NIGERIANS 30 years – and older – would remember series of meetings at Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s farm in Otta to resolve the political jam the military created with the annulment of the June 12 presidential election of 1993.
President Muhammadu Buhari was one of the prominent faces at the meeting that sought solutions to the impasse. It was a pro-June 12 coalition, or so many thought.
One day in August, 22 years ago, Obasanjo told the gathering that the meetings were over. An interim government was in place and General Sani Abacha’s coup was only months away.
Memories of those events may be drifting to oblivion, but June 12 is a massive judgment whose perpetrators became its beneficiaries and are stridently opposed to any association with it. June 12 is a reminder of Nigeria’s wasted political opportunities. The election, in 1993, which Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola won but the military annulled, remains one of Nigeria’s most tumultuous moments in the past 22 years.
The presidential candidate and his vice (Babagana Kingibe) were Muslims. It meant nothing to Nigerians who voted for them against another Muslim candidate Bashir Torfa who had a Christian running mate, Dr. Sylvester Ugo, former Governor of the Bank of Biafra. In 2015, religion was an issue in our elections.
On June 12, a year after, Abiola declared himself president in Epe-tedo, a public square on Lagos Island. He died in detention, on July 8, 1998, after meeting a US delegation. A month after Abacha died.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar succeeded Abacha. His 10-month transition programme made Chief Olusegun Obasanjo president. Obasanjo ignored June 12 in his eight years in office.
Some All Progressives Congress States honour Abiola with a public holiday. The biggest national recognition for Abiola remains his listing among the 100 honoured in Nigeria’s Centenary Awards.
The haste to forget the lessons about June 12 aligns with the political class’ hurry to over-step issue in its bid for power. Politicians abhor opposition, even within the same party. The national tensions from religions and regions in our politics show that we learnt nothing from June 12.
Some have better memories of June 12. It is the 22ndRussian Day, to mark sovereignty of Russia from the crumbling Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR. It is also the 117th Independence Day anniversary of the Philippines.
How will June 12 be treated under the change agenda? What will be the official position on the presidential election of 1993? Will Abiola be recognised?
Just like the Civil War, we write Nigeria’s history, deliberately leaving out critical parts like June 12. A nation building its greatness on a mutilated past is on quick sand.
– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/june-12-under-change/#sthash.9za0dLoC.dpuf
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hummm yoruba .