BETTER LEAVE IT AS ABIOLA DAY
The world would not recognise a-five year old election. The words of Emeka Anyaoku and Kofi Annan to Chief MKO Abiola. If the world would not recognise a-five year old election, how do we recognise a-23 year old election? Thank goodness, he’s now recognised as the winner of the annulled election. But so many questions still need to be asked.
On a bright Saturday morning, on the 12th of June 1993, the atmosphere was filled with hope and joy that at last civil rule was near. Even if we were not born, we read, even if we were young, it was passed through oral tradition.
Let it be written in the history of Nigeria that, once a free and fair election was held. Let it be passed to generations yet unborn that our fathers voted without ethnic or religious sentiment or bigotry, even when the first primary election was cancelled. Now, we are at the future we envisaged.
We all voted our man M.K.O Abiola, but forgot the reason the first primary election was cancelled. Has he really reset his mind?
Hmm… we voted two foes to drive our bus home safely. Is that possible? Kingibe was in the People’s Front PF while Abiola was in the People’s Solidarity Faction. Good! Abiola won with a slim margin, and you want his primary enemy to vice him and see him become the president of the Third Republic? This is a baseless analogy, you
say? Would he have accepted it in good fate? The Nigerian politics is marred
with mistrust and suspicion. That’s just the truth.
In the struggle, did Kingibe and Yar’Adua not form alliance with the government that forced Abiola to a journey of no return? Did you remember the Minister of Mines and Steel in the Abacha’s administration? That was Babagana Kingibe.
However, we need to know the stance of the one who just declared Abiola the winner of the June 12 when he was in the government (PTF Chairman) of the one who imprisoned and killed Abiola. Democracy must not just be said to be practiced, it must be seen and experienced by the masses. It must reflect in our lifestyle, it must reflect in our doings, if truly we attach much relevance to the struggle of Abiola.
What a pity, Abiola never waited to tell the story. Those who betrayed him, and left him when the journey was tough are now being celebrated as elder statesmen. Those who despised him are now celebrating in the name of democracy with the
aim of gaining political relevance. Be ye not deceived, if democracy is not in you, its practice would be a vexation to you.
Those who openly criticised or condemned the renaming of UNILAG, MAULAG (a federal institution built without their ancestors’ dime) are now praising a civilian military government who recognised June 12 as Democracy Day. Time could make people forget the real essence of Abiola’s struggle if not well immortalised… Mere declaration isn’t enough, until democracy is ingrained into our society. Any monument in Lagos named after him? Oh! Ere Abiola (his statue, hostels, mushroom building and the forgotten football pitch? Well, thanks to the Ogun State Government for naming the Ogun State Polytechnics (MAPOLY) after him. How is the renaming going to affect the intellectual standard and welfare of the student? How will the inclusion of the name Abiola into UNILAG dent its reputation? How many ventilators has the school produced to help in the fight against the WUHAN VIRUS? Oh! That one produced on the 15th of June with the expertise of one of their ex students who had gone to acquire practical knowledge on his own? So, a prestigious UNILAG who should be leading in research and innovation could only produce an uncertified ventilator after polytechnics and artisans have done same. Hello, it’s no more an invention. Wait, which hospital has accepted to test it on any of its patients?
I humbly appeal to the Lagos State Government to name its seat of power (Secretariat, Alausa) after MOSHOOD KASHIMAAWO OLAWALE ABIOLA. Also, the University of Lagos should be named after him.
With reference to the foregoing, did you know how many Abiolas who have been unlawfully detained under this “demokatikali (democratically) elected civilian military government? No? Ask the true journalists, and they will tell you. Ask Omoyele Sowore, ask Mr. Abiri, ask Steven Kefas and others.
How then do we define democracy, if there is no freedom? What then is the hallmark of democracy, if we can’t enjoy the right to freedom of expression and press? Were all his entitlements paid? Yes, it should be paid to his family right. Did you know that your principal made the wrong decision by incarcerating Abiola? And you did what?
Mere declaration isn’t enough, democracy must be upheld, it must be ingrained into our society, its process must be ingrained into our annals of history.
Better leave it as Abiola Day that the name may keep ringing in our minds.
