While Mr
Abiola will be given a posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Federal
Republic (GCFR), his then running mate, Babagana Kingibe, will be awarded the
Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Also, late
human rights activist and senior lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, will be awarded the
GCON.
Mr Buhari
had last week announced that henceforth, Democracy Day in Nigeria will be
celebrated on June 12 and not May 29 each year.
Already,
several individuals and groups who played prominent roles pushing for the
actualisation of June 12 and its proclamation as Nigeria’s Democracy Day have
been invited to witness the event, which will hold inside the conference centre
of State House Villa, Abuja.
Owojela’s
Blog will bring you live updates of the event.
Already at
Banqueth hall. Tinubu, Akande, governors of Kogi, Kano, Kebbi, Kwara, Benue,
Nasarawa, Jigawa and several Ministers, SGF
Front Page
of Abiola's Concord Newspaper on the day of the historic June 12, 1993
election. Photo: Mike Awoyinfa
The
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha is currently
given the opening remarks and welcoming all personalities present.
Amongst
those here are President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Bola
Tinubu, Bisi Akande, Wole Soyinka and several states governors.
Mr Mustapha
says the conferment of honours on Mr Abiola and others was to further establish
the fundamental principles of the Buhari administration.
“Nation
building requires the sacrifice of all citizens, we must therefore imbibe the
moral rectitude to embrace our past,” he said.
“We must,
therefore, recognise the heroes of our democracy,” he added.
June 12,
more than any other events in Nigeria’s history symbolises strong democratic
principles and experience, Mr Mustapha says.
He adds that
the president has placed history in the right perspective by recognising
declaring June 12 as a Democracy Day and recognising its key figures.
He thanks
groups and individuals who have played roles in entrenching Nigeria’s
democratic experience for the past 20 years of uninterrupted republic.
Mr Mustapha
says an announcement is underway for the list of individuals who have played
critical roles in furthering the cause of democracy.
Kola Abiola,
first son of M.K.O., and Abba Kyari, the chief of staff to the president, are
amongst those present taking seats at the front row.
President
Muhammadu Buhari has been called to the stage.
Ganiyat
Fawehinmi, wife of the late rights activist, will be receiving the national
honours on behalf of the family, coming nearly nine years after his death.
In 2008, Mr
Fawehinmi denied national honours when announced for him by former President
Umar Yar’Adua. He died in September 2009 and his family rejected a similar
honour during Nigeria’s centenary celebrations in 2014.
The family
said last week the latest award appropriately honoured the memory of Mr
Fawehinmi and, therefore, accepted it from Mr Buhari.
BREAKING:
Buhari confers posthumous award on Gani Fawehinmi
Mr Buhari
has now given the posthumous award of the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger
on Mr Fawhinmi as received by his wife.
The next
person on the stage now is Mr Kingibe, who is present to receive the award in
person. Mr Kingibe was the running mate of Mr Abiola in the botched 1993
elections.
A career
diplomat, Mr Kingibe has been in politics since the second republic, 1979-1983.
BREAKING:
Buhari confers GCON award on Babagana Kingibe
Mr Kingibe
has now received his award from Mr Buhari.<
Kola Abiola
is now on the podium standing beside Mr Buhari to receive the posthumous award
of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, Nigeria’s highest honour, on
behalf of the family.
The late
M.K.O. had a rich background in business, establishing several banks in his
lifetime. He was also the publisher of the defunct National Concord, which held
sway as Nigeria’s topmost newspaper in the 1980s and 1990s.
He joined
active politics since the second republic, but became prominent under the
military administration of Ibrahim Babangida, 1985-93.
BREAKING:
Buhari confers Nigera’s national honours on M.K.O. Abiola.
Kola Abiola
has now received the award on behalf of the family.
Mr Buhari
now delivering his speech.
“This event
is not to open old wounds, but to put light on the nation.”
“The
government (of Ibrahim Babangida) inexplicably cancelled the (June 12, 1993)
election when it was clear who was the winner.
“We cannot
right the past but we can at least assuage our feelings.
“Nigerians
will no longer tolerate such perversion of justice.
“Our
decision to honour June 12 is in national interest,” the president says.
Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo is not at the event. His spokesperson, Kehinde
Akinyemi, tells PREMIUM TIMES the former president is currently not in the
country.
But the
spokesperson could not say whether or not Mr Obasanjo would have attended the
event if he were to be in town.
Mr Babangida
could not make it, either. The former military leader has been battling health
crisis in recent years, and made several trips to Germany and Switzerland for
treatments.
June 12,
1993 was the day Nigerians chose the path to national unity, rather than ethnic
eyes.
“We
redefined Nigeria through the ballot box,” Mr Kingibe says. “It is possible to
revive the spirit of June 12 if we could imbibe democratic principles.”
Mr Kingibe
is very close to Mr Buhari, and he is amongst his closest alies at the State
House. He says the decision to honour Mr Abiola and recognise June 12 came
“naturally” to the president.
Frank
Kokori, a frontline labour leader who was amongst the advocates of June 12,
says Mr Buhari was the least person expected to honour Mr Abiola’s memory,
saying it was a confirmation that the president “has a great soul”.
“If this is
coming 25 years later, it means one day your your country will remember you
because some of us felt when we came out of Abacha’s gulag and we were not
recognised,
“I just felt
what sort of country is this. Like my personal experience as one of the most
famous prisoner of conscience in the world, I saw that my country did not even
appreciate the four years I spent in one of the worst cells in the world. And
we did all these for our country and the country did not recognise us,” Mr
Kokori tells reporters on the sidelines of the event.
“So, now we
are happy and we are very grateful to our President, the least president we
expected who should have done this, Muhammadu Buhari. We thought people like
Obasanjo should have done that for us long time ago. There was so much pressure
not Muhammadu Buhari, we least expected it, so in doing it for us, he has a
great soul and we appreciate it,” he added.
Mohammed
Fawehinmi, my father would have accepted it.
Mr
Fawehinmi’s eldest son, Mohammed, says his late father would have accepted the
award because June 12 was actualised.
The late Mr
Fawehinmi was amongst the biggest voices for the realisation of Mr Abiola’s
mandate.
“I feel very
elated, I feel very proud, my family feels very honored that all the suffering
was not in vain and that the Nigerian people have a chance of better governance
in future,” Mohammed Fawehinmi says to reporterss.
“I know he
would have taken it, I know my father more than anybody. There are two reasons
why he would have taken it,” Mr Fawehinmi says in response to those insinuating
that his father would have rejected the award in principle.
“One,
because June 12 was actualised. Two, because M.K.O. Abiola was recognised as
president-elect. And you can see from the suggestion at the Senate that they
are going to eventually declare the election result and he is going to be given
all his benefits after 25 years which he has lost.
“So, for
that reason that is victory for him because he went through hell and high
waters to make sure that June 12 was actualised,” he says.
Ganiyat
Fawehinmi: Thank God in alive to witness this
Ganiyat
Fawehinmi, the later activist’s wife who accepted the honour on behalf of the
family, recalled the past ordeal of the family that now makes today a
remarkable one.
“I was a bit
disturbed. Every time the security will come, turn our house upside down, even
his office was broken into, they took away many files during Mr Babangida’s
regime and they were not returned till date.
“So I just
thanked God that I am alive to witness today and I know that my husband will
turn in the grave for this June 12 that is being actualised because he really
fought and died for it.
“I believe
God has a purpose for it, I believe that is how God wants it because you can’t
run a race ahead of God. So, God has a purpose of actualising it today which is
exactly 25 years after Hole ‘93 when Abiola wanted to be the President,” Mrs
Fawehinmi tells reporters outside the event hall.
Segun Osoba:
Buhari is courageous
Former
governor of Ogun State, Segun Osoba, says Mr Buhari demonstrated courage by
honouring Mr Abiola and others.
“I was just
telling Chief Kokori that the fact that the two of us our alive to witness the
event of today is a thing of joy. Because, Kokori became the last man standing
when everybody was taken And I was wrongly accused which is not true. So I am
happy that we are all alive today.
“The
significance of what we are doing today is that the president has the courage
to do what others failed to do.
“Secondly,
he has shown tremendous courage in recognising Abiola as late president of this
country because I hate the language the presumed winner of the annulled June 12
election, with this declaration of honour of GCFR, which is reserved for
President and GCON for Vice President and other eminent Nigerians, shows that
the president has answered our appeals over the years and I thank God I am
still alive,” Mr Osoba says to reporters.
Mr Abiola is
the second Nigerians to be honoured with the award of GCFR despite having not
been president. Obafemi Awolowo, premier of the defunct Western Nigeria, was
awarded GCFR by former President Shehu Shagari in 1982.
Mr Buhari
has not declared Mr Abiola a former president, but activists are still
demanding that this must be done to complete the process of honouring his
memory.
Mr Kingibe,
in his acceptance speech, describes M.K.O. as the messiah Nigerians never had.
Kola Abiola
yielded the acceptance speech to his sister, Hafsat Abilla-Costello.
Mrs
Abiola-Costello, says Mr Buhari was amonst the least expected person to honour
Mr Abiola because of their unsavoury history.
She accepts
the honour on behalf of the family and says it is worth it, especially for a
family which gave a lot.
Her mother,
Kudirat Abiola, was amonst those who died struggling to reclaim the mandate
given to Mr Abiola in the 1993 election. She was killed in a suspected
assassination in Lagos in 1996.
Ayo Obe, a
rights campaigner, also takes the stage to announce the names of those who died
in the civil society struggle.
Alfred
Rewane, a nationalist, was also assassinated during the struggle by suspected
elements of the state under Sani Abacha.
Bayo
Onanuga, who speaks for the media’s aspect of the June 12 struggle, says it is
never too late to right the wrong of history.
He says Mr
Buhari did well by recognising MKO Abiola and the spirit of June 12, saying he
should ignore detractors, most of whom were never a part of the struggle to
begin with.
Mr Onanuga,
who worked at TheNews Magazine during the June 12 struggle, is now the head of
News Agency of Nigeria, appointed by Mr Buhari.
He says the
June 12 that is currently being celebrated brought Nigerians together was
grossly violated and, therefore, set Nigeria back decades.
He says Mr
Buhari’s final recognition of June 12 shows that the struggle cannot be buried.
Amongst the
royal fathers at the event are Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, and Alake of
Egbaland, Aremu Gbadebo.
Frank
Kokori, a labour leader, says the resistance that followed the annulment of
June 12 was pivotal.
He cites
examples of freedom fighters in Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa where
“You do not
remove a ruthless dictator by carrying placards. You don’t do that at the
Elysee Palace, they will listen to you. You do that at the Buckingham Palace,
they will listen to you. You do that at the White House, they will listen to
you,” he says.
Mr Kokori
says his labour comrades did a lot of work as the arrowhead of the struggle
against military dictator in the 1990s.
Mr Kokori
drops a bombshell, saying he was appointed by Mr Buhari to head the Nigerian
Social Insurance Trust Fund nine months ago, but has not been sworn into
office.
“I was
treated with such ignominy,” he says.
Femi Falana
says he was detained at Kuje Prisons during the June 12 struggle.
He calls Mr
Babangida “a criminal” and appreciates Mr Buhari for the historic decision.
“We had
seven presidents that pretended the June 12 did not exist,” the rights activist
says.
“I urge you
to direct all security of all security forces in Nigeria, including the police,
to respect the fundamental rights ot Nigerians in the spirit of June 12,” Mr
Falana adds.
He also
demands an end to the senseless killings across Nigeria.
His comments
come against the backdrop of recent violent attacks in central Nigeria and
other parts of the country, as well as the attacks on everyday citizens linked
to police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
Credit:
PremiumTimes
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