ECHOES of the June 12, 1993
presidential election that was annulled by the ex-dictator, Gen. Ibrahim
Babangida, reverberated round the country on Wednesday with government
and activists reliving with regrets the event that occurred 20 years
ago.
While
President Goodluck Jonathan described June 12 as a unique day in the
history of the country, his information minister, Labaran Maku, said the
election won squarely by the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Abiola,
was designed to fail by the military government of Babangida.
Maku,
who spoke at the 20th anniversary of the annulment of June 12 election
organised by the Save Nigeria Group, entitled, ‘Democracy Audit 2013’ in
Lagos, said, “June 12, 1993 was a drama foretold. Every politician,
every actor that was involved in June 12 knew that the processes leading
to the election were propelled to self-destruct. In a week preceding
the election, as a political editor in one of the national newspapers, I
wrote in my column that the election even if it was held would be
nullified.
“Even before the election, there was an alternative
transition programme that had been unveiled. In 1993 when we saw that
the drama taking place was the drama of the deaf, we decided to form the
Campaign for Democracy. The late Gen. Sani Abacha regime was also
foretold.”
Maku was sacked as an Assistant Political Editor at
the Champion newspapers, Lagos, in 1994 as a result of his reportage of
the crisis that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.
The
minister extolled the virtues of the symbol of June 12, Abiola, saying
the election embodied the collective aspirations of the country to move
forward.
While submitting that the country has made progress in
the last 20 years, Maku said, “If we want to change Nigeria, we must
hold leaders of every institution responsible for failures in their
sectors. Development cannot come from top but from below. The top only
makes policies.
“The problem with our country is that our values
have turned upside down. A nation is sustained by a set of values by its
leaders and the led.”
While speaking shortly after inaugurating
the re-constituted Police Service Commission at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja, Jonathan said June 12 had changed the country’s political history
despite the fact that the Federal Government had not recognised the day
as a public holiday.
He said, “Today is a unique day. June 12, a
date that has changed the political history of this country in one way
or the other. In some parts of the country, some state governments have
declared public holiday to mark today but at the centre, it has not
been formally recognised as a public holiday.
“We appreciate what happened on this day, that you are being inaugurated on this date, I think is a unique date.”
Former
American ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, at the Freedom
Square, Osogbo, Osun State, also gave an insight into why Babangida
annulled the June 12 election.
Carrington said the election was annulled by military politicians who feared that Abiola would return them to the barracks.
“The
mandate the whole country, North and South, had bestowed upon the
President-elect was suddenly stolen from him at the behest of military
politicians who feared that he would return them to the barracks where
they belonged,” he said.
Professor of Molecular Biology, Sola
Adeyeye, delivered the former ambassador’s message. Carrington was in
Nigeria during the June 12 crisis that paralysed activities and turned
Nigeria to a pariah country.
Convener, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor
Tunde Bakare, urged the Federal Government to honour Abiola with a
monument in Abuja such as the National Stadium.
He said 20 years
after the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians were dashed, the leaders
still lacked the will to develop the country.
He said there was the need to audit the nation’s democracy because things were not moving normally.
President, Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, demanded posthumous declaration of Abiola as the past President of Nigeria.
“We
want MKO Abiola’s portrait to be where the portraits of former
presidents are. June 12 remains our Democracy Day, not May 29,” Odumakin
said.
Abiola’s son, Kola, said the June 12 election was detribalised and called on Nigerians to promote unity in whatever they do.
He
said 20 years after the country was still beset with leadership
problems, urging the leaders to provide effective governance to the
people.
He urged the civil society organisations to be consistent
in their struggles, insisting that until that was done, activism would
not achieve its objectives in the country.
Osun State Governor,
Rauf Aregbesola, called for investigation into the manner of Abiola’s
death, saying Nigerians deserved to know what killed Abiola.
He
said, “The June 12 election must be de-annulled and MKO Abiola must be
accorded full posthumous recognition as president. Nigerians must know
the manner of his death.”
Abiola died on July 7, 1998 after drinking tea while in custody of the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
In
October, the Court of Appeal ruled that a High Court judge had earlier
wrongly ordered Mr Prest to transfer properties, worth millions of
pounds and held in the names of companies he controlled, to Mrs Prest.
The
lanky actor, who travelled to the United States of America (USA) some
years ago, is no longer with his wife, Marie Solo, a source told
Nigeriafilms.com
The
four lecturers and the staff who is a computer operator, according to a
statement by the Director, Public Relations of the institution, Mr.
Ossy Ugwuoti, were from the department of Computer Engineering of the
university.
Rivers
State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said he was suspended because of the
dissolution of a local government by the state House of Assembly. How
will you react to this?