Despite the demise of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola in 1998, the memories of the date have refused to leave Nigerians 19 years after, writes SUNDAY ABORISADE
Everything that should go right actually went right during the presidential election held in Nigeria on June 12, 1993. There was neither natural nor man-made disaster that could mar the process. Although it was held during the rainy season, no downpour capable of affecting the election was recorded anywhere in the country.
Local and international observers declared it as the freest and fairest poll ever conducted in the country and commended the electoral body headed by Prof. Humphrey Nwosu for the brilliant job done. The collation of the result was made easy with the adoption of option A4 system, which allows the electoral officials to count the voters in the queue physically and announce the result.
Nwosu had started the announcement of the result before he was stopped by the then military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, a development that led to a stalemate for about a week before the government annulled the entire exercise and sacked the electoral body.
The action of the Babangida regime was greeted with massive protests all over the country and the workers’ union called a nationwide strike, which was successfully carried out across the country when the government failed to honour its demand for the release of the result and the swearing-in of the winner of the election.
The decision by the oil and gas workers to join the strike paralysed social and economic activities in the country for many weeks, while the media organisations that were considered to be too critical of the government’s action were shut indefinitely. The government even went a step further to promulgate a decree, which proscribed some newspapers from further circulation in the country.
In the midst of this controversy and confusion, Abiola travelled outside the country. This enabled him to draw global attention to the struggle, a strategy that earned him the sympathy of the international community.
However, when the trouble was too much for Babangida to handle, he stepped aside and formed an Interim National Government. He made Chief Ernest Shonekan head of the ING and appointed civilians as secretaries in charge of the various federal ministries.
The action was greeted with rage and the workers’ union intensified its struggle alongside various civil society groups by staging a series of protests across the country. The military led by the late Gen. Sani Abacha struck and seized power from Shonekan a few weeks after his inauguration as head of the ING.
Civil society groups and some progressive politicians formed the National Democratic Coalition, a platform they used to rally local and international support for the late Abiola. Activists and vocal politicians were picked up and hounded into various prisons across the country under the Abacha maximum rule. The media organisations which he reopened when he seized power were shut again and this led to serious tension in the country.
Abiola had to declare himself president when it was obvious that Abacha, who pleaded with him to return home from exile, was not ready to release his mandate freely expressed by Nigerians. This led to another round of agitations in which notable politicians and activists, including Abiola’s wife, Kudirat, were allegedly assassinated by the state.
The sudden death of Abacha in office was received with joy across the country, but the happiness did not last long. Abiola also died in detention shortly after. This led to the emergence of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar as Head of State. Abubakar immediately created a platform for politicians to form new parties. He conducted an election and handed over power on May 29, 1999.
A former Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, became the first beneficiary of the June 12 struggle as he was elected president and ruled for eight years. He was succeeded by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and later President Goodluck Jonathan, who had earlier acted as President when Yar’Adua was terribly sick.
Meanwhile, 19 years after the June 12 election was held, only the government of Ogun State (Abiola’s state) deemed it fit to immortalise the late politician by renaming the state-owned polytechnic and stadium in Abeokuta, the state capital, after him. Some states in the South-West have also renamed roads, housing estates, parks, markets and buildings after the late politician.
The first attempt at recognising the late hero of democracy by the Federal Government was on May 29 this year when Jonathan renamed the University of Lagos after him as a way of appreciating his sacrifice for the nation’s democracy to thrive.
Although the large heartedness of Jonathan was greeted with protests by students of the university and others, who believe that they were not consulted before the action was taken or that the process did not follow the normal constitutional procedure.
The leader of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba political and social organisation, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, is of the view that Abiola deserves more than what the Federal Government offered him. The octogenarian told our correspondent that anything short of declaring Abiola president posthumously and recognising him as one of the country’s past presidents would not be acceptable to the Yoruba.
He said, “Are they (FG) just waking up from their slumber? Abiola deserves more than what President Jonathan is offering him. This is a man who was openly robbed of his mandate given to him by Nigerians.
“The Federal Government should issue a gazette, where Abiola would not only be declared winner of the 1993 presidential election, but also recognised as a former president of Nigeria, who was denied his right to rule with his mandate,” Fasoranti stated.
Human rights activist, Dr. Tunji Abayomi, believes that June 12 should be declared as Abiola Day by the Federal Government. He said the late politician should be recognised as a past president.
He said, “Inasmuch as we would want to commend President Jonathan for his courage to immortalise the late Abiola, we want to put on record that the man has not been appropriately honoured by the Federal Government.
“In any case, Jonathan should be commended for having it in mind to recognise Abiola. He has walked where his predecessors dreaded to pass through,” he added.
Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, called on President Jonathan to proclaim June 12 of every year Democracy Day in recognition of the memorable role played by the late Abiola towards entrenching virile democracy in the country.
He said June 12 was actually the day that the foundation of democracy was laid and that all the elected public officers since 1999 till date were beneficiaries of the supreme prize paid by Abiola to ensure that there was civil rule in the country.
He said, “I am joining other well meaning lovers of democracy and good governance in Nigeria to appeal to President (Goodluck) Jonathan to proclaim June 12 every year as Democracy Day in the country.
“Today, we celebrate the man who sacrificed his life for the enthronement of true democracy. We are privileged to gather here as a people because one man dared say No to injustice and oppression. The memories of MKO must not be obliterated from our collective psyche. He was indeed our hero.
“We, the people of Ondo State accord him the honour because he gallantly fought for us. I say this because our government was enthroned on the principles of justice and fairness, which, by God’s grace, our mandate was delivered back to us by the judicial decision of February 2009. We must therefore continue to nurture the memories of this historical landmark.
“The battle for democracy must be fought by all on all fronts. Democracy must not only be pronounced, it must be practically supported by a collective spirit of resilience, commitment and unity of purpose so as to engender appropriate deliverables to the people.
“June 12, therefore, provides the opportunity for the people and government at all levels in Nigeria to improve the living standards of the people. This paradigm shift is necessary because it is only when the people are liberated from poverty and disease that meaningful development can take place.
“It was on June 12, 1993 that the seed of democracy was planted and watered in Nigeria. Without June 12, there can never be May 29, therefore, all public officials in the country must respect the sanctity of June 12 as Nigeria’s day of democracy.”
Mimiko said his government would continue to keep the spirit of the symbol of June 12 and Abiola alive by executing projects and policies that would tackle abject poverty, which is what the late business mogul went into politics to achieve.
Without doubt, observers believe that the memories of June 12 still remain fresh in the minds of many Nigerians, about two decades after the election was held and its result ridiculously cancelled.
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