The persona and politics of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawsle Abiola re-echoed on Tuesday in Abuja at the public presentation of a book entiled: “Nigeria’s Aborted 3rd Republic and the June 12 Debacle: Reporters’ Account.”
All who spoke on the occasion, which held at the National Press Centre, commended the late Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election for his place in Nigerian politics especially in the ill-fated Third Republic.
Chairman of the public presentation and Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture/President of World Crafts Council, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe specifically commended the late Abiola “for the high political mobilisation, amazing goodwill and solid bridges he built across the various ethic nationalities, cultures, religion and creeds that engendered his resounding victory at that election that has been adjudged as the freest and fairest in the history of electioneering in Nigeria.”
Runsewe, however, said that it was clear that the inability of the late Chief MKO Abiola to actualize June 12 mandate despite his widespread acceptance by the vast majority of Nigerians was an act of God.
He stated that one cardinal lesson about the late Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential aspiration and his success at the June 12 polls “is that there is reward for the culture of selfless service, sacrifice, tolerance, generosity and open-mindedness.”
He said the book presentation was not a platform to reawaken the emotions generated by the June 12, 1993 presidential elections long laid to rest, but rather it was a call for sober reflections.
According to him: “It brings to mind the fact that June 12 has gone down in our history as a symbol of Democratic new Nigeria.
“As an iconic political brand, June 12 is a symbolic signpost, calling on us all to transcend our collective thinking beyond parochial and primordial sentiments, clannish cleavage, unbridled sectionalism and religious bigotry.
“On that date in 1993, all Nigerians rose above personal and selfish considerations to freely express themselves at the ballot for the wider interest of our nation.
“This event therefore provides for us an opportunity to reflect on the political circumstances of that time and to use June 12 as a lesson as we grapple with the the challenges of the moment and aspire to take our nation yo the next level.”
Runsewe said the takeaway from the book presentation was that “we must keep hope alive.”
Senator Ben Obi, who represented the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, on the occasion, described the late MKO Abiola as a colossus, pointing out that “he came; he saw; and he conquered.”
He said that his boss, Atiku, was part of the political struggle in 1992, stressing that he actually stepped down for MKO Abiola and they had a working understanding.
Obi said that Nigerians should play politics without bitterness, advising against fuelling tensions in the polity.
According to him: “Our electioneering should be issue-based. 2023 presidential election is not a do-or-die affair.”
All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was represented by his Campaign Organisation’s Director of Media, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said that the entire Third Republic Trsnsition Programme was designed to fail.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for recognising June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeris and for conferring the late MKO Abiola with the highest honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR.
He thanked the National Association of Political Correspondents in the 1990s for documenting history in the book and for the role members played as journalists in validating the June 12 mandate.
He declared that “the June 12 spirit is alive”, and “We shall see it in fulfilment 8n 2023.”
National Chairman of the Labour Party, Mr Julius Abure, said that the struggle fir June 12 was a struggle for the enthronement of good government and better life for Nigerians.
Abure said that democracy would be incomplete if it did not lead to the achievement of good governance and better life.
He said that Nigetians were going through harrowing experiences with inflation rate now at 20.5 percent according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to him: “The time for Nigerians to make decision is fast approaching. Nigerians should be able to make a choice in 2023 that will usher Nigeria into a glorious dawn.
“We should be able to interrogate the characters and antecedents of those aspiring to lead us.”
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