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Tag: Mko Abiola

  • Buhari has addressed injustice of June 12 – Kalu

    Former Abia State Governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu said on Monday that President Muhammadu Buhari has addressed the injustices  associated with the annulment of June 12 , 1993 Presidential Election, by posthumously acknowledging  Chief MKO Abiola as the winner of the freest and fairest election in the country.

    With the recognition of June 12, Kalu said Buhari as a true democrat has put Abiola in the map of the world.

    Such feat, Buhari said other presidents failed to actualize.

    He said with what Buhari has done in terms of those that lost their lives during the struggle for the actualization of June 12 mandate, God will start forgiving Nigerians .

    Kalu said the decision of Buhari to decorate late Abiola with the highest honours in the land shows that he is a democrat that the people can trust.

    Speaking on arrival from United States at the Lagos Airport, Kalu said Buhari should go a step further by honoring the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission ( NEC), Prof Humphrey Nwosu , who superintended over the elections.

    Besides such honours, Kalu said Buhari should also address the injustices people of the South East suffered during the Biafran Civil War by declaring the region a special area .

    Read Also: I have no case to answer – Kalu

    Such declaration, he said would have finally addressed the problems the people of the region suffered culminating in the loss of money and property.

    Kalu said Buhari has proven to Nigerians that with the acknowledgment of June 12, Presidential Election, he will allow the will of the people to be actualized no matter how long it takes.

    He said the honour Buhari has given to democracy by acknowledging June 12, 1993 elections shows that he is steps  ahead of other presidents who failed to do the needful,

    Kalu said Buhari should be commended for giving financial autonomy to the state judiciary and houses of assembly.

    He said the new bill signed by the president, which gives autonomy to the judiciary and legislature should be extended to the federal arm of government.

    Kalu said:  “I was the first governor that declared June 12 public holiday and Obasanjo wrote me a letter to challenge it.

    “Now that Buhari is working, he should also remember Humfrey Nwosu, the man that conducted the freest and fairest election in Nigeria. He should also be honored.

    “Buhari should go s step further and declare the south east a social area because people in the region were given ill treatment. They lost mine and property.”

    Said he: “He has already made a good step by paying the Biafran police their entitlements.

  • Let June 12 inspire promotion of democratic principles – Atiku

    Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has urged politicians to let June 12 and all it embodied to inspire them to promote democratic principles, especially as Nigerians prepared for 2019 polls.

    Abubakar made the call in a statement he issued on Monday in Abuja to mark the 25th anniversary of June 12.

    He said that there was need to remind Nigerians that the democracy which the country enjoyed today did not come at a cheap price.

    “It came at the cost of supreme price paid by persons that included Chief MKO Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, Maj-Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua, Chief Alfred Rewane and Bagauda Kaltho, among thousands of other patriots.

    “Democracy isn’t merely a mechanism of appointing a government; its beauty is in the inherent safeguard to the citizenry to live and prosper as free people under the law.”

    Abubakar warned against what he called “a consistent pattern of departure from constitutional due process’’ to tendencies of authoritarianism.

    He said that there was a growing culture of arbitrariness in some of the institutions of government at all levels, contradictory to the notion of inclusiveness and fairness that a democratic society guaranteed.

    Read Also: June 12: Katsina Govt backs Buhari as Atiku’s ex-aide threatens law suit

    The former vice president stated that foundation of a democratic society was the guarantee of fundamental human rights that gave the citizenry freedom of speech and freedom of movement.

    He said that it was the exclusive responsibility of the state through the various security organizations to see to the protection of the fundamental rights of the people.

    Abubakar added that it would, however, become an anathema in a democracy if institutions of government began to act in negation of the noble objectives.

    Recalling the recent campaign by youths across the country against the brutality of the anti-robbery unit of the Police, he noted that up till now there had yet to be a fundamental reform in the operations of that unit.

    “Today, across our major cities and even in the hinterlands, citizens – especially the youth – can hardly walk freely in open avenues without the police stopping them to search through the content of their mobile handsets.

    “Civil servants now lose their jobs just because they choose to criticize politicians in government positions.

    “There are even suggestions in some quarters that civil servants should be barred from signing to social media networks.

    “Opposition politicians are regularly being hounded on wanton criminal and civil prosecutions.

    “All of these narratives have become a consistent pattern of behaviour that is antithetical to an open and democratic society.”

    Abubakar also decried what he described as “reign of fascism’’ with governors who had suddenly become overlords, dealing ruthlessly with anyone who dared to challenge their foothold of intimidation and oppression at the states.

    NAN

  • The Epetedo declaration by MKO Abiola

    People of Nigeria, exactly one year ago, you turned out in your millions to vote for me, Chief MKO Abiola, as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    But politicians in uniform, who call themselves soldiers but are more devious than any civilian would want to be, deprived you of your God-given right to be ruled by the President you had yourselves elected.

    These soldier-politicians introduced into our body politic, a concept hitherto unknown to our political lexicography, something strangely called the ‘annulment’ of an election perceived by all to have been the fairest, cleanest and most peaceful-ever held in our nation.

    Since that abominable act of naked political armed robbery occurred, I have been constantly urged by people of goodwill, both in Nigeria and abroad, to put the matter back into the people’s hands and get them to actualise the mandate they gave me at the polls.

    But mindful of the need to ensure that peace continues to reign in our fragile federation, I have so far tried to pursue sweet reason and negotiation.

    My hope has always been to arouse whatever remnants of patriotism are left in the hearts of these thieves of your mandate, and to persuade them that they should not allow their personal desire to rule to usher our beloved country into an era of political instability and economic ruin.

    All I have sought to do, in seeking dialogue with them, has been to try and get them to realise that only real democracy can move our nation forward towards progress, and earn her the respect she deserves from the international community.

    However, although this peaceful approach has exposed me to severe censure by some who have mistaken it for weakness on my part, those with whom I have sought to dialogue have remained like stones, neither stirred to show loyalty to the collective decision of the people of their own country, nor to observe Allah’s injunction that they should exhibit justice and fair-play in all their dealings with their fellow men.

    Appeals to their honour as officers and gentlemen of the gallant Nigerian Armed Forces, have fallen on deaf ears.

    Instead, they have resorted to the tactics of divide and rule, bribery and political perfidy, misinformation and (vile) propaganda.

    They arrest everyone who disagrees with them. Even the 71-year-old hero of our nation, Chief Anthony Enahoro, was not spared.

    How much longer can we tolerate all this? People of Nigeria, you are all witnesses that I have tried to climb the highest mountain, cross the deepest river and walk the longest mile, in order to get these men to obey the will of our people.

    There is no humiliation I have not endured, no snare that has not been put in my path, no ‘setup’ that has not been designed for me in my endeavour to use the path of peace to enforce the mandate that you bestowed on me one year ago.

    It has been a long night. But the dawn is here.

    Today, people of Nigeria, I join you all in saying, “Enough is Enough!”

    We have endured 24 years of military rule in our 34 years of independence.

    Military rule has led to our nation fighting a civil war with itself. Military rule has destabilised our nation today as not before in its history.

    Military rule has impoverished our people and introduced a dreadful trade in drugs which has made our country’s name an anathema in many parts of the world.

    Even soccer fans going to watch the Green Eagles display in America are being made to suffer there needlessly because Nigeria’s name is linked with credit card and fraud and ‘419’.

    Politically, military rule has torn to shreds the prestige due to our country because of its size and population.

    The permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council that should be rightfully ours, is all but lost.

    For who will vote for Nigeria to get the seat if Nigerian military rulers do not respect the votes of their own people?

    Enough of military rule.

    We are sickened to see people who have shown little or no personal achievement, either in building up private businesses, or making success of any tangible thing, being placed in charge of the management of our nation’s economy, by rulers who are not accountable to anyone.

    Enough of square pegs in round holes.

    We are tired of the military’s repetitive tendency to experiment with our economy: Today, they say “no controls”. Tomorrow, they say “Full controls”. The day after, they say “Fine tuning”. The next day, they say “Devaluation”. A few days later, they say “Revalue the same naira upwards again Abi?”

    All we can see are the consequences of this permanent game of military “about turns”; high inflation, a huge budget deficit and an enormous foreign debt repayment burden, dying industries, high unemployment and a demoralised populace.

    Our youths, in particular, can see no hope on the horizon, and many can only dream of escaping from our shores to join the brain drain. Is this the Nigeria we want?

    We are plagued also by periodic balance of payments crises, which have led to a perennial shortage of essential drugs, that has turned our hospitals and clinics into mortuaries.

    A scarcity of books and equipment has rendered our schools into desolate deserts of ignorance.

    Our factories are crying for machinery, spare parts and raw materials. But each day that passes, instead of these economic diseases being cured, they are rather strengthened as an irrational allocation of foreign exchange, based on favouritism and corruption, becomes the order of the day.

    Enough is enough of economic mismanagement! People of Nigeria, during the election campaign last year, I presented you with a programme entitled: “HOPE ’93″.

    This programme was aimed precisely at solving these economic (problems) that have demoralised us all.

    I toured every part of Nigeria to present this programme to you the electorate. I was questioned on it at public rallies and press conferences and I had the privilege of incorporating into it much of the feedback that I obtained from the people.

    Because you knew I would not only listen to you but deliver superb results from the programme, you voted for me in your millions and gave me an overwhelming majority over my opponent.

    To be precise, you gave me 58.4 per cent of the popular vote and a majority in 20 out of 30 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Not only that, you also enabled me to fulfil the constitutional requirement that the winner should obtain one-third of the votes in two-thirds of the states.

    I am sure that when you cast an eye on the moribund state of Nigeria today, you ask yourselves: ‘What have we done to deserve this, when we have a president-elect who can lead a government that can change things for the better? Our patience has come to an end.’

    As of now, from this moment, a new Government of National Unity (GNU) is in power throughout the length and breadth of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, led by me, Bashorun MKO Abiola, as President and Commander-in-Chief.

    The National Assembly is hereby reconvened. All dismissed governors are reinstated. The State Assemblies are reconstituted, as are all local government councils.

    I urge them to adopt a bi-partisan approach to all the issues that come before them.

    At the national level, a bi-partisan approach will be our guiding principle. I call upon the usurper, Gen. Sani Abacha, to announce his resignation forthwith, together with the rest of his illegal ruling council.

    We are prepared to enter into negotiations with them to work out the mechanics for a smooth transfer of power.

    I pledge that if they hand over quietly, they will be retired with all their entitlements, and their positions will be accorded all the respect due to them.

    For our objective is neither recrimination nor witch-hunting, but an enforcement of the will of the Nigerian people, as expressed in free elections conducted by the duly constituted authority of the time.

    I hereby invoke the mandate bestowed upon me by my victory in the said election, to call on all members of the Armed Forces and the Police, the civil and public services throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to obey only the GNU that is headed by me, your only elected President.

    My GNU is the only legitimate, constituted authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as of now.

    People of Nigeria, these are challenging times in the history of our continent, Africa, and we in Nigeria must not allow ourselves to be left behind.

    Our struggle is the same as that waged by the people of South Africa, which has been successfully concluded, with the inauguration of Mr. Nelson Mandela as the first African President of that country.

    Nelson Mandela fought to replace minority rule with majority rule.

    We in Nigeria, are also fighting to replace minority rule, for we are ruled by only a tiny section of our armed forces.

    Like the South Africans, we want majority rule today, that is rule only by those chosen by all the people of Nigeria as a whole in free and fair elections.

    The only difference between South Africa and Nigeria is that those who imposed minority rule on the majority rule whether it is by black or white, remains minority rule and must be booted out.

    I call on you, heroic people of Nigeria, to emulate the actions of your brothers and sisters in South Africa and stand up as one person to throw away the yoke of minority rule for ever.

    The antics of every minority that oppresses the majority are always the same. They will try to intimidate you with threats of police action. But do not let us fear arrest.

    In South Africa, so many people were arrested, during the campaign against the Pass Laws, for instance, that the jails could not hold all of them. Today, apartheid is gone forever.

    So, let it be with Nigeria.

    Let us say goodbye forever to minority rule by the military.

    They talk of treason. But haven’t they heard of the Rivonia Treason Trial in South Africa? Did those treason trials halt the march of history?

    People of Nigeria, our time is now. You are the repository of power in the land.

    No one can give you power. It is yours. Take it!

    From this day, show to the world that anyone who takes the people of Nigeria for fools is deceiving himself and will have the people to answer to.

    God bless you all. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Long live the Government of National Unity.

     

     

  • MKO Abiola: Buhari wrong-foots Obj, everybody

    EX-PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo had all his eight years in office to come to terms with the matter of June 12, a label that has come to signify the annulment of the 1993 presidential election won handsomely by the late Moshood kashimawo Olawale Abiola, more endearingly known as MKO. Dr Obasanjo spurned the opportunity, indeed treated it with all the disdain he could muster in words and body language. Ex-president Goodluck Jonathan also had the chance to revisit that historic wrong and cause a redress of cathartic proportions to be made. He half-heartedly made an effort that rubbed the Southwest the wrong way when he tried to rename the University of Lagos in honour of the symbol of June 12. Sensibly, even though some critics still think it was prompted by ethnic politics, the Southwest looked his gift horse in the mouth and denounced him for lacking historical insight.

    It has taken President Muhammadu Buhari, probably the most unlikely person ever, to acknowledge the sacrifices made by MKO, and, encapsulating the yearnings of Nigerians, to order a national restitution. In a press statement unprecedentedly signed by him in a manner reminiscent of American presidents signing executive orders and executive actions, President Buhari spoke directly about the June 12, 1993 presidential poll, acknowledged it as the freest and fairest, embraced its symbolism for Democracy Day celebration instead of the arbitrary May 29, and awarded the highest national honour of GCFR to MKO.

    Since the announcement last Wednesday, the country has been in a lather. Even though it has come a little belatedly, and is hedged by a number of unwritten and unspoken caveats, the country has unreservedly embraced the gesture, seeing that it comes from a president ill at ease with democratic principles. The move has been acknowledged as a masterstroke in an election year, a sop to the critical and insatiable Southwest which was poised to jump APC ship, and a sensible and indisputable righting of a historic wrong. Indeed, no one, not even this column, can grumble against President Buhari for addressing a major injustice all his three predecessors had either ignored or handled with open or subtle mischief. The president must be cautiously commended for deeming it fit to do what he has done even against the run of his personal democratic play.

    Of President Buhari’s three predecessors in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, Dr Jonathan probably meant well the most in attempting to redress the wrong of more than two decades. In his customary circumvention of rules and laws, he had ordered the renaming of the University of Lagos in honour of MKO. He did not take account of the fact that south-westerners are a people besotted to a deep sense of history, who recognise institutions, symbols, places and meanings. They wondered why Dr Jonathan would omit the National Stadium in Abuja, for instance, and come down to the Southwest to look for something to honour MKO. They proudly looked Dr Jonathan’s gift horse in the mouth, fearing that the university renaming was more like a grudging local measure to placate a quarrelsome and complaining people. The attempt thus failed.

    But Dr Obasanjo never attempted anything. He neither situated his election within the context and purview of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll senselessly annulled by Gen Ibrahim Babangida nor recognised that had MKO not sacrificed his life, and had the late politician traded his mandate in the crass mercantilist style Dr Obasanjo himself is accustomed to, the Fourth Republic would probably not have materialised, and certainly the country would not have felt obligated in 1999 to cede the highest office in the land to a Yoruba politician. Worse, in words and deeds, Dr Obasanjo did his utmost to belittle the contributions MKO made directly and indirectly to the restoration of civil rule. If the ex-president attempts to criticise President Buhari’s restitution, whether inspired by 2019 election politics or not, the country will laugh him to scorn.

    While President Buhari deserves praise for recognising MKO’s sacrifices and honouring the late politician, it is not out of place to examine his method and rationalisation. Was it done to position the president and his party for the 2019 polls? Probably. But even if that was the purpose, and there is reasonable suspicion that he intended that outcome, it is neither illegal nor illogical. Every politician reserves the right to scheme within the ambit of the law to win elections. However, the president’s press statement leaves too many gaps that cast doubt on his intentions. He may have partly addressed the grave injustice of 1993, but he does not do it with the conviction, character and judgement of a democrat, or of someone who truly understands the concepts of democracy and justice, two virtues involved in and assailed by the annulment.

    The president anchored the press statement awkwardly on which date best approximates the symbol of democracy, May 29 or June 12, rather than on the historical significance of the 1993 annulment viz-a-viz the concept of justice and the huge sacrifices the winner of that election made to entrench democracy. And while the president acknowledged that “millions expressed their democratic will” in an election he described as “the freest, fairest and most peaceful since independence”, it is still shocking that he spoke of MKO as the “presumed winner” of that election using the lexical gymnastic beloved of Nigerian leaders too fearful to come to terms with their obnoxious past. The president may have decided to honour MKO, but there is doubt that he fully comprehends the nitty-gritty of that annulment, what it means for Nigeria as a country, the concept of justice with which he has wrestled since assuming office, and the future of democracy itself.

    Everything in the president’s statement points to its peremptoriness, regardless of its laudable objective, as if by some undisclosed epiphany he suddenly realised that such a decision would put him in good political standing both with south-westerners and the rest of the country. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, in the statement that exhibits a deep conviction about anything, including the elementary fact of which date best symbolises Democracy Day in Nigeria. It was necessary to revisit the election, examine why and how the country’s leaders, including those not in government at the time, abetted that injustice, get the results officially released and published, declare the winner as winner not the presumed winner, and announce measures as far as is humanly possible to ensure that such subversion of popular will never occurs again. It is only after these have been done that the president’s statement would have acquired inspiring meaning far beyond the symbolisms he seeks to enunciate and promote.

    The president may have partially redressed a terrible wrong; he, however, did not sound convincing. By not revisiting the polling results upon which he apparently predicated his decision and the honours, it is not surprising that he stopped short of declaring MKO president. Someone else will have to do that sometime in the future. But stopping halfway lends credence to those who suspect that his decision on the June 12 affair was essentially triggered by political motives. For, other than the honours, every other thing was about June 12 as a day, Democracy Day, not MKO Day. Furthermore, there is really no leg upon which his decision on MKO stands, which perhaps explains why he said nothing about the concepts of democracy and justice. But perhaps the little said, the better for the president, so that he is not entrapped by his own words.

    Yet, the MKO affair is both about Chief Abiola himself and the country that voted overwhelmingly for him. Both he and the country need justice today as much as they demonstrated their love for democracy in 1993. The president should have acknowledged those needs in his statement. Yet, had he done that, had he meant the decision far more significantly than its political connotations, he would have faced the puzzle of fighting to right a moral wrong done in 1993 when he is busy, by his approach to the Dasuki and Shiite affairs, perpetrating other egregious wrongs. No, there is absolutely no conviction and no depth in the decisions the president indicated in his press statement on the MKO affair. The decisions hang in the air, when they need to be anchored on the weightier issues of justice and democracy, and the lessons of history.

    The idea of the honours and holiday is good, but it is vitiated by its lack of substance, by its affectations, by the reluctance of the president to go far back and much deeper into the substantial issues that created the crisis. The result is that these issues have still not been addressed, despite the honours, and the country cannot claim to have come to terms with its sordid electoral past, a past which led to the death of the winner of that election, and a death neither acknowledged for the immensity of the personal sacrifice MKO made, nor memorialised by a grateful nation newly sworn to uphold the ideals that undergird June 12. June 12, 1993 was not just about MKO, it was also about voting across party, religious and ethnic lines and divisions, which few Nigerians ever thought possible. By singling out MKO and his running mate for honours, and expediently throwing in the legal titan and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi, President Buhari not only glossed over the real essence of June 12, he also underscored the hastiness, if not emptiness, with which his presidency approached the matter.

    No one is sure whether Chief Fawehinmi would have accepted the honour. His family seems to think he would have. Perhaps there is no need to encourage the argument, since, in any case, it is posthumous. Like the late sage Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Fawehinmi was one of a kind: finicky about the law, ethical in his doings, humanistic as a person, and to a great extent also political and judgemental. People like that are a rare gift to their generations, and it is pointless second-guessing them in their absence. Babagana Kingibe is thrilled by the president’s gesture despite not emerging from the annulment crisis in those giddy early 1990s smelling of roses. He had been less principled and sturdy in fighting for the June 12 mandate, of which he was an integral and victorious part; indeed, he had been reticent about it not only then, but even now.

    There is also doubt about how the Southwest will react to the president’s immortalisation of June 12, especially in terms of the 2019 elections. The Southwest had felt alienated by the president’s and his party’s reluctance to embark on the restructuring so crucial to the sustenance of the country’s unity, development and democracy. Worse, by its slowness in reacting to the killings in the Middle Belt, the federal government gave the impression to many in the Southwest that it nursed some hidden sectional agenda. Shocked and angry, and seeing the president ensnare himself in many unsavoury Freudian slips, some voices in the Southwest had begun agitating for a different, more responsive leadership wherever it could be found.

    The Obasanjo/Buhari war is still burning fiercely, threatening to make the ship of state keel over. The former president has spoken of threats to his life, and warned darkly of the Buhari presidency’s hidden dictatorial bent. If the disagreement and disaffection become exacerbated, if the rogue security elements in the Buhari presidency continue their predatory actions against the liberties and wellbeing of the people, if the attrition triggered by herdsmen in the Middle Belt is not curbed, and if the animosities of those who have taken exception to the Buhari government’s abrasive and sectional policies are not mollified, it is doubtful whether the liberal Southwest will get carried away by the morsel of June 12 honours.

    President Buhari’s June 12 pronouncement, as reassuring as it is, is a bolt from the blue, a silhouette of what June 12 activists had campaigned and hoped for. It, however, marks at least some tentative steps in the direction of fully coming to terms with the injustices promoted by that gruesome past. Nevertheless, it falls far short of acknowledging, let alone resolving, the most fundamental issues raised by the annulment and the turbulent political evolution that has put Nigeria at sixes and sevens. President Buhari may have wrong-footed his opponents, as he has done in the past two years or so, including Afenifere which has damned the recognition of June 12 and awards with faint praise, but it is doubtful whether in the march towards 2019, the June 12 pronouncement and honours are enough to influence and alter perspectives, electoral potentials and outcomes in the coming months.

  • Enriching the ritual of June 12?

    Two unrelated developments in actual and symbolic engineering of our polity in the last two weeks have encouraged republishing of this article which first came out two years ago under the title of “June 12 Plus.” The first development is presentation two weeks ago of an executive bill that seeks to put management of surface and underground water solely in the hands of the federal government. The second development is President Buhari’s decision last week to enrich the ritual of June 12 by promising to move celebration of Democracy Day from May 29 to June 12 as from 2019 and the award of posthumous national honour to MKO Abiola.

    A well-deserved ritualisation of June 12 took place last Sunday. As usual, this year’s ritual of remembrance of the period of loss as a device to engineer reform went well in most of the Southwest states, leading to public holidays in some states, street marches in others, and calls for substantive and symbolic compensation in others, as well as reinforcement of twenty-three-year old call for true federalism in others. Today’s article is to remind readers of what the June 12 struggle has not been able to accomplish and the new thorns thrown on the road opened by June 12 to re-federalisation and full democratisation of Nigeria.

    Historically, the June 12 struggle had three goals: restoration of MKO Abiola’s presidential mandate given to him by the fairest and freest election in the country’s history; de-militarisation of the country’s polity; and return of federal system of governance to the country. After the death of Abacha and later of Abiola in circumstances that continue to raise questions till today, the struggle lost its first goal. The second goal was partially won at the time General Olusegun Obasanjo became president at the end of General Abdusalaam’s transition to democracy in 1999. But Obasanjo’s presidential election was not guided by any visible constitution to let citizens and candidates know what they were bargaining for. And the third goal, re-federalisation of the polity, had been hanging in the air ever since. Even after four post-military presidential elections, Nigeria is still saddled with a constitution crafted behind closed doors by military rulers and with concentration of power in the federal government and at the expense of subnational governments in a federal republic.

    Surprisingly, seventeen years of elected governments have not alleviated the problems that arose from June 12. On the contrary, the period of post-military rule has aggravated the unsolved problems left behind after Abiola’s death and the transition to civil rule that followed it. However, the narrative of re-federalisation remains alive even 23 years after annulment of Abiola’s election, but its retelling has been hobbled by confusion arising from several quarters. NADECO at home and abroad suffered some gradual haemorrhaging since some of its members came to political power in the Yoruba region. Only a few of the governors/lawmakers elected since 1999 and a few NADECO leaders remained vocal in calling for return to functioning federalism.

    The frustration of efforts to restore federalism has taken many forms. NADECO became war weary after the death of Abiola and became excited by the promise of return to democratic rule by the Abdulsalami Abubakar government. The excitement of periodic elections in a country that had been denied such opportunities on-and-off for many decades of military dictatorship created complacency for uncritical voters. Some found creation of mushroom organisations as vehicles for demanding federalism and as a means of staying politically and socially relevant in their communities. Many others see June 12 as a fitting time to repeat the demand for restructuring while others would rather not be bothered for calling for the kind of change that restructuring entails.

    Ironically, a former chieftain of NADECO-abroad, now leader of the All Progressives Congress, opened a hydrant on the fire of re-federalisation a few days before this year’s June 12 anniversary when he announced that federalism is not a priority of the new administration. Many who voted for a New Nigeria in 2015 are already feeling confused by the pronouncement of the chairman of APC and President Buhari’s media assistant who characterised the call for federalism as a distraction from the ruling party’s priorities. But the following statement in the highlights of APC manifesto: Initiate action to amend our Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit, does not suggest that an item in the highlights of the party’s manifesto is not a priority item. From information available to the electorate, the manifesto of APC emphasises re-federalisation or reforming the existing largely unitary system through amendment of the 1999 Constitution. If the spirit to do what was promised is no longer there, it is important for the party to say so. And I believe doing so should go beyond an ex-tempore assessment of Buhari administration’s priorities by the ruling party’s chairman.

    More than two decades after NADECO’s struggles for democracy for electoral and cultural democracy, Nigeria is still largely at the same point that it was after the election of the first post-military government of Obasanjo. The partial de-militarisation achieved through election of Obasanjo as a civilian and of subsequent civilian presidents and lawmakers remains as limited as it was in 1999. The constitution that presents a unitary system as a federal one is still intact. And the largest chunk of the nation’s revenue is still going to the central government that has no direct constituents to service while states and local governments that house and provide direct service to citizens receive much less than the central government. The imbalance between subnational and national governance is even getting worse as petroleum fortunes become more unpredictable by the day. States are now leaving on bailouts and loans. Instead of constitutionally returning power and freedom to states to be more productive, they are now at the risk of losing power over actual and virtual water supply in their communities.

    ‘June-twelvers’ who have remained committed to the ideals and goals of June 12 deserve to be congratulated for not becoming despondent after two decades of a constitution that is afraid to come to terms with the demands of managing a culturally diverse country. Since 1966, Nigeria has been trying to find its way to the map of modern development. Rather, it has been moving from one crisis to the other, a situation that had made nonsense of the lives of millions of people who had died while waiting for justice and progress and of the chances of many others still alive to have a good life in a country whose progress is believed to be undermined politically and economically by its flawed structure. There is, however, danger in allowing the government spawned by a party popularly known as A New Party for a New Nigeria which citizens voted for massively in 2015to be derailed by what looks like rightwing interpretation of the platform presented to the electorate in 2015.

    In addition, ‘June-twelvers’ and others genuinely committed to bringing federalism back to the country should not be contented with gathering every year to remember the injustice of the past. Remembering Abiola and June 12 must include working towards realisation of the missed goals of the NADECO struggle, not just through gathering of motley associations, but through a return to a cohesive organisation to resist further erosion of power of subnational governments and to work toward restoration of true federalism to our multi-religious and multiethnic federation.

  • Sani Abacha: Remembering the despot 20 years after

    Adeyinka Akintunde

     

    Twenty years ago today, precisely, 8 June 1998, the former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, died mysteriously in office.

    Dismissing reports that the Kano-born artillery soldier died after eating a poisoned apple from one of his mistresses, former chief Security Officer to the late Head of State. Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (rtd), had claimed in 2017 that the late Abacha’s health system collapsed “immediately after one of the security operatives that accompanied the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, shook hands with him.”

    The ex-Nigerian strongman became unconscious and died few hours later.

    While tears flowed freely at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, there were celebrations and dancing in Lagos and  other cities across the country.

    Abacha is widely remembered in Nigeria and across the world for his style of government.

    He was a man of few words, but deadly actions. Born on the 20th of September, 1943 in the ancient city of Kano, he announced the coup that sacked the administration of ex-President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983 and brought Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to power.

    He also announced the then Chief of Army Staff, Major-Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, as the new military President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in an evening broadcast on August 27, 1985.

    That coup speech was read by Brig. Joshua Nimyel Dogonyaro.

    Abacha was appointed the Minister of Defence in 1990.

    Read Also: Abacha as President Buhari’s hero?

    He took over power on November 17, 1993 after a Federal High Court in Lagos had declared the Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan as illegal.

    The ING was put in place by the Babangida’s administration following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election presumed to have been won by the late billionaire businessman, Chief MKO Abiola.

    The Abacha cabinet comprised of several prominent politicians – Bamanga Tukur, Lateef Jakande, Adamu Ciroma, Jim Nwobodo, Babagana Kingibe, who was Abiola’s running mate; Uche Chukwumerije and Solomon Lar.

    It is unfair to accuse the Abacha regime as completely negative. This is because the regime stabilized the Nigeria economy. In four years (1993 to 1997), Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve rose from $494 million to $9.6 billion and the external debt of the country was reduced from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion in 1997.

    It should also be recalled that the inflation rate of 54 per cent inherited from the Ibrahim Babangida’s administration was reduced to 8.5 per cent between 1993 and 1998 under Abacha.

    Abacha increased the price of petrol just once in his four-and-a-half years stint in office and set up the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, which was widely acknowledged to have performed well in infrastructural development and intervention programmes in education, health and water.

    In sports, Nigeria excelled under Abacha. For the first time, Nigeria earned gold medals in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics including the much coveted one in football.

    He personally phoned the players and other sportsmen and women during these competitions. He motivated them and they in turn won laurels for Nigeria under the then Sports Minister, Chief Jim Nwobodo.

    In 2014, the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration chose Abacha as one of Nigeria’s greatest heroes for “unity, patriotism and national development.”

    However, he is remembered for his scarce public appearance and refusal to grant interviews or allow the publication of any personal information about him and developed a habit of working only at night.

    He had informed Nigerians during his national broadcast, on assumption to power in 1993, that his regime would be “firm, humane and decisive” and any attempt to test the will of the regime will be decisively dealt with.

    And he lived up to these words, with the continued arrest and detention of journalists and Nigerians that criticized his regime. Between 1995 and 1996, at least 200 senior officers were sacked, including the first Chief of Army Staff, Chris Alli.

    His successor, Ibrahim Alkali, was also fired on grounds of outspokenness. The killing of the Ogoni nine still remain fresh in the minds of Nigerians, with the international community tagging Nigeria “a pariah state.”

    Abacha also jailed prominent Nigerians like Sheu Yar’Adua, Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief MKO Abiola (winner of the June 12 1993 elections), for revolting against his regime.

    Yar’Adua and Abiola later died in prison.

    Abacha was also accused of looting the treasury, stashing the funds abroad, especially in Switzerland.

    Adeyinka Akintunde is a graduate of Philosophy from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria. A social commentator and Online Reporter

  • Dickson lauds Buhari on Abiola, demands action on restructuring

    Asks FG to honour Humphery Nwosu

    Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson on Friday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for immortalizing the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola.

    The governor said that, though, the award was belated, the gesture would partly address the wrongs of the past and strengthen democracy, insisting that, it was better late than never.

    But the governor  called on PMB to declare Abiola as a President that was never sworn in and urgently sponsor an executive bill to the National Assembly in order to legitimize it.

    He said declaring June 12 as Democracy Day, giving national honour to Abiola’s running mate,  Ambassador Babagana Kingibe as well as, giving posthumous national awards to Abiola and the late legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi were in order.

    The governor, however, called on Buhari to show the same political will and patriotism on the critical issue of restructuring Nigeria.

    He said the President should ensure that Nigeria is restructured with power devolved from the centre to the federating units and fiscal federalism enthroned to guarantee balance, peace, prosperity and stability in the country.

    He said a restructured Nigeria would address the dysfunctional system, over concentration of power at the centre, pseudo- federalism and the expropriation of the resources of the Niger Delta.

    Read Also: Abiola, Gani families hail Buhari for honours

    While stressing that, those championing the cause of restructuring were the real patriots, the governor believed Buhari would etch his name on the sands of time and become “a Nigerian hero of all times, if he restructures the country.”

    The governor  also urged the President to honour the then Chairman of National Electoral Commission (NEC), Professor Humphrey Nwosu with a national award for his uncommon courage and commitment to the conduct of  transparent elections in June, 1993,  stressing that, what is good for the goose is also saucy for the gander.

    He said: “I commend the President for the courage to immortalize the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election with the highest national honour of GCFR as well as declaring June 12 as Democracy Day.

    “Having honored Abiola with the highest award only reserved for presidents or heads of state, I urge him to declare Abiola a president that was never sworn in, and then go a step further to Gazette and sponsor a bill to the National Assembly to legitimize his proclamations backed by law.

    “He should also honour the then Chairman of National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Humphrey Nwosu for the courage to conduct a transparent election for what is good for the goose is same for the gander.

    “As member of House of Reps, I co-sponsored a bill to immortalize MKO Abiola to address the wrong done to Abiola and our democracy. So I believe by the president’s proclamation, he continued from where we stopped and in my opinion, it was the right thing to do.

    “Though it is belated but it is better late than never! I want the President to show the same political will and patriotism on the burning issue of Restructuring Nigeria to address the wrong done to the Nigeria people.

    “I believe restructuring will balance the dysfunctional system, guarantee peace, prosperity and stability in the country where everybody has equal stake. Those clamouring for restructuring are the real patriots. PMB will etch his name on the sands of time and become a Nigerian hero of all times if he restructures the country”.

  • Honour for Abiola is boost for democracy – Oshiomhole

    A former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has described the post-humous award for the proclaimed winner of the June 12 Presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, as a boost for the nation’s democracy.

    Comrade Oshiomhole who is an aspirant for the National chairmanship position of the All Progressive Congress said democracy day was not the day people hand over power to their successors.

    In a press statement issued in Bénin City, Oshiomhole said the decision to immortalize Abiola is what many Nigerians have yearned for.

    According to the statement, “I am glad with the decision of the President especially by declaring June 12 as Democracy day because the real democracy is not the day that people hand over power to their successors but the day to celebrate heroes of our democracy such as Chief Abiola and Gani Fawehinmi.

    Read Also: APC should not be for all comers – Oshiomhole

    “It was as a result of the struggle by Gani and Abiola that some persons came to benefit as leaders later on. That is why I commend Mr President for this great wisdom; this is the best way to honour those that labour for this democracy.

    “We know some leaders who even though they came from the same zone with Abiola and Gani were resolute in ensuring that June 12 was not declared as a day we celebrate our democracy. These men are known for their struggle for a better Nigerian and the blood of those who fought and died for this democracy has been atoned for this great decision by Mr President.

    “I congratulate the families of late MKO and Gani, I congratulate APC for making this happen. This was what some of us has yearned for over the years but I am glad that God has used Mr President to achieve this and this will further strengthen our democracy and make us greater” he stated.

  • June 12: Lagos speaker hails Buhari, says Tinubu laid foundation

    The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, says declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day has vindicated age-long agitations by some Nigerians for same.

    Obasa made the assertion in Lagos in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, on Thursday.

    He praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the declaration on Wednesday.

    “This is because it was the day that Nigeria had the freest, fairest and most peaceful election.

    “It was June 12, 1993 that gave birth to what we are enjoying today as democracy.

    “I want to congratulate the president, his vice, the APC and Nigerians in general for this honour on the martyr of Nigerian democracy, Chief MKO Abiola,” he said.

    Read Also: June 12 Democracy Day: Triumph of over injustice – Kokori

    Obasa also hailed Chief Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of APC and a former Governor of Lagos State, whose administration declared June 12 a public holiday in Lagos State.

    According to him, Tinubu believes in the sanctity of the June 12 mandate.

    Obasa also commended Tinubu for naming the former Marwa Gardens in the state after the late Abiola to immortalise him.

    “It was also Asiwaju Tinubu who named the Press Centre at the Alausa Secretariat after the late Bagauda Kaltho, the News Magazine correspondent killed by the Abacha junta during the struggle for democracy.

    “Therefore, our national leader also deserves special commendation for his pioneering efforts at getting official recognition for June 12, Chief MKO Abiola and other icons of democratic struggle in the country,” Obasa added

    Buhari announced that June 12 would replace May 29 as the Democracy Day.

    The president also gave posthumous award of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) to Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, who died on July 7, 1998.

    Buhari also decided to confer posthumous GCFR to the late social critic and rights campaigner, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

    NAN

     

  • Democracy: Ekweremadu seeks NBA’s vigilance

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday asked the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to be vigilance to arrest the dwindling fortunes of the country’s democracy.

    A statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy Senate, Uche Anichukwu said that Ekweremadu spoke in Abuja at the 2018 Law Week of the NBA, Abuja Branch.

    It said that Ekweremadu recalled the sacrifices of courageous lawyers and other pro-democracy activists in enthroning the current democratic dispensation.

    He said the current state of the nation’s democracy would make heroes of the struggle like Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief MKO Abiola, Chuma Ubani, Bamidele Aturu, and Kudirat Abiola sad in their graves.

    “Our society is in despair today; democracy is receding; rule of law appears to be at the crossroads; and the killings across the land have become so massive, frequent, and mindless. Politicians that were once friends have turned our politics into a war of attrition.

    “Our elections, in many instances, have been highly militarised, with some security officers accused of physically assaulting the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nigerians have watched on live television the raid of the hallowed chamber of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the carting away of its mace by thugs.

    Read Also: Secondus, Ekweremadu laud PDP primary

    “As if emboldened by that, political thugs stormed the premises of the Rivers State High Court. The nation watched with great concern the heavy and prolonged gunfire by armed thugs, who, but for the resistance put up by the people of Rivers State, had virtually succeeded in preventing the court from carrying out its legitimate duties. Today, to hold a different political opinion appears tantamount to a political suicide”, he stated.

    The Senator, however, said that frightening as the emerging trend appeared, he was more troubled by the loud silence of the NBA.

    “The Bar has not uttered any word of condemnation of these and other clear acts of aggression against the legislature or the judiciary in recent years.

    “We must bear in mind that democracy does not die in a day. Democracy dies a slow and painful death. Democracy will die if the independence of the judiciary is destroyed, the National Assembly turned to a rubber stamp, the media gagged, the Civil Society Organisations sucked-in, and the electoral umpire annexed.

    “But it is not in anybody’s interest, let alone the Bar, for our democracy to fail. However, we cannot fold our hands, keep sealed lips, and expect Heavens to play our parts as lawyers. So, the Bar must rise in defense of democracy.

    “There is no sitting on the fence. The poet, Dante Algheri, warns that the hottest parts of hell are reserved for those, who in the time of moral crisis, preserve their neutrality. The Bar must speak up against impunity. The Bar must be heard loud and clear in condemnation of desecration and intimidation, and annexation of key institutions of democracy.

    “The Bar must stand up in defence of the rule of law, separation of power, rights, liberties, and other laudable tenets without which democracy becomes an empty barrel, a civilianised dictatorship, and, above all, the Bar must continue to promote justice, equity and fairness to sustain our democracy”, Ekweremadu emphasized.