Presidential, royal and rotting. Twenty-one years after the dream was conceived, MKO Abiola’s palatial home at the serene and cosy part of Ibara GRA, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, still remains a dream, begging to be fulfilled. ERNEST NWOKOLO reports
Looking at the edifice from beyond the gigantic gates, one would almost have the impression of a haunted house. The uncompleted building sitting in the prestigious Government Reservation Area (GRA) Ibara Abeokuta looked out of place and shape when compared with other houses in the neighbourhood.
As one walked through the gates, an eerie feeling took over, partly from a remembrance of the great man who conceived the idea of building for himself a presidential palace and from the fear of the unknown as one enters into the building.
Inside the building was dark as light only penetrated through the open or leaking portion of the roof. There are many staircases leading to the various rooms in the house forming a labyrinth which some people say was designed to confuse any stranger who gained access into the building without authorisation.
But there are more shocking revelation inside this magnificent building. As one progressed from one part of the house to the other, sound of birds singing above the cellar could be heard, bats hung from several pillars and many other reptiles found a safe haven hiding in one of its many corners.
Welcome to the presidential palace of late businessman and acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993, Presidential election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. The building which was conceived to serve as Abiola’s personal Presidential lodge upon assumption of office as the President after the historic election, has multiple rooms aside a unit within it said be designed for his wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, who was assassinated in 1996.
The sitting room is fit to host a gathering of about 1000 persons at a time and the heavily padded concrete pillars supporting the structure shows that the late politician might have had an ambition to erect a building that could withstand intense shock or stress such as shelling.
It was expected, according to a source, to have a sort of Helipad atop for landing of helicopters and the construction had gone well with speed as the building firm hurried to meet the delivery date slated ahead of the envisaged swearing in of Abiola as President of Nigeria in 1993.
But following the annulment of the poll, the arrest of Abiola after the famous Epetedo declaration, the contractor pulled out of site and had not returned till date.
A tour around it, reveals various degrees of degeneration, and buffeted by the elements all year round in the last two decades, the decking leaks whenever it rains just as the steel materials also rust away.
Ironically, every June 12, pro – democracy groups, rights organisations and particularly, the Ogun State government, have made it a ritual to remember the late politician and business magnate for his tortuous struggle and sacrificial death that ushered in the current democracy and the attendant freedom being savoured today by most Nigerians.
But during such memorials, no thought is ever spared on how to put life to Abiola’s dream house.
About eight years ago, the premise was overtaken by weeds and shrubs that dwarfed the entire structure. It was also a common site for some youths who routinely hunt alligator lizards, while a section of it serves as shelter for lunatic couples until they were forcibly ejected by the late politician’s family.
Today, the weeds appeared relatively subdued by Mr Kamoru Akindele who now lives there with his family.
Akindele, a staff of the Ogun State Housing Corporation, told The Nation that he has been living in the premises free of charge in the last eight years with the permission of Abiola’s family.
He said Kola, Abiola’s first son does visit the place occasionally, and would look at the decaying structure for some minutes before taking his leave.
According to him, there is still hope that Kola would one day rally his brothers and sisters to salvage what is left of the once envisaged Presidential House.
A year ago, Abiola’s younger brother, Alhaji Musibau Abiola, told The Nation that the building is so gigantic that a single individual may not be able to provide the fund required for its completion, and noted that perhaps only government’s help – be it federal or state may salvage the situation.
Musibau said then that the sorry state of the abandoned construction was a source of worry and discomfort to the family, lamenting that it was also one of the many losses and setbacks they had been contending with since the aborted June 12, 1993 polls and subsequent death of his brother.
Even two prominent Ogun State indigenes – former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, recently acknowledged the huge sacrifice Abiola paid for Nigeria.
An observer who is knowledgeable about the property, told The Nation that it would require over N60m to rehabilitate or complete the building excluding the cost of fittings.
The observer who does not want his name in print, said there is nothing wrong in the state government taking it upon itself to put the structure in the right shape, and also turning it to a five – star hotel before handing it over to Abiola’s family.
He said this would be one valuable way to honour Abiola by the state government and thus save the late philanthropist’s name from the embarrassment and painful memory the continued sight of the forlorn dream building evokes in passers-by.
On June 12 this year, state government and family of late business magnate and politician, held a prayer session to mark the 21st anniversary of the 1993 Presidential election won by Abiola but annulled by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.
During the one hour prayer session in Abiola’s family house, Abeokuta, prayers were held for the continued peaceful repose of his soul. Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun described Abiola as the initiator of Nigeria’s present democracy and someone who would have gladly pitch his tent with the progressives.
Amosun, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, said were Abiola to be alive today, he would surely have been a chieftain in the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The governor noted that the late politician would also have joined the progressives at the recently concended National Convention of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja because he would have be a member of the party.
He said the good people of Ogun State are happy and proud that Abiola hailed from the state and also the second elected civilian president of the country even though he was not installed.
According to him, Nigerians should learn from the lesson June 12 symbolises, that free, fair and credible election should be encouraged by all for a better society.
He said Abiola would be cringing in his grave following the growing insecurity and the attendant challenges, charging the Nigerian government to do more in tackling it.
For Mr Jamiu Abiola, one of the children of the late politician, the federal government should make the lives of Nigerians comfortable and create an environment where citizens can feel free and safe to realise their potentials.
According to Jamiu, his father fought, sacrificed and even died to better the lots of the masses of Nigerians.
Also, Tudun Abiola, the late politician’s daughter, said that her father was a kind man who gave without expectation of getting back adding that he would have been a credible leader for Nigeria.
“I think what really matters is to honour and remember him every day, we cannot have a man like that who had fulfilled his purpose for his generation and we fail to honour him, those who want to forget him are deceiving themselves, trying to deny what cannot be denied, I want people to remember him for his sacrifice.”
A member of the government told The Nation last the week that the issue of Abiola’s uncompleted building is not as simple as it seemed, saying in any case, there is perhaps no formal request for state’s intervention in respect of the structure.
The source who begged to be left out of the matter, said the family, however, have options.
According to him, the building could be given out for public use such as library, it could also be donated to a charity organisation or given to a developer to complete it on an agreed term.
He explained that the only time the government may come in uninvited, and perhaps take possession, is if the building constitutes a risk to humans, especially if it has become structurally weakened with a likelihood of a part or all of it crumbling down on people unannounced.
The source said, the government in that situation can justifiably take possession, possibly flatten the structure to safeguard public safety.
