"Until
the Lion tells the story,
the
Hunter will always be the Hero."
- African
Proverb.
25 years ago a unique
electoral feat happened in our nation's history, it was the day that Nigerians
refused the biases of region and religion, and voted for a Party that presented
a Muslim/Muslim Ticket, whilst trumping the one with a Muslim/Christian Ticket.
Nigerians elected content and competency over creed and clan. Such is the TRUE
spirit of Nigeria.
Since that election, and
the attendant annulment of the election by the gap-toothed one, some of us have
made JUNE 12, the DEMOCRATIC Altar at which we worship yearly. Our worship at the
JUNE 12 Altar, is predicated on the fact that this Altar stands on four solidly
germane and unimpeachable pillars.
1. That it remains the
freest, the fairest and the most credible election in our nation's history.
2. That Nigerians against
the nuances, the prejudices and the proclivities of religion voted a
Muslim/Muslim Ticket. JUNE 12, became therefore the symbol of our collective
depth and brotherhood.
3. That Nigerians
expressed their sovereign and constitutional right to elect a leader, and did
so on that day.
4. That the mandate so
given on that day to Chief M.K.O Abiola was freely, fairly and credibly given,
and could not be taken away by anyone or authority.
We have religiously
worshipped at this pristine ALTAR indiscriminate of region and or religion. We
have done so in memory of the over 300 students of various tribes and religion
murdered by IBB's troops led by Abacha, for seeking the de-annulment of the
PEOPLES mandate given to Abiola.
We worship at the JUNE 12
ALTAR, in memory of Kudirat Abiola, MKO Abiola, Pa Alfred Rewane, Bagauda
Kalto, Gani Fawehinmi, Chima Ubani, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Omatsola, Pa Abraham
Adesanya and all the direct and indirect martyrs of the struggle for the
revalidation of the peoples mandate, and indeed democracy.
We worship at the JUNE 12
ALTAR, because it held out HOPE for the abolition of poverty and progress. Not
because Abiola was himself a Saint, but because his message of HOPE resonated.
And to us it will always be #COUNTRYFIRST, it has been more about Nigeria than
about any individual, people or tendency.
And we worship at the JUNE
12 ALTAR because we insist on no less a normative than the enthroning of free,
fair, credible and transparent electoral paradigms on our national canvass.
The JUNE 12 story is
replete with the attempt of interloping political operators with soiled and
fouled hands to harvest political profit from an ALTAR they violently
desecrated and defiled. And the perfidy wears a new garb.
In 2013 I had the honour
of defending the JUNE 12 ALTAR against a sacrilegious intruder, the then
Governor of Akwa Ibom State Obot Godswill Akpabio, who insisted at that time
that 16 was greater than 19 ala the Governors Forum election, decided to
sponsor a JUNE 12 converge at the MKO Abiola residence. I cautioned my
colleagues against compromising the ideals of the June 12 struggle, which
chiefly remains the call for free, fair and credible polls. And opposed his
place in that event. See http://www.theparadigmng.com/2013/06/13/june-12-event-self-confessed-election/
It is the same challenge
that history has thrown upon my shoulders once again, I am therefore, not doing
this because I am a HATER or a WAILER. I am doing this because we must situate
history and hysteria in proper perspectives, and teach our children and indeed
posterity to THINK.
There are questions that
assail the carapace of my mind, you may also ponder on them if you like. Can
Buhari beatify June 12? Was Buhari not part of the administration of Abacha,
the same Government that imprisoned the holder of the June 12 mandate? Until
now, has Buhari ever spoken in support of the June 12 struggle? How can a man
who holds Abacha very highly become today's hero of the June 12 hunt? How and
why did he remember June 12 after his 3rd year in power, and with just a year
to go? What is the role of the famous June 12 deserter and the only living
beneficiary of today's June 12 hysteria Babagana Kingibe, in all of this? If
MKO Abiola were alive, will he accept today's honours from Buhari, and with
Kingibe on the same platform?
With the level of hunger
in the land, and the killings across the Country, as well as the detention of
citizens against Court Orders and due process, will Gani Fawehinmi accept
today's honours?
Why is the honours list in
today's hysteria lacking in names like Beko Ransome-Kuti, Bagauda Kalto, Chima
Ubani, Pa Alfred Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, Pa Abraham Adesanya, Olisa Agbakoba,
Olusegun Mayegun, Owei Lakemfa, Dupe Onitiri-Abiola, Ndubuisi Kanu, Fredrick
Fasheun, Dan Suleman, Wole Soyinka, Ayo Obe, Frank Kokori, Shehu Sani et al,
and why is the electoral umpire who superintended that election not deserving
of Buhari’s honours? What does today's June 12 hysteria portend?
Has the Aso Rock
celebrating authority chosen to sectionalize the June 12 struggle by inviting
the same South West traditional fathers who deserted June 12, Abiola and the
struggle? How many of the then Social Democratic Party SDP Officers, elected
Governors, Senators, Representatives et al were involved in the June 12
struggle? Does the roll call of the attendees at today's June 12 feast in the
Villa, not define the intention of the Convener?
My immediate reaction to
the announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari of June 12 as the new Democracy
Day effective from 2019 as a GREEK GIFT was clear, unequivocal and unambiguous.
Interestingly I am glad that THINKERS are beginning to see it for what it is,
and many are speaking up and speaking out against the politicization of an
ideal that is better practiced than romanticized.
It is about the politics
of 2019, it is sheer populism and it is a Greek gift. Less than 10days before
the first Press Statement ever signed by the President, this same President
declared May 29 Public Holiday (Democracy Day), so when in God's universe did
the so-called wide consultation referred to in the Press Statement happen,
before or after May 29?
We have interesting times
ahead. And we must realize that Nigeria is beyond PMB, GEJ, IBB, OBJ and the
likes, so those who are celebrating the desecration of the JUNE 12 ALTAR as an
uppercut dealt on political foes by Buhari must raise the intellectual bar.
Fela of blessed memory once sang, '...animal can't give me human right, human
right na my property', so the deep and the discerning must be circumspect.
Some have argued that we
cannot cry more than the bereaved, let me state clearly, that in June 12 all
Nigerians were bereaved. It is not about the South West alone, it is about
Nigeria, in fact Abia State was one of the first States ever to have adopted
June 12 as a Public Holiday under Orji Uzor Kalu. Indeed, June 12 is the
national cross on which Abiola and many others were martyred.
To those who pontificate
and attempt for political gain to paint the June 12 struggle with ethnic brush,
a rude awakening awaits you, as the Nigerian Socio-Political canvass will
refuse such stain, someday surely.
We do not stand with
Abiola because he was a Saint, we stand with him even in death because of JUNE
12, and the pillars and the message of it. We are not unaware of his past and
his story as presented in a 1994 protest letter by Ganiyu Jaiyeola, then
President of Africa Club in the University of Connecticut, USA against the
reason for which the school was offering Abiola a Doctor of Letters degree,
honoris. I hereunder for record purposes, reproduce the most part of the
protest, verbatim.
“August
31, 1994
Professor
Harry Hartley
President
,
University
of Connecticut,
Storrs,
CT. 06269.
Dear
Professor Hartley,
RE: AWARD OF HONORARY
DEGREE TO CHIEF M. K. O. ABIOLA
It has come to the notice
of the Nigerian community at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, that the
University of Connecticut, Storrs, will be honouring Chief Moshood Abiola with
a Doctor of letters degree for his devotion to democracy. We would like to thank the University of
Connecticut for bestowing such an honour on a Nigerian; indeed an African.
While we have no qualms,
in principle, about the award, we object to the reasons for the honour. We believe it is a misnomer to characterize
Chief Abiola as a devotee to democracy.
Right from the regime of the late General Muritala Mohammed to General
Ibrahim Babangida's disastrous era, Chief Abiola provided support for
successive military regimes in Nigeria.
He benefited materially and politically from his close ties with the
military. Chief Abiola is an
accountant. He came into limelight when
his company, ITT, got a multimillion dollar contract from the Federal Ministry
of Communications to fix the telephone system in Nigeria once and for all. General Mohammed, Chief Abiola's friend, was
then the Federal Minister for Communications (General Yakubu Gowon was Head of
the Federal Military Government of Nigeria).
Despite this huge amount, Nigeria has one of the worst telephone systems
in the world. It takes an average of two
hours for a lucky person to get a call through to Nigeria......
Finally, Chief Abiola was
portrayed in the nomination process as someone with "a record of standing
firm for his principles, even at risk to his personal safety". It should not be forgotten too soon that when
crisis and pandemonium ensued after the annulment of the election, he abandoned
his followers and took refuge in the safe and comfortable havens of the West, while
the genuine democratic forces were left behind to slug it out with the
military. Asked by a BBC reporter in
London why he absconded, he unabashedly retorted: "life has no duplicate. I don't want to die now. I want to live to serve my people. I will go back to the country when conditions
are ripe".
We wish to reiterate that
we are not against honouring Chief Abiola for his genuine accomplishments. All we are saying is that the present
rationale for the award is flawed.
Thank you.
Sincerely, (signed) Ganiyu
Jaiyeola (Mr.)
President, African Club
University of Connecticut,
Storrs;
On Behalf Of The Nigerian
Community (University of Connecticut, Storrs).”
We are disciples of JUNE
12, and we worship at the JUNE 12 ALTAR because June 12 transcends ethnicity,
religion and region. On that day Abiola was overwhelmingly voted for in 19
States and the FCT, Abuja, out of the then 30 states, in an election that is
yet unparalleled in our nation's history, having been adjudged as the freest,
the fairest and the most credible thus far. And our loyalty is chiefly to this
phenomenon.
Today's event in the
Villa, is a facade masqueraded as honour for Abiola and the June 12 phenomenon.
It is sacrilegious, prolitrickcal and manifestly a Greek Gift meant for
political capital. But Nigerians and indeed the South West are wiser.
We are where we are as a
nation because wittingly or unwittingly so many have lowered the intellectual
bar, and thrown away their thinking cap. Like victims of the proverbial
poisoned chalice we fall for every gimmick of our oppressors and debate
banalities. So sad, we are a people so easily swayed and so easily pleased. We
are a people who laugh when we are not genuinely tickled, such defines the
support that some have given to Buhari’s June 12 Greek Gift. But the discerning
are not fooled.
Nothing can be more dangerous
to a nation and its people than the oppressed jumping in defense of the
oppressor. Stockholm Syndrome is the poisoned chalice of the oppressed. Hunger,
joblessness, insecurity and want are indiscriminate of religion, region and
ethnicity. Therefore to dwell on the politics of creed and or clan as intended
by Buhari through a poisoned June 12 chalice is to deepen the sink in the
nadir.
Thank goodness for the
Social Democratic Party SDP that addressed a Press Conference yesterday the
11/06/2018 and put a lie to the genuineness of Buhari’s June 12 gift. The
Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution CDNDC was not left
out, as they described the gift, as 'a self-serving ploy to hoodwink a people
to get their votes in injury time'. To seek to elevate the 'banal magic' of the
oppressor ditto a poisoned JUNE 12 chalice is to toughen the latch of slavery.
May the discerning be circumspect.
A poisoned chalice is a
poisoned chalice no matter how lovely it looks. Those who mortified June 12,
cannot give life to it. Being quick in giving accolade to your captors for what
seems like some respite, emboldens every attempt to rewrite our history. And we
must not allow our JUNE 12 story to be re-written by a pretender to the June 12
estate.
Finally, the good Book
tells us a story of how some sincere devotees of faith were asked to sing their
captors the Lord's song, but rather than say, 'O they have finally given us the
opportunity and freedom to sing the Lord's song', they challenged their
captors, saying the Lord's song cannot be sang in a strange land. Aso Rock
under Buhari is undeserving of the JUNE 12 song. And will never be until
Nigeria is restructured along the lines of true fiscal federalism, resource
control, and devolution of power, so that the trees of justice, of equity, of
fairness and of abolition of poverty may grow. And such is the JUNE 12 song.
May we continue to sing
the JUNE 12 song in the streets, and uphold the JUNE 12 Spirit, mindful of the
fact that 'If the Lion writes its story, the hunter will not be the hero of the
hunt."
Let no one think he/she
can successfully desecrate the JUNE 12 ALTAR, let no one spit on MKO Abiola's
grave, and let no one think he/she can violate the sacred memories of the
martyrs of the June 12 struggle. God forbid they do. Compatriots, I am
confident that sooner rather than later a PEOPLES GOVERNMENT will rise up to do
the needful. So Mote It Be.
JUNE 12 LIVES, to birth
and berth THE NEW DEAL for the masses of our people. A NEW, A BETTER AND A
PROSPEROUS NIGERIA IS POSSIBLE. #YESWECAN #THENEWDEAL #COUNTRYFIRST.
God bless the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
Chris
Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr, is Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVEMENT, and a Presidential hopeful in the forthcoming 2019
general elections in Nigeria.
