Had the result of the June 12, 1993, presidential election been officially declared or the June 11, 1994 ‘Epetedo Proclamation’ stood, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola would have become the 2nd executive President of Nigeria. But for the business mogul and philanthropist turned politician, he was a president that never was, a man of substance, hugely popular at home.
His support cuts across the ethnic and
religious spread, and he also enjoyed the support of the international
community. The annulment of the June 12 presidential election was a dream that
went down the drain for Abiola’s second shot at the presidency.
On June 11, 1994, in Epetedo, Lagos Island, a
day shy of one year since his electoral victory was trampled on, in an attempt
to reclaim his mandate, Chief Abiola proclaimed himself the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, besides proclaiming, a
new ‘Government of National Unity,’ in the famous ‘Epetedo Proclamation’,
declared in the mainly Yoruba populated area of Lagos. In the speech, Abiola
also reconvened the National Assembly, “reinstated” all dismissed governors,
and “reconstituted” the state assemblies and local government councils.
Abiola, popularly called Are Onakankanfo of Yorubaland, the highest chieftaincy title bestowed on a living Yoruba person, ran for the presidency of Nigeria in the short-lived Third Republic under the ticket of Social Democratic Party (SDP) on June 12, 1993. The election’s provisional result showed an overwhelming victory over his opponent Bashir Tofa, of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
The election result was
adjudged the freest and fairest election by national and international
observers to date. Scores of people died in the chaos that followed the
annulment and the sheer political pressure that ensued forced Gen. Ibrahim
Babangida to hand over power to the Interim Government (ING) on August 27,
1993. On November 17, 1993, Defence Minister, Gen. Sani Abacha forced the Head
of ING, Chief Ernest Shonekan, to resign and hand over power to him.
Gen. Sanni Abacha led military administration
declared Abiola wanted on treason charges for declaring himself, president. The
junta sent two hundred police vehicles to bring him into custody. Abiola died
in custody on July 7, 1998, the day he was to be released under suspicious
circumstances. While incarcerated, prominent people, such as Pope John II,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, and Emeka Anyaoku, among other prominent
people, the international communities, and human rights activists, lobbied for
his release. His second and most senior wife, Kudirat Abiola who had been
drumming public support for Chief Abiola was assassinated in 1996, while Abiola
was still in prison.
Imprisoned until Abacha's death, nobody gave
a glimpse of hope that Abiola would regain freedom for declaring himself
president but hours before his release, he was announced dead. Who or what
killed him has remained a mystery. Some highly controversial deaths in the
country have been linked to some people or factors like in the case of Dele
Giwa, but in Abiola’s case, some people claimed that he was poisoned to level
Abacha’s death.
On June 6, 2018, 25 years after June 12
debacle, President Muhammadu Buhari,
posthumously awarded MKO Abiola, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic GCFR,
and declared June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day. The new Democracy Day was done
to commemorate the democratic election of Moshood Abiola on June 12, 1993. Until June 6, 2018, the declaration was held
annually on May 29, the day Nigeria returned to democratic rule, ending decades
of military rule. The May 29, 1999, handover to an elected civilian government
marked the beginning of the longest continuous civilian rule since the
country’s independence. Among many Nigerians that ran for the highest political
office to date in Nigeria, the Ogun State-born billionaire was the most
nationally accepted.
June 12 remained one of Nigeria’s turbulent
political narratives until the date was declared Democracy Day; it was a
metaphor for a political movement. The movement had its birth in the formation
of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and Campaign for Democracy (CD)
broad coalition of Nigerian democrats, progressive and human rights activists,
who pressured Gen. Sani Abacha-led military regime to hand over power to MKO
Abiola. The Abiola Epetedo Proclamation resulted from the NADECO initiative.
The annulment of the June 12, 1993 election
result threw Nigeria into turmoil, the debacle precipitated movement across the
country, close to the pre-Nigerian Civil War. Among the Igbo-speaking people,
it was called ‘Oso Abiola’, As the tension of the annulment mounts, the Igbo,
to avoid being caught in the crossfire between the West and North, many of them
temporarily relocated to the East to avoid reliving the painful experience of
the Nigerian Civil War. The relocation ordeal led to the death of many people
and the loss of businesses, which many never recovered from it. The annulment crises
heightened the cynicism and distrust among Nigerians, creating friction between
the North and West.
The election annulment earned Nigeria a
pariah status in the comity of nations. Even as the 1994 African Cup of Nations
title holders, Nigeria did not defend the title in 1996 in South Africa. Most
Nigerians bemoan the lost chance as an opportunity for the Super Eagles to
dominate African football. Many NADECO members and prominent Nigerians fled the
country for fear of being killed. The Commonwealth, the umbrella body of former
British colonies had to suspend Nigeria’s membership of the organisation.
In 2018, ahead of the 2019 general election, President Buhari declared June 12 as Democracy Day and the award of GCFR to Chief Abiola, which many people not only see as a ploy to revive its dying popularity but also to sway Western votes for the election.
The Afenifere, the
Yoruba apex socio-political group believed the gesture was a strategy to
appease Yoruba voters. The group spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, said President
Buhari did the right thing which Afenifere had championed for years, noting
that they accepted the declaration of June 12 as a public holiday but argued
that the Yoruba would not be swayed by Buhari's strategy.
The present Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland,
Iba Gani Adams welcomed the decision by President Muhamadu Buhari to recognize
June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day but would want the President to step further
by restructuring the country, if he wants to win the hearts of the progressive-minded
Nigerians.
However any opinion tilts on the motive
behind President Buhari's declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day, the current
Fourth Republic emerged from its agitation. President Olusegun Obasanjo, who
shunned pleas to immortalize Abiola, besides other heads of state in the
current republic benefited from it. It was in the bid to pacify the Yoruba that
President Obasanjo, who hails from Ogun State with Abiola, was anointed in
Prison to become president of Nigeria. The June 12 iconic date which came with
its first public holiday definitely has changed Nigeria’s political landscape
for good.
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