• Date embodies unity, equity, justice, says Nobel laureate
• ‘Those who signed away victory’
LIKE a festering wound that defies treatment and sticks out implacably, June 12 re-awakens sore memories of the nation’s political failure, injustice and inequity.
Twenty years ago, on June 12, 1993, the nation’s political march being led by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was halted.
Abiola, affectionately called MKO, the initials of his names, won the presidential election of that date. But his victory was denied him by the then Military President Ibrahim Babangida.
The nation again stood for him yesterday. It was the venue of where he made his famous Epetedo Declaration.
The atmosphere was electrifying. Except for the physical absence of Abiola who his associates believed was present but unseen, attendance at the Epetedo multi-purpose hall, venue of the event to re-affirm their faith in the Epetedo Declaration, was similar to the one that graced the event 20 years ago.
The occasion, co-ordinated by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), famous for the unique role it played in efforts to get the mandate validated by successive military administrations, from Gen. Babangida to Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, had in attendance chieftains of the group, civil society organizations, as well as elements from the progressive wing of the political class.
Among NADECO leaders on the occasion were its National Chairman, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu; National Secretary, Ayo Opadokun; Chairman, June 12 Democratic Coalition, Baba Omojola; Dr. Keziah Awosika and Mr. Popoola Ajayi, Acting Secretary, Action Group (new). The Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola was represented by the State Commissioner for Transport, Kayode Opeifa. The guest speaker was Mr. Fred Agbeyegbe, civil rights campaigner. Also present was one of the wives of the late Abiola, ’Dupe Onitiri-Abiola.
In his opening remarks, Kanu who lamented the terrible state of the country, 20 years after the June 12 election, however, said it was gratifying that Abiola had done his own part of the job of salvaging Nigeria by paying the supreme price which in his view had made the job much easier for Nigerians if only they would display the same courage Abiola displayed two decades ago.
Kanu, therefore, challenged the progressive wing of the political class, youths, professionals, religious leaders and civil society groups, among other groups, to rise up to the challenges which he described as the unfinished matter from the declaration.
Opadokun challenged Nigerians to take their destiny in their hand by rising up to the challenge of finishing the unfinished matter of the declaration.
It was the resolve of NADECO and other participants on the occasion that the only way forward to complete the unfinished matter and save Nigeria is by convening a sovereign national conference.
Agbeyegbe said that Abiola was one of the men God ordained and who fought for his people who had been deprived of their rights.
In a statement, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, said June 12 embodied unity of purpose, equity and justice. The statement read: “We need to remind ourselves what June 12, 1993 represents. It is neither mere date, nor sentiment. It is simply – Human Spirit. What a futile undertaking it is then, when some individuals attempt to deny or crush it. Yet, it was the power of this very Spirit that brought such out of relegation or obscurity, even from the jaws of death, and bestowed upon them relevance and prominence.
“What June 12 possesses is exactly what May 29, or any other day lacks. The former was a spirit of unified purpose, the latter simply an egotistical appropriation of the gift of the former. June 12 embodies Unity of Purpose, Equity and Justice, the manifestation of the sovereign will of a people. It remains forever a watershed of Nigerian history, no matter what the future holds.
“I urge you to try a simple experiment: narrate the story of May 29 to a child and watch his or her reaction. On that day – that child would concede – an individual was installed as a compromise president following a compromise election. So, what’s new?
“Now, move on to unfold the tapestry of June 12. Run your finger along its traceries of citizen resolve, upheavals, of individual and group heroisms, of sacrifices and martyrdoms, the timeless narrative of human resilience. Watch the difference in that child’s responses. Yet, even the beneficiaries of that day persist in their futile effort to kill the date and supplant it with another. Why should we be surprised?
“It is that unprincipled game of substitution that they have carried even to subsequent elections, substituting names of the rightful winners of elections with others who were never even in contention. It is this same mental compulsion that moves them to attempt to rob even a calendar date of its significance, its history, its potential for character formation and sense of national formation – and transformation.
We remain unshaken! Let others continue their sham ceremonies – after all, this is a democracy - or so we claim! And that same Democracy mandates those who are dedicated to truth, who are tutored in the lessons of history, who understand that the Human Spirit is enduring, to hold fast onto the truthful anniversary, recognising none other, ensuring that this date is emblazoned across the sky, and takes root in the very earth that has soaked up the blood of our martyrs.
A daughter of Abiola, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, has said that the inability to protect that mandate of her father was responsible for the crisis bedevilling the country.
According to her, the reality would not change until Nigerians wrest the decision-making power from those who overturned the mandate of the people 20 years ago and who fear the people’s will still.
In an interview with The Guardian yesterday, Abiola-Costello said this year’s anniversary should be aimed at re-writing the country’s history. “Let us ask ourselves this question. Can we afford another 20 years of this story of dysfunctional democracy? If 20 years is enough, let us then begin to prepare ourselves for the next push to reclaim Nigeria,” she said.
Abiola-Costello, who is the Founder, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and also a Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said: “As we mark the 20th anniversary of the historic June 12 election, it is tragic to see how close Nigeria stands to the brink. Twenty years ago, Nigerians from North and South, from East and West, from conservative and liberal Islam and from orthodox and pentecostal Christianity, from transactional politicians to principled intellectuals, all stood as one behind a man with a mandate that sought to restore hope by boldly declaring that Nigerians would say farewell to poverty.
“Perhaps afraid of what change would mean to their power and status, some elite within the army and in the society, fought back. Annulling the election, they assured anyone that would listen that there had been nothing special in the election, nothing special about the man with a mandate, speaking as though there was nothing special in the fact that a country that emerged from disunity had finally found someone that they could unite behind. The rest, as is often said, is history. Now 20 years hence, we can look back with the perfect vision of hindsight and recognise that we were lied to. June 12, 1993 was a special moment in Nigeria’s history,” she said.
She noted that Nigerians may well be the easiest people in the world to govern. They do not expect that their leaders would be saints. But they do expect that their leaders would make Nigeria work. “That the schools will teach, the hospitals and clinics will heal, that the roads will be motorable, the courts will adjudicate, and the governments will govern. Unfortunately, as Prof. Kole Shettima tells us, there cannot be successful politicians in an unsuccessful polity. While progressives have tried to steer the ship of state in a direction that would benefit the majority of Nigerians, their efforts have been stymied by the fact that the polity has been one of bad incentive structures, poor feedback loops and cheap money supporting cronies of those who thrive on the chaos and corruption in the current system,” she said.
According to the pro-democracy activist, the 2015 general elections represent opportunity for the country to rebirth its destiny. “It is another chance for our people to come together, once again, and re-enact the spirit of June 12, to show our common quest and determination for a greater, better Nigeria. Now is time to re-enact the uniqueness of our diversity and of our oneness,” Abiola-Costello noted.
According to Vice President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Issa Aremu, the lessons drawn from the annulled June 12, 2013 general election remain germane if Nigeria intends to deliver quality living to its citizens.
Speaking on the sideline of the ongoing International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to The Guardian yesterday, Aremu said since the tragic annulment of the election, election riggers had further perfected the art of violations of peoples’ mandates through varying subterfuges that included ballot snatching, falsifications of election results and political assassinations.
Aremu posited that Nigerian politicians must unite on the basic fundamentals as the country moves close to another election in 2015.
He added: “This means politicians must be united to agree on the fundamentals of democracy which include peaceful contest and respect for the outcomes. It is a sad commentary that the 20th anniversary of June 12 is taking place at a time the political class is divided not on discernible policies of good governance but on crude contests for power in 2015. The show of shame and impunity within the Nigeria Governors’ Forum must give way to cohesion and unity of democratic purpose. Things must definitely fall in place politically for Nigeria for there to be sustainable development.”
Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of Nigeria Union of Textile workers, cautioned that all the actors in the electoral value chain must make sure things do not fall apart again as in June 12, 1993 during which anti-democratic forces used the divisions of the political class to annul elections and put the nation on reverse gear for another decade.
There were some ‘patriotic’ Nigerians who reportedly collaborated with Babangida to sign away the June 12 victory.
The names of those who signed away the landmark election victory of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential election in 1993 were first published exclusively by this newspaper on June 11, 2000. But most of the actors who signed the document that scotched June 12 election result, have since become very big political leaders in the last 14 years of democracy in the country.
Specifically, four of them are still very big in even the Jonathan’s government. The biggest of them is Senator David Mark, President of the Senate and he is number three in the national order of succession. In June, 1993 he was serving at the then National War College, (now National Defence College). He had previously served as “abandoned property czar” after the civil war, military governor, Niger State, and communications minister. Another big one is Lt-Gen Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd) who served three times (three presidents) as the National Security Adviser (NSA).
Alhaji Sule Lamido, now Governor of Jigawa State, has previously served as Foreign Affairs Minister. John Shagaya, then General Officer Commanding 1 Division Kaduna, served as a senator in the last session of the National Assembly.
In the same vein, most of the supporters of the then Interim National Government have served in very high capacity in the 14-year-old civilian administrations under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) and Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007-March 2010) and the current administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The big Nigerian ‘patriots’ who also signed the remarkable document that nailed the coffin of June 12 result include Alhaji Adamu Ciroma who has served as Finance and Agriculture Minister. In fact, his wife has served as Women Affairs Minister under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. She has been Woman Leader of the ruling PDP and last month, she was appointed Managing Director of the Lokoja-based Nigeria Inland Water Ways Authority (NIWA).
Chief Tony Anenih who was in 1993 Chairman of the victorious Party, the SDP, served in Obasanjo government in various capacities including Minister of Works and Housing, Chairman of the ruling PDP’s Board of Trustees for the second time and Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the second time too.
The only political actor then who signed the June 12 historic document “with reservations” under a tripartite committee set up to compromise the integrity of the best election in Nigeria’s history was Joe Nwodo, who has been Chairman of the ruling PDP too. He did not explain in the document the significance of his remark, “with reservations”.
The Guardian recalls that in 1993, as the June 12 election crisis worsened on end, a tripartite committee comprising members of the then military regime and the two political parties then, the SDP and the National Republican Convention (NRC) buckled under the weight of pressure, compromised and then agreed to form an Interim National Government (ING) that was headed by a famous businessman Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Chairman of the UAC.
Specifically, the first signatory to the evil document was Admiral Augustus Aikhomu who was then Vice President under the then military presidency of Babangida.
The second signatory in the document was Shonekan, who was then head of one transitional arrangement in a diarchy headed by Babangida.
The third actor to sign was Alhaji Abdulrahman Okene who later became Chairman of Devolution of Powers Committee under the Abacha regime. He signed as the Secretary for Internal Affairs in the Transitional Council then, a precursor to the ING concoction.
One other big signatory to the epochal document was Lt. General Joshua Dongoyaro who was then Commandant, Command & Staff College, Jaji. Dongoyaro was later removed as Chief of Defence Staff by Abacha who replaced him with Gen. Oladipo Diya.
Other members of the G-34 who signed the popular document included Alhaji Sule Lamido (who actually signed as No 26). He was to become Chairman of NACB under the ING. He was Foreign Affairs Minister in Obasanjo’s government, served as a member of Abacha’s National Constitutional Conference and he is now Governor of Jigawa State after serving as Foreign Affairs Minister under Chief Obasanjo.
Chief Tony Anenih was Chairman of SDP at the time of June 12 annulment. It was the victory of the party he led that was negotiated away. He later emerged as Coordinator of a N10 billion worth of Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP), precursor to NAPEP, even as Works and Housing Minister in Obasanjo’s administration (1999-2003). He later emerged as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP. He handed over to Obasanjo as BoT Chairman in 2007.
Dr. Patrick Dele Cole who later became Senior Special Assistant (Foreign Affairs) to President Obasanjo signed the document as SDP N0 24.
Chief Dapo Sarumi who returned to the PDP in 2010 signed the June 12 obituary paper as N0 32. He served as ING Communications Minister. He was to be Minister of Information, Integration and Cooperation in Africa in Chief Obasanjo’s first term (1999-2003).
Alhaji Adamu Ciroma who signed the document as NRC N0 13 served the Abacha regime as Agriculture Minister and served Obasanjo as Finance Minister.
One other notable character in the Intelligence and Security community that signed the June 12 Paper 17 years ago was Lt Gen Aliyu Mohammed Gusau who was then the National Security Adviser, (NSA). He signed the document as “Government Representative”. He was Obasanjo’s NSA for about seven years. He returned in 2010 to the Jonathan’s (completion) government as the NSA.
Brig.-Gen. Anthony Ukpo signed the document as PMT, Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna. He is now a businessman, publisher and hotelier. He had served on some panels in Obasanjo’s government.
Some other political figures including members of the federal legislature who signed the document then included Chief Jim Nwobodo who signed for the then SDP. He was to serve later in Abacha’s government as Sports Minister. He was a senator in the first session of the National Assembly (1999-2003).
Mark signed the June 12 document in 1993 as an officer at National War College (now National Defence College). He had been an officer of the abandoned property management, had served as Communications Minister and Governor of Niger State under the Babangida junta. Now as Senate President, he enjoys full benefits: His son, Tunde, is his Senior Personal Assistant, his daughter, Blessing Onu (nee Mark) is a two-time, Mandate Secretary (State Commissioner equivalent) Social Development Secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration. Similarly his younger brother was a Special Assistant to a former Minister of Defence.
One other notable politician who signed the document as a member of the would-be ruling party then was Maj.-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who signed the June 12 away as SPD No 34. He was a member of the 1994/95 Constitutional Conference organised by Abacha. The former Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters and a presidential aspirant then later died in Abakaliki prison after being implicated in a phantom coup plot by the Abacha junta.
Other members of the political class who signed the June 12 Death Paper included Alhaji Abubakar Rimi who later served the Abacha regime as Communications Minister. He signed as SDP No 30. He died in 2010. Alhaji Olusola Saraki who signed the PDP Platform as N0 31 died in 2012. The father of former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was Chairman of the Business Committee of the Constitutional Conference of Abacha. He later surfaced as a member of All Peoples Party (APP) now ANPP). He was a member of the PDP. His daughter Gbemisola Saraki, was a member of the House from where she contested election in 2007 to be in the Senate. She contested election to be governor of Kwara and lost to the current governor of Kwara State. Notably, former Governor Bukola was a Senior Special Assistant to President Obasanjo before he contested election as governor in 2003.
The 10th signatory to the June12-ING Paper was Dr. Hammed Kusamotu who was Chairman of the NRC then. He has died.
Similarly, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu who signed as NRC N014 served as Internal Affairs and later as Power and Steel Minister. Same for Chief Tom Ikimi, who was pioneer Chairman of NRC who later became Political Adviser to Gen. Abacha and later served as Foreign Affairs Minister, signed June 12 monument away as NRC N0 15. He is angling to be APC Chairman.
According to the landmark document, Chief Joseph Toba signed the G-34 Paper as SDP N0 33. Mr. Okey Nzoho, then NRC Publicity Secretary signed on the NRC Platform as NRC No 21.In the same vein, Dr. Bawa Salka who signed too for the NRC signed on Platform 22.
Now Senator John Shagaya signed the document then as GOC 1 Infantry Division, Kaduna. He had been Minister of Internal Affairs. He was a senator in the last session of the Senate but not Chairman of any Committee because he allegedly voted against the Senate presidency of David Mark in 2007.
One Mr. Theo Nikire also signed the monumental document just as Professor Eyo Ita signed the G-34 Paper as NRC N0 16. Others who signed away the June 12 success story included Bola Afonja, who signed as NRC 11; Alhaji Y.Anka, NRC 12; Mr. Abba Murtala Mohammed, NRC No 18 and Alhaji Muktari A.Mohammed signed as NRC N0 17.
Even traditional rulers were involved in the political deal that still haunts the political class till date as Alhaji A Ramalan, who was Permanent Secretary in FCT and later became an Emir in Nasarawa State signed the document. Same for Alhaji Halilu A.Maina who signed the SDP Platform as N0 27.
From the Eastern Block came Dr. Okechukwu Odunze who signed the SDP Platform as No 29. He was the then SDP’s National Treasurer. One FCT indigenous figure who signed the document was one Mr. Amos Idakula (deceased). He signed as SDP N0 25. He was then SDP’s National Publicity Secretary.
According to the political document, the original G-34 members had then felt that after signing the Covenant Paper ING would begin on August 27, 1993 and terminate on December 31, 1994.
But Abacha who was said to have written his Sandhurst College project on “ambush” was posturing as a defender of democracy and thus conned even notable politicians who urged him to take over from Shonekan as Head of the ING.
Abacha thus on November 17, 1993 capitalised on the provisions of Section five (V) sub-section 48 of the ING Decree 61 of 1993 which states: “The most senior minister shall hold the office of the Interim National Government if the office of the Head of the Interim National Government (ING)… becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation” and took over from Shonekan who was then warming up to move into the official residence of the President of Nigeria.
Babangida had earlier stepped aside in the early hours of August 26, 1993 following the enablement of the ING concoction by the aforementioned G34 members.
In 2008, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu who was shoved aside on June 23, 1993 as Electoral Umpire “summoned up” courage and announced the late Abiola as real “winner” of the 1993 election. The ineffectual announcement was made through the instrumentality of a book .
According to the result he announced, the presidential candidate of the defunct SDP, the late Abiola polled a total vote cast of 8,323,305 equivalent of one-third of the total cast in each of the 28 states of the federation, while Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) polled a total vote cast of 6,073,917 scoring at least in one-third of the total vote cast in 23 states of the federation.
“Consequently, Alhaji M.K.O. Abiola won the election, but NEC could not announce the result of the election because of the Abuja high court order which was served on the commission on June 15, 1993, which NEC, through its director of legal services challenged at Kaduna Court of Appeal, and then the dissolution of NEC on June 23, 1993.”
In an address, Nwosu, a retired political science professor, identified the crux of the problems that face the task of state and nation-building in an emergent state like Nigeria as the problem of legitimacy. He said his main aim of writing the book, apart from putting into their proper perspectives the events that led to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, was also to show how successive administrations in the country, whether military or civilian sought to attract legitimacy or its acceptance from the generality of Nigerians.
His words: “This book underscores the importance of June 12, 1999 presidential election which was adjudged by national and international observers as the freest, fairest and most peaceful and credible election in Nigeria’s history.”
| Next > |
|---|
No comments:
Post a Comment