Speakers at these events paid tributes to the late politician and proffered several ways he should be honoured by the Federal Government, without prejudice to the recent rechristening of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after him by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Despite a downpour in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Abiola’s home-town, a crowd led by Governor Ibikunle Amosun gathered at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, after taking a “Democracy Walk” to celebrate the day.
According to Amosun, Abiola paid the supreme price for Nigerians “to have democracy. June 12 is a memorable day that can never be forgotten in the history of the nation. If we refused to celebrate him (Abiola) today, future generations would celebrate him.”
President, Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin and one of Abiola’s daughters, Hafzat, also addressed the crowd.
Okei-Odumakin stated: “We must rededicate ourselves. The Democracy Walk means we remember him for his sacrifice. All of us must make sure Nigeria does not go down”.
Hafzat thanked the nation on behalf of her family for recognising the role her father played to bring about the current democratic dispensation.
However Abiola’s younger brother, Alhaji Mubashiru Abiola, who spoke on behalf of the family at their Sabo ancestral home, insisted that the only way to immortalise Abiola was to declare him an elected former President of Nigeria.
Mubashiru alleged that the family had been neglected by the Federal Government, stressing that renaming UNILAG after the late Abiola was not enough.
In a statement to mark the day, Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Dr. Lateef Adegbite, said the nation has not accorded due recognition to June 12 as a historic day.
Adegbite also urged the Federal Government to:
• Release officially the results of the Presidential Elections of June 12,1993;
• declare Chief MKO Abiola the winner of the election;
• confer post-humously on MKO Abiola all the honours due to an elected President of Nigeria, including the award of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR);
• declare June 12 of every year, MKO Abiola Day, which shall be observed as National Holiday, it will replace May 29 as Democracy Day.
In Lagos, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, his predecessor and National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Bola Tinubu, former Governor of old Kaduna State and other citizens celebrated the 19th anniversary of the June 12 polls.
Musa, who chaired the event, stated that Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, the electoral umpire of the June 12 election, had admitted in public that Abiola clearly won the polls and that the recent move by President Goodluck Jonathan to rename UNILAG after Abiola attested to this.
Arguing that Abiola deserved more than having UNILAG named after him, Musa asked the Federal Government to establish a judicial commission of enquiry to find out the circumstances that led to the annulment of the elections and punish those responsible for it.
Arguing that renaming UNILAG after Abiola would reduce the latter’s national mandate to a sectional one, Tinubu said: “Since the President now know the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, I support the call that Abiola should be recognised post-humously as the second democratically elected President of Nigeria and declare either his birthday or June 12 as a national holiday as it was done for Dr. Martin Luther-King in the United States. This is a man who struggled and died for this country. That is the minimum that we will demand from the Federal Government”.
Founder, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, suggested that Abiola’s portrait should be put on the proposed N2000 note while the Abuja National Stadium should also be named after the late politician.
Fashola said “the historic June 12 election should inspire Nigerians to be patriotic to change things they do not accept. We should tell people who say we cannot stand together irrespective of our tribe that it is a lie. I like to remind those who say that we are so religiously divided that on June 12 we stood together. Nigeria resolved to cast their lots behind a team they thought would take them out of poverty. That is what June 12 must mean to us.
Also, former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, yesterday in Abuja described the annulment of the June 12 election as “the maximum ruination action” taken by the Nigerian military against the Nigerian State.
Ezeife noted that the June 12 polls remained the “freest, fair and credible election” conducted in the country.
He also urged the Federal Government to consider declaring June 12, “MKO Abiola Day” to subsume the Democracy Day usually marked on May 29.
Stating that naming UNILAG after Abiola has become controversial, Ezeife urged President Jonathan to rethink that decision and perhaps name the Abuja National Stadium or the International Conference Centre in Abuja after the late politician.
In Oyo State, Governor Abiola Ajimobi yesterday urged the Federal Government to officially recognise Abiola as a former president of the country and confer on him the highest honour in the land befitting of a president.
At an event to mark the day in Osogbo, Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, called on the Federal Government to declare Abiola a former elected President of the country and June 12 “MKO Abiola Day” in honour of the late politician.
On his part, Aregbesola declared yesterday the “MKO Abiola Day” in Osun State, pledging that a bill would soon be sent to the state House of Assembly to give this declaration the force of law.
He added: “I call on those who are protesting against the renaming of UNILAG to Moshood Abiola University, Lagos to have a rethink and support the change because of Abiola.
“However, the expected decision from the Federal Government is recognition of the fact that Abiola won the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election. To that end, he should be recognized as a President and be given all paraphernalia of that office, posthumously.”
June 12 was celebrated in three separate venues on Osun State, with a coalition of civil societies, including the Committee for Democracy and Rights of the People (CDRP) led by Comrade Amitolu Shittu organising lectures/symposium to commemorate the day.
Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana in his address commended Abiola for his heroism, saying he came out as man at a critical moment in the struggle for the retrieval of his mandate.
Also, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital of Ekiti State yesterday was agog as thousands of people celebrated June 12 by joining Governor Kayode Fayemi and government functionaries for a “Democracy Walk “ around major streets of the town.
Addressing the crowd at Okeyinmi junction, Ado-Ekiti, Fayemi urged the Federal Government to go beyond naming UNILAG after Abiola “to a more ennobling and enduring recognition.”
Fayemi wondered if there “can be a 1999 without a 1993” but concluded that “it was the struggle faced by Nigerians between 1993 and 1998 that culminated in the exit of the military on May 29, 1999.”
At a lecture to mark the day, he called on the Federal Government to declare June 12 “Democracy Day” and a public holiday.
He also stressed that anything short of having Abiola’s picture displayed at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, as a former elected President of Nigeria was unacceptable.
Former President, Nigerian Bar Association, Dame Priscilla Kuye, in her lecture titled: “Tools for Consolidating Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: Reminiscences on June 12, 1993 Presidential Election”, also argued in support of making June 12 a national holiday.
The day was also celebrated in Ondo State, with Governor Olusegun Mimiko calling on the Federal Government to proclaim June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day to celebrate “the landmark event of that date in 1993.”
Mimiko said: “Today, we celebrate the man who sacrificed his life for the enthronement of true democracy. We are privileged to gather here today as a people because one man dared say “No” to injustice and oppression. The memories of M.K.O must not be obliterated from our collective psyche. He was indeed our hero.
He launched a free bus shuttle scheme for the state’s school children “in honour of late Chief M.K.O Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the controversial presidential election.”
At the Lagos celebration, Prof. Kolawole Ogundowole charged President Jonathan to declare Abiola president post-humously and name the Aso Rock Villa after the late politician.
http://www.nigerianewstoday.com.ng/
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