe Igbokwe, Olisa Agbakoba, Ayo Obe, Rev. Fr. Mzathew Kukah, now Bishop Ebun Adegboruwa,  Joe Igbokwe, Clement Nwankwo, Felix Tuodolo, Debo Adeniran, Akinola Orisagbemi, who was Personal Assistant to Mrs. Kudirat Abiola, Innocent Chukwuma, and numerous activists under the banners of the Nigeria Bar Association, Nigeria Medical Association, Nigeria Labour Congress, NUJ, PENGASSAN, NUPENG, Lagos Justice Forum,  and NANS made invaluable contributions to the struggle.

  • Remembering June 12, 1993 elections

    SIR: There was no story but rumour as to why the presidential elections of June 12, 1993, widely acclaimed to have been won by Moshood Kolawole Abiola was annulled by the military junta. The major players of that annulment have all kept sealed lips. Not even Humphrey Nwosu could gather the frame to indict anyone.

    Nigeria lost a golden chance to make her democracy breathe the atmosphere of the rococo. Candidate Abiola was not only widely respected globally but accepted locally without reservation. People with such national clout today are rare. The national cloud of mistrust that we live under today is clear for all to see. No thanks to that brazen theft of a people’s mandate. Weirdly, some military men who cared nothing about democracy then have become turn coats and enjoy(ed) the dole of democracy more than many who hungered for it. This can only happen in Nigeria. We suffer from selective amnesia.

    Although a civilian, Abiola walked like a general and people stood at attention out of love when he traipsed in front of them. Those who worked with him at close quarters attested to the fact that he didn’t order men around unnecessarily.

    Unlike those who see politics as an avenue to assault and kill for power, he consorted with all, even trusted those who not only betrayed his cause but later killed him.

    What reason would Nigeria give future generations for the annulment of June 12, 1993 elections? Absolutely nothing! The actors probably read Aesop’s fable, the story of the Wolf and Lamb. Their reason is an insult to the sensibilities of history.

    We pretend today – as though June 12, 1993 doesn’t matter? For those who worked so hard for the enthronement of democracy, there is a sort of sadness associated with that hubris.

    The contract between citizens and the Nigerian state doesn’t appear to be straightforward. A citizen of Nigeria can be helped to the land of no return only for nurturing a nationalistic ambition.

    Especially those who truly care about the sufferings of the browbeaten people. Those gutsy enough to shirt-front the establishment and all those bent on demeaning the bodies of men to indignity.

    Without June 12, 1993, we might not have had a May 29, 1999, the beginning of the fourth republic. Those naysayers of June 12, and major players in the political corridors now wouldn’t have had chance to enter the democratic train.

    We are democratically free because of Abiola who didn’t try to avoid the hoop on his path but had the courage and spirit to break it to secure our freedom and future. Only brave men with ideas that seize a man’s heart to chase positive causes can do that.

    The annulment of that election is a national disaster that needs atonement from the Nigerian state and not justification for the gerrymandering.

    There continues to be a cynicism today about the motives of those in the military that truncated the election. With no truth and reconciliation committee that cynicism goes on for seven forevers. We have become a nation within a nation and have refugees amongst our citizens.

    Many decent men today hardly join the political train due to that lost mandate. Only a handful is in the train, and these decent ones have had the unpleasant experience of challenging the many bad people heating up the polity. Bad politicians are in service only because they had no other options. Abiola had too many options. Some folks in politics who can’t pass off as moral agents today engage in moral suasion.

    History has justified Moshood Kolawole Abiola. He risked his life for a principle and a cause.

    The only way the politicians of today can truly honour him is to celebrate June 12, nationally,  provide the dole of democracy to starving Nigerians, reclaim our streets from brigands, give more to charity. Abiola stood for all of these and more.

     

    • Simon Abah.

    Port  Harcourt.

  • Dealing with literature of June 12

    Dealing with literature of June 12

    A book titled June 12 Election, Campaign for Democracy And The Implosion of The Nigerian Left written by Onyeisi Chiemeke, one of the frontline participants in the events of 1993 was presented to the public in Lagos last weekend. Edozie Udeze was there

     

    The Nigerian left, members of the Human Rights community and those who have over the years stood solidly behind the people, agitating and advocating for good governance in Nigeria, regrouped last weekend in Lagos to honour one of their own.  From the gathering, it was clear that the group has not given up or lost hope that Nigeria will ever get better.  In his book titled June 12 Election, Campaign for Democracy and The Implosion of The Nigerian Left, Onyeisi Chiemeke a lawyer and human rights campaigner went deep into the events and circumstances that led to the 1993 annulment of the presidential election won by the Late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola.

    The public presentation of the book which took place in Lagos saw some members of the Nigerian Left, those of them who still believe in the ideals and philosophies of the idea to make Nigeria an egalitarian society where the equal distribution of wealth is guaranteed and where poverty is reduced to the barest minimum, lampooning the leadership and those in authority who have consistently refused to do things right.

    In his own remarks, John Oda, a former Secretary General of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) praised the author, Chiemeke, for his resilience and boldness and courage in going back into time to unearth all those important issues that made the Nigerian left a force to reckon with in the years of yore.  “For the role we played and the road we chose to thread, democracy is a reality today.  Chiemeke is like one of the chroniclers of the salient elements that propelled the 1917 Russian Revolution,” he said.

    Those events finally signposted the revolution.  In this carefully written historical documentation, Chiemeke gave the day-to-day details that led not only to the formation of the Nigerian Left, but the hub of the 1993 presidential election.  The place of Abiola in this matter is made clear and unambiguous by the author.  Today, no history of the salient issues of 1993 can be recounted without a direct reference to this book.  This was why Oda gave double kudos to him, asking his other members to come out of their cocoons because it is time once more to go to town for the benefit of the masses.  “The struggle is not over yet,” he said.

    The book is not just an indepth excursion into time, it is also a bundle of revelations, assertions and insights into an era; an era that is too difficult to wish away in the annals of Nigeria.  This was why in an interview, Chiemeke took his time to explain the reasons for his mission, the task of putting the work together and the core essence of the Nigerian left.  “Yes, I was active in the process, the principal organization that stood against the annulment of that June 12, 1993 presidential election.  This was done through The Campaign for Democracy.  We were very active and I was one of the group of people, young Nigerians who were fresh out of tertiary institutions, bubbling with energy, but refused to allow bad leaders to continue to hold us hostage.  We were street workers for June 12 then, under the auspices of Campaign for Democracy.

    “So, after whatever that had transpired in those days, I personally came to a conclusion that some stories, most times, are terribly misrepresented.  This is so because these stories are not being told by participants in the events.  So, I was active, hence this book.  It is a story I can conveniently tell with all the facts and figures in place.

    “My own contention in this book is that part of the problems of the Nigerian left was also attached to how they approached the issue of June 12.  It became like a slaughter house for the Nigerian left.  In the middle of that fight there was a disagreement; this fundamentally affected everybody.

    This also further created more divisions which led to the birth of other groups.  It wasn’t that there were no disagreements before now.  But this particular one bordered on deep bitterness and by 1998 – 1999, the problem had not been solved.  Based on that, the transition created its own problems,” he said.

    Chiemeke also believes that the sort of leadership we have today and the sort of purposelessness that accompanies it, is essentially due to the lack or absence of a formidable left.  “Yes, I should think so.  If you look at how it had always been prior to that time, before the advent of democracy, we were up and doing to checkmate leaders, even the military.  The Nigerian left had been in opposition in the society.  We tackled fundamental issues, not from the middle of the road.  Go back to how we tackled the issue of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), of the era of Ibrahim Babangida.  There was a clear-cut idea of what we wanted the government to do.  That, we have lost now, in my own view.”

    The author berated his members whom he said have scattered here and there, thus giving government and leadership enough space to toy with the lives of Nigerians.  “They are in different political parties.  I can even also accuse myself as one of those who now see in Buhari as the salvation general.  But if we are to view it from its proper context, that is from ideological politics; we still have a lot of way to go.  So, with a book like this, with the regrouping of some of us here today, we can begin to be where we should be.  Yes, some people may think you have attacked them but the book will generate other debates within us.  It is this debate and more that will make us to move forward.”

    It is time also to begin the re-engineering of the left and for more members to write more expose on June 12 and what it means to democracy in Nigeria.  With this sort of situation, the society can make more progress.  Even those who many people thought before belonged to the left tradition, were not really in that class.  “In this book, I made a clear distinction between human rights politics and left politics.  The two are not the same in my own contention.  There is a clear division between human rights activism and left wing activism.  In the core tradition of left politics, you can always see the difference,” he said.

    “Ours is not about articulating a position and letting the government know.  It is about letting the people know that there is an alternative to what we have in place today.  That is the fundamental issue and that it is wrong to see the world from this narrow world-view.  The world can be seen from a more fundamental and qualitative way.  In it, I don’t really want the government to feel my impact.  We are not advocating for reform.  No, that is not what we stand for.

    “What we advocate is a fundamental change in the way and manner the Nigerian system is being run.  This fundamental change must address the question of income distribution, and production process.  Who gets what and how does the person get what he gets?  This is the only way the change we need can come into fruition.”

    There are fundamental issues, according to Chiemeke, that the government lacks the capacity to tackle.  But even if the present government wishes to address these issues, it cannot address them because this government is viewing the world from the context of foreign investments.  “Foreigners do not develop any country.  That is my view and that is a historical fact.  The history of the world is that societies are developed by the owners of the land, by the indigenes of that society.  Ours therefore cannot be different.”

    He equally lambasted the Labour Party which could not  fulfill the mandate of the masses but to join in the foray of free for all political jamboree in the society.  “The type of Labour Party we expected is not this type we have whereby if you are tired, you join PDP or APC.  Segun Mimiko is an example.  That is not the kind of Labour Party we are talking about.  Even Adams Oshiomhole did not join the Labour Party even when the party has its office right there in the NLC secretariat in Abuja.  What does that tell you?  It tells you that something somewhere is wrong.  Nigeria is already a one party state whether it is PDP or APC.  Because what are they saying?  Are they saying what is different from each other?  It is just that, to me, the ruling class needed some stability and Buhari who had that good man image would provide it.  Therefore it is for the government to function and keep going.  It is not that the government will do better.  But at least it is to give it confidence so that you and I can say, it is working.”

    He had a word or two to splash on Jonathan.  “Oh, yes the way he was going, even members of his party would have said, oh, this is not what we bargained for.  We want peace.  I have a small analogy to give to you.  You see, the mosquito would prefer that you go to sleep before it decides to bite you.  Because if it bites you while you are awake you will disturb it.  And if it becomes mannerless it will not be able to bite you.  Jonathan was heading in that direction and they needed somebody who had this image that we can make a fortune.  To me, that is what we have now,” he said.

    The book goes deeper than that, however, to dissect many problem areas of the nation.  Chiemeke did all these in 14 Chapters with profound historical accounts which dwell on different dimensions of the series of struggles that gave vent to June 12, 1993.  And it is clear that the history of the struggle whether of the left or of the fight to entrench democracy cannot be complete without this June 12, 1993.

    In his own remarks, Frank Oshanugor, who handled the publication of the book from its infancy to fruition, highlighted the need for people like Chiemeke to regale Nigerians with books like this.  “When I saw the first draft, I knew that this is a great book of history.  Today, what we have is a book on the history of June 12 and the genesis of the struggle.  It is a great work that deserves the attention of all.”

    The presentation witnessed people from all walks of life; people also came to savour the meaning of the Nigerian left and what the author had to offer.  Like Oda remarked, “we will endeavour to re-present this book later in Abuja.”

  • Dealing with literature of June 12

    A book titled June 12 Election, Campaign for Democracy And The Implosion of The Nigerian Left written by Onyeisi Chiemeke, one of the frontline participants in the events of 1993 was presented to the public in Lagos last weekend.  Edozie Udeze was there

    The Nigerian left, members of the Human Rights community and those who have over the years stood solidly behind the people, agitating and advocating for good governance in Nigeria, regrouped last weekend in Lagos to honour one of their own.  From the gathering, it was clear that the group has not given up or lost hope that Nigeria will ever get better.  In his book titled June 12 Election, Campaign for Democracy and The Implosion of The Nigerian Left, Onyeisi Chiemeke a lawyer and human rights campaigner went deep into the events and circumstances that led to the 1993 annulment of the presidential election won by the Late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola.

    The public presentation of the book which took place in Lagos saw some members of the Nigerian Left, those of them who still believe in the ideals and philosophies of the idea to make Nigeria an egalitarian society where the equal distribution of wealth is guaranteed and where poverty is reduced to the barest minimum, lampooning the leadership and those in authority who have consistently refused to do things right.

    In his own remarks, John Oda, a former Secretary General of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) praised the author, Chiemeke, for his resilience and boldness and courage in going back into time to unearth all those important issues that made the Nigerian left a force to reckon with in the years of yore.  “For the role we played and the road we chose to thread, democracy is a reality today.  Chiemeke is like one of the chroniclers of the salient elements that propelled the 1917 Russian Revolution,” he said.

    Those events finally signposted the revolution.  In this carefully written historical documentation, Chiemeke gave the day-to-day details that led not only to the formation of the Nigerian Left, but the hub of the 1993 presidential election.  The place of Abiola in this matter is made clear and unambiguous by the author.  Today, no history of the salient issues of 1993 can be recounted without a direct reference to this book.  This was why Oda gave double kudos to him, asking his other members to come out of their cocoons because it is time once more to go to town for the benefit of the masses.  “The struggle is not over yet,” he said.

    The book is not just an indepth excursion into time, it is also a bundle of revelations, assertions and insights into an era; an era that is too difficult to wish away in the annals of Nigeria.  This was why in an interview, Chiemeke took his time to explain the reasons for his mission, the task of putting the work together and the core essence of the Nigerian left.  “Yes, I was active in the process, the principal organization that stood against the annulment of that June 12, 1993 presidential election.  This was done through The Campaign for Democracy.  We were very active and I was one of the group of people, young Nigerians who were fresh out of tertiary institutions, bubbling with energy, but refused to allow bad leaders to continue to hold us hostage.  We were street workers for June 12 then, under the auspices of Campaign for Democracy.

    “So, after whatever that had transpired in those days, I personally came to a conclusion that some stories, most times, are terribly misrepresented.  This is so because these stories are not being told by participants in the events.  So, I was active, hence this book.  It is a story I can conveniently tell with all the facts and figures in place.

    “My own contention in this book is that part of the problems of the Nigerian left was also attached to how they approached the issue of June 12.  It became like a slaughter house for the Nigerian left.  In the middle of that fight there was a disagreement; this fundamentally affected everybody.

    This also further created more divisions which led to the birth of other groups.  It wasn’t that there were no disagreements before now.  But this particular one bordered on deep bitterness and by 1998 – 1999, the problem had not been solved.  Based on that, the transition created its own problems,” he said.

    Chiemeke also believes that the sort of leadership we have today and the sort of purposelessness that accompanies it, is essentially due to the lack or absence of a formidable left.  “Yes, I should think so.  If you look at how it had always been prior to that time, before the advent of democracy, we were up and doing to checkmate leaders, even the military.  The Nigerian left had been in opposition in the society.  We tackled fundamental issues, not from the middle of the road.  Go back to how we tackled the issue of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), of the era of Ibrahim Babangida.  There was a clear-cut idea of what we wanted the government to do.  That, we have lost now, in my own view.”

    The author berated his members whom he said have scattered here and there, thus giving government and leadership enough space to toy with the lives of Nigerians.  “They are in different political parties.  I can even also accuse myself as one of those who now see in Buhari as the salvation general.  But if we are to view it from its proper context, that is from ideological politics; we still have a lot of way to go.  So, with a book like this, with the regrouping of some of us here today, we can begin to be where we should be.  Yes, some people may think you have attacked them but the book will generate other debates within us.  It is this debate and more that will make us to move forward.”

    It is time also to begin the re-engineering of the left and for more members to write more expose on June 12 and what it means to democracy in Nigeria.  With this sort of situation, the society can make more progress.  Even those who many people thought before belonged to the left tradition, were not really in that class.  “In this book, I made a clear distinction between human rights politics and left politics.  The two are not the same in my own contention.  There is a clear division between human rights activism and left wing activism.  In the core tradition of left politics, you can always see the difference,” he said.

    “Ours is not about articulating a position and letting the government know.  It is about letting the people know that there is an alternative to what we have in place today.  That is the fundamental issue and that it is wrong to see the world from this narrow world-view.  The world can be seen from a more fundamental and qualitative way.  In it, I don’t really want the government to feel my impact.  We are not advocating for reform.  No, that is not what we stand for.

    “What we advocate is a fundamental change in the way and manner the Nigerian system is being run.  This fundamental change must address the question of income distribution, and production process.  Who gets what and how does the person get what he gets?  This is the only way the change we need can come into fruition.”

    There are fundamental issues, according to Chiemeke, that the government lacks the capacity to tackle.  But even if the present government wishes to address these issues, it cannot address them because this government is viewing the world from the context of foreign investments.  “Foreigners do not develop any country.  That is my view and that is a historical fact.  The history of the world is that societies are developed by the owners of the land, by the indigenes of that society.  Ours therefore cannot be different.”

    He equally lambasted the Labour Party which could not  fulfill the mandate of the masses but to join in the foray of free for all political jamboree in the society.  “The type of Labour Party we expected is not this type we have whereby if you are tired, you join PDP or APC.  Segun Mimiko is an example.  That is not the kind of Labour Party we are talking about.  Even Adams Oshiomhole did not join the Labour Party even when the party has its office right there in the NLC secretariat in Abuja.  What does that tell you?  It tells you that something somewhere is wrong.  Nigeria is already a one party state whether it is PDP or APC.  Because what are they saying?  Are they saying what is different from each other?  It is just that, to me, the ruling class needed some stability and Buhari who had that good man image would provide it.  Therefore it is for the government to function and keep going.  It is not that the government will do better.  But at least it is to give it confidence so that you and I can say, it is working.”

    He had a word or two to splash on Jonathan.  “Oh, yes the way he was going, even members of his party would have said, oh, this is not what we bargained for.  We want peace.  I have a small analogy to give to you.  You see, the mosquito would prefer that you go to sleep before it decides to bite you.  Because if it bites you while you are awake you will disturb it.  And if it becomes mannerless it will not be able to bite you.  Jonathan was heading in that direction and they needed somebody who had this image that we can make a fortune.  To me, that is what we have now,” he said.

    The book goes deeper than that, however, to dissect many problem areas of the nation.  Chiemeke did all these in 14 Chapters with profound historical accounts which dwell on different dimensions of the series of struggles that gave vent to June 12, 1993.  And it is clear that the history of the struggle whether of the left or of the fight to entrench democracy cannot be complete without this June 12, 1993.

    In his own remarks, Frank Oshanugor, who handled the publication of the book from its infancy to fruition, highlighted the need for people like Chiemeke to regale Nigerians with books like this.  “When I saw the first draft, I knew that this is a great book of history.  Today, what we have is a book on the history of June 12 and the genesis of the struggle.  It is a great work that deserves the attention of all.”

    The presentation witnessed people from all walks of life; people also came to savour the meaning of the Nigerian left and what the author had to offer.  Like Oda remarked, “we will endeavour to re-present this book later in Abuja.”

  • June 12, 1993, and June 9, 2015

    June 12, 1993, and June 9, 2015

    The June 12, 1993 presidential election heralded a new dawn in Nigerian politics.

    Forsaking tribe and tongue and creed and station, a decisive majority of Nigerians voted to entrust their destinies to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Bashorun MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    In eight years of virtually unchallenged rule, the duplicitous regime of military president  Ibrahim Babangida had led Nigeria to the edge of economic ruin and destroyed the value system. The election offered Nigeria a chance to chart a new course, founded on the principle that governance shall be based on the consent of the people freely given.

    Babangida annulled the election, with help from a suborned faction of the SDP, which was only too willing to bargain away its electoral victory and with it, the hopes and aspirations of millions of Nigerians who had given it their mandate.

    The rest is history.

    Of the many political figures complicit in the annulment, two have not only remained in circulation, their stock has risen.  I have in mind Brigadier General David Mark who, as a key player in the Babangida regime, is on record as having vowed to shoot Abiola to death if Abiola was allowed to take power

    David Mark has served as a member of the Senate for 16 years and as its president for the last eight, in which latter capacity he designated himself or was designated His Excellency the Right Honourable David Mark.

    I have also in mind Chief Tony Anenih, whose renown as a fixer had been established long before he took the leading part, as national chairman of the SDP, in bargaining away the party’s victory in the 1993 presidential election. He has since then made a lucrative career as a fixer for every season.

    Wherever a political job of the most unsavoury kind is to be done, like turning winners into losers and losers into winners, there you will find Anenih in his true element.

    In a way, June 8, 2015, some 22 years removed from the historic 1993 poll, also signalised a new dawn. The two houses of the legislature were to be inaugurated under new management as it were, the APC having wrested them decisively from the PDP.  These are the organs through which the APC was going to pursue the agenda of Change on which it had fought and won the election.

    To drive the agenda and pursue it faithfully, the APC had to have as the heads of these organs persons whose dedication, loyalty and commitment it can vouch for. In its judgment, Bukola Saraki did not pass that test. He had brought considerable assets to the APC through the ACN when he defected from the PDP, but he was for all kinds of reasons not his party’s candidate for Senate president.

    As if to prove prescient those elements in the APC who thought him unfit for that high office and to confirm what his fellow Ilorin kinsman Is’haq Moddibo Kawu has written about him, namely, that the only thing Saraki cares about is Saraki, the aspirant surreptitiously cut a deal with the PDP minority, which then voted en bloc with some renegades in the APC to steamroll him to the third rank in the national order of precedence.

    To get this dubious support, Saraki bargained away to the PDP the APC’s prerogative of selecting the deputy senate president from its own ranks. And in grateful appreciation of his role in facilitating this tawdry enterprise, the conclave elected David Mark “leader” of the   Senate, a position that does not exist. A little bankrolling also helped, I gathered.

    It took 57 of 108 senators, all the 49 from the PDP and eight from the APC, presumably including Saraki, to consummate this subversive deal. There was no dissenting vote. Before many in the attentive audience realised what was going on, Saraki was already ensconced in the Senate president’s chair and wielding the gavel.

    Such was the rush, the indecent haste with which an event that should have resonated with solemnity and symbolism came across instead as the parliamentary equivalent of a street mugging.

    The 51 APC senators who were not on the floor had not willfully absented themselves.  They were assembled at another venue, to which all APC senators had been summoned, for an appeal by President Muhammadu Buhari for party unity in the run-up to the election of leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    Saraki may still have won if the election had been conducted with all APC members present and voting. But Saraki being Saraki, he left nothing to chance. Why wait for a vote of the full house and an uncertain outcome when you can achieve your goal through a Faustian bargain?

    As in the 1993 presidential election, David Mark, and according to media reports Tony Anenih, who was brought out of retirement to do what he does best, played pivotal roles in up-ending established process to achieve partisan, if not personal goals.

    It is in truth scandalous that David Mark who had served in the Senate since it was set up 16 years ago and presided over it for eight aided and abetted this flagrant abuse of process when he should have stood up robustly for propriety.  Where was the “elder statesman” in him?

    There was a time when the standard justification for a military coup was that politicians or the political class had learned no lessons. Were any lessons taught?

    The storied careers of David Mark and Tony Anenih, and indeed Bukola Saraki, whose rap sheet with the EFCC is about a mile long, show clearly that no lessons were taught. That is why Nigeria has been going round and round in an ever -shrinking circle.

    The usual pettifoggers have been justifying Saraki’s coup – for that is what it is at bottom —claiming that it accords with the rules and regulations in force. Even President Buhari has said that it was “somewhat constitutional.”

    Everything Saraki did may well have accorded with the letter of the law. But did it also accord with the spirit of the law?  And is fidelity to the spirit of the law not as important as, if not more important than, fidelity to the letter of the law? Fidelity to the letter of the law, like the sleep of reason, often brings forth monstrosities like the 12 and 2/3 formula that the Supreme Court relied upon to determine the winner of the 1979 presidential election.

    When the “anything goes” brigade claims that the coup is good for democracy because it will ensure the independence of the legislature, the retort must be: Independence from whom or from what? Independence for what?

    To return to the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the 22nd anniversary of which was marked last Friday largely in the Yoruba country:  President Buhari’s acknowledgement was a desultory tweet that had all the markings of an afterthought.

    We now know, thanks to Humphrey Nwosu who conducted the poll, that Abiola won it indissolubly. So, the claim that the election was “inconclusive” is no longer tenable.

    Nor can anyone in good faith now refer to Abiola as the “presumed winner” of that election. In the books of the National Electoral Commission, and in the records of accredited observers, domestic and foreign, Abiola was the actual, outright, undisputed winner, in truth a president-elect, a president–in-waiting.

    He died defending his mandate, after years of detention in solitary confinement, in the most barbarous of conditions. He rejected shabby and ignoble compromise, the kind that Saraki embraced to win election as Senate president.

    A long line of Nigerian rulers, from Babangida to Abdulsalami Abubakar, through Ernest Shonekan and Sani Abacha, suborned the institutions and instrumentalities of the state to persecute, and ultimately murder Abiola and his wife Kudirat, not sparing his global business empire, all because he won an election and would not surrender the people’s mandate.

    There is only one way to expiate this crime.

    It begins with Nigerian state marshalling all its institutions to acknowledge and honour that indissoluble fact.

    Thereafter, it should officially recognise Abiola as a president-elect who died before he could take office, and accord him all the rights and privileges of a president.

  • ‘Buhari should declare Abiola winner of June 12’

    ‘Buhari should declare Abiola winner of June 12’

    The Secretary General of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Mr Ayo Opadokun, in this interview with Musa Odoshimokhe, explains why Buhari Administration should honour Chief Moshood Abiola.

    Would you say democracy has deepened after the annulment of June 12?

    Certainly not. It is great pain for people like me when I remember the phenomenon called June 12 and the aftermath. This is as a consequence of the campaign we took against the military, against General Sani Abacha and his military junta. We succeeded in a way in sending the military back to the barracks, but the military went back to the barracks on their own terms. I will say, consequently, their agents and surrogates have remained in power. Democracy, I hope, given this new administration, will be nurtured, tendered and assisted to grow, in such a manner that will bring the confidence they people expected under the dispensation. That Nigerians will be able to say with some measure of relative importance, that the concept of democracy has taken firm root in our country. Until General Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo took over a while ago, it was a circumspective democracy that Nigeria has been going through. Most of the stage actors or the military men and their surrogates, took over all the major strata of governance in Nigeria. That on it own has a telling effect. It is the same reason the civilians who were elected now behave in consonance with military conduct. They have no regard for procedure; they have no regard for electing the best of candidates to govern the country. The governors almost govern with decrees and edicts at the state level. Remember that with the coming of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the method adopted in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership of the country followed dictatorial pattern. They had almost five party chairmen under his administration. At a time when Obasanjo was the president, the party chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd) was a military man. He had so many of his juniors in the army as governors and at the National Assembly. So, democracy could not grow. Obasanjo did not believe in democracy anytime. He was extremely dictatorial; he could not stand democratic norms. Remember that Lagos State government took all legal steps to create additional local governments, but he withdrew the money meant for local governments. Even when the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, asked him to release the money, the man simply refused. He totally crippled democracy.

    You said the military went to the barracks on their own terms…

    That is the major reason, why Nigeria has not made progress in terms of democracy. In the Latin American states, what happened was that after the civilian populace succeed in establishing themselves as the authority over the military, they did only arrested, but prosecuted important military officers, who ruined their state. It happened in Argentina. They succeeded in putting laws in place, to the extent that it will be difficult, it will be foolhardy for any man to come around to remove any civilian from office. Therefore, in the case of Nigeria, they went on their terms and none of them has been brought to book. None of them has been tried for the extent of ridicule they brought to Nigeria. How can you go to court to obtain injunction that the state institutions must not arrest or investigate you. So many ex-governors are carrying out their businesses today, the way they wanted on that basis. The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) attempted washing their own hands off because of the challenges they faced in carrying out their functions. So, there was nothing the military left that has changed.  No public institution that was not negatively affected. That was why when Abacha wanted to score a point; he set up the Justice Kayode Eso panel, to investigate the Nigerian judiciary and bring recommendation that will make the judiciary be what the public expected it to be. The late Eso did a marvellous job and submitted, but Abacha had no political will to work with it. If the recommendation of Justice Eso had been implemented, many would have been sacked, including former Chief Justices of Nigeria. The Nigerian judiciary has gone bad, but once upon a time, Nigeria judiciary was one of the prominent in the world. I just hope that with this new administration, things will change.

    The actors of behind the annulment have not shown remorse. Do they owe Nigerians any explanation?

    Well, General Ibrahim Babangida has kept on begging the very issue on what happed as the leader of the country. That does not explain the matter, it is more than that. A group of military jackboots decided to annul the popular will of the Nigerian people, the voting of a particular candidate with about 14 million votes is treacherous. There can be no greater destruction that the common man could have suffered more that. It much more evil than the military putsch, they normally do at the midnight to topple government. May the soul of the late General Hassan Katsina rest in peace; I had it on good authority that he called General Babandida and said he must hand over. He said, ‘if you knew you were not prepared to leave, why did you allow the election to hold. Since that election has held and M.K.O Abiola has won, I am afraid there is no room for you to remain in office. You should allow him to assume office, let him now misbehave; Nigerian people will deal with him’. The old man went further, called on the late Inspector General of Police, M.D Yusuf, urged him to work with his colleagues in the Southwest, General Adeyinka Adebayo, and the Yoruba leadership caucus, to take stern action. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be done was not done. I really feel so bad that those who are in the frontline of the annulment, including David Mark, Sambo Dasuki and quite a number of them, have become the beneficiaries. But the distinguished and credible service man, Col. Abubakar Umar, former governor of Kaduna State, who surrendered his commission on the basis of the annulment, has not got much. How can you allow a David Mark presiding over the most important National Assembly in Africa and was there for almost 12 years. So, how can people like us be happy? They have not shown any remorse. They kept on behaving as if they are our lord and master. I still believe that someday, some time they would be called to account for their deed.

    How should Abiola be honoured under this dispensation?

    I will imagine that the executive will collaborate with the legislators to take one or two concrete steps, to give him a posthumous national honour and award. That is after they must have officially pronounced him as the winner of that election. They can now go to the next level of giving him significant thing that will be immortally focussed, that no matter what in the history of the anal of the country, you will not be able to change it. There should be institution, where the role of Abiola will be sufficiently crystallised.

    Some want the May 29 Democracy Day changed to June 12…

    For all I know, General Abdulsalami Abubakar made up his mind of not staying longer in office. When the ruling body agreed on the day of election, Abubakar wanted to leave office three weeks after the election or thereafter. It was the then Attorney General that advised that he has to give room for electoral petition to do it work. So, he now asked them to count the days from the day of the election that was how they arrived at May 29. It was kind of thing that was not supposed to be given prominent, but it has come and our ‘Mr. Wisdom’ decided that he should make the day Democracy Day. I will say without mincing words that it is only the election of Buhari that has really took us to the actual Democracy Day. It is only the election of Buhari/Osinbajo that is comparable to June 12 election.

    As someone who was close to Abiola, how as the family bear his demise over the years?

    From the interaction that I read about the family annually, Abiola was a man of great status. He had many wives, many children and a man of that standing died suddenly. The way this happened to him too sudden, but systematically water will find its level. There are people in the family who are committed to the disposition of Abiola. Most of them will continue to relate with the progressives wing of the political class. Just last week the Kudirat Abiola was celebrated, she was a martyr.

     

     

  • ‘Buhari should declare Abiola winner of June 12’

    ‘Buhari should declare Abiola winner of June 12’

    The Secretary General of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Mr Ayo Opadokun, in this interview with Musa Odoshimokhe, explains why Buhari Administration should honour Chief Moshood Abiola.

    Would you say democracy has deepened after the annulment of June 12?

    Certainly not. It is great pain for people like me when I remember the phenomenon called June 12 and the aftermath. This is as a consequence of the campaign we took against the military, against General Sani Abacha and his military junta. We succeeded in a way in sending the military back to the barracks, but the military went back to the barracks on their own terms. I will say, consequently, their agents and surrogates have remained in power. Democracy, I hope, given this new administration, will be nurtured, tendered and assisted to grow, in such a manner that will bring the confidence they people expected under the dispensation. That Nigerians will be able to say with some measure of relative importance, that the concept of democracy has taken firm root in our country. Until General Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo took over a while ago, it was a circumspective democracy that Nigeria has been going through. Most of the stage actors or the military men and their surrogates, took over all the major strata of governance in Nigeria. That on it own has a telling effect. It is the same reason the civilians who were elected now behave in consonance with military conduct. They have no regard for procedure; they have no regard for electing the best of candidates to govern the country. The governors almost govern with decrees and edicts at the state level. Remember that with the coming of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the method adopted in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership of the country followed dictatorial pattern. They had almost five party chairmen under his administration. At a time when Obasanjo was the president, the party chairman, Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd) was a military man. He had so many of his juniors in the army as governors and at the National Assembly. So, democracy could not grow. Obasanjo did not believe in democracy anytime. He was extremely dictatorial; he could not stand democratic norms. Remember that Lagos State government took all legal steps to create additional local governments, but he withdrew the money meant for local governments. Even when the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, asked him to release the money, the man simply refused. He totally crippled democracy.

    You said the military went to the barracks on their own terms…

    That is the major reason, why Nigeria has not made progress in terms of democracy. In the Latin American states, what happened was that after the civilian populace succeed in establishing themselves as the authority over the military, they did only arrested, but prosecuted important military officers, who ruined their state. It happened in Argentina. They succeeded in putting laws in place, to the extent that it will be difficult, it will be foolhardy for any man to come around to remove any civilian from office. Therefore, in the case of Nigeria, they went on their terms and none of them has been brought to book. None of them has been tried for the extent of ridicule they brought to Nigeria. How can you go to court to obtain injunction that the state institutions must not arrest or investigate you. So many ex-governors are carrying out their businesses today, the way they wanted on that basis. The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) attempted washing their own hands off because of the challenges they faced in carrying out their functions. So, there was nothing the military left that has changed.  No public institution that was not negatively affected. That was why when Abacha wanted to score a point; he set up the Justice Kayode Eso panel, to investigate the Nigerian judiciary and bring recommendation that will make the judiciary be what the public expected it to be. The late Eso did a marvellous job and submitted, but Abacha had no political will to work with it. If the recommendation of Justice Eso had been implemented, many would have been sacked, including former Chief Justices of Nigeria. The Nigerian judiciary has gone bad, but once upon a time, Nigeria judiciary was one of the prominent in the world. I just hope that with this new administration, things will change.

    The actors of behind the annulment have not shown remorse. Do they owe Nigerians any explanation?

    Well, General Ibrahim Babangida has kept on begging the very issue on what happed as the leader of the country. That does not explain the matter, it is more than that. A group of military jackboots decided to annul the popular will of the Nigerian people, the voting of a particular candidate with about 14 million votes is treacherous. There can be no greater destruction that the common man could have suffered more that. It much more evil than the military putsch, they normally do at the midnight to topple government. May the soul of the late General Hassan Katsina rest in peace; I had it on good authority that he called General Babandida and said he must hand over. He said, ‘if you knew you were not prepared to leave, why did you allow the election to hold. Since that election has held and M.K.O Abiola has won, I am afraid there is no room for you to remain in office. You should allow him to assume office, let him now misbehave; Nigerian people will deal with him’. The old man went further, called on the late Inspector General of Police, M.D Yusuf, urged him to work with his colleagues in the Southwest, General Adeyinka Adebayo, and the Yoruba leadership caucus, to take stern action. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be done was not done. I really feel so bad that those who are in the frontline of the annulment, including David Mark, Sambo Dasuki and quite a number of them, have become the beneficiaries. But the distinguished and credible service man, Col. Abubakar Umar, former governor of Kaduna State, who surrendered his commission on the basis of the annulment, has not got much. How can you allow a David Mark presiding over the most important National Assembly in Africa and was there for almost 12 years. So, how can people like us be happy? They have not shown any remorse. They kept on behaving as if they are our lord and master. I still believe that someday, some time they would be called to account for their deed.

    How should Abiola be honoured under this dispensation?

    I will imagine that the executive will collaborate with the legislators to take one or two concrete steps, to give him a posthumous national honour and award. That is after they must have officially pronounced him as the winner of that election. They can now go to the next level of giving him significant thing that will be immortally focussed, that no matter what in the history of the anal of the country, you will not be able to change it. There should be institution, where the role of Abiola will be sufficiently crystallised.

    Some want the May 29 Democracy Day changed to June 12…

    For all I know, General Abdulsalami Abubakar made up his mind of not staying longer in office. When the ruling body agreed on the day of election, Abubakar wanted to leave office three weeks after the election or thereafter. It was the then Attorney General that advised that he has to give room for electoral petition to do it work. So, he now asked them to count the days from the day of the election that was how they arrived at May 29. It was kind of thing that was not supposed to be given prominent, but it has come and our ‘Mr. Wisdom’ decided that he should make the day Democracy Day. I will say without mincing words that it is only the election of Buhari that has really took us to the actual Democracy Day. It is only the election of Buhari/Osinbajo that is comparable to June 12 election.

    As someone who was close to Abiola, how as the family bear his demise over the years?

    From the interaction that I read about the family annually, Abiola was a man of great status. He had many wives, many children and a man of that standing died suddenly. The way this happened to him too sudden, but systematically water will find its level. There are people in the family who are committed to the disposition of Abiola. Most of them will continue to relate with the progressives wing of the political class. Just last week the Kudirat Abiola was celebrated, she was a martyr.