June 12 (Democracy Day) always has answered its name without fail ever since the democracy pregnancy was aborted un-scientifically in 1993. It was the year, some still say, that we had our “freest, fairest” election, which MKO Abiola, standing on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, “won”, again some say, handsomely. This year’s anniversary fell 30 years after that debacle happened. Coincidentally, earlier this year, we held a presidential election which, as declared by INEC, was won by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, MKO’s tribesman and trusted disciple. Incidentally too, he also ran and won the election with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. (No insinuations intended)
Staying at home on this Democracy Day because Nigeria has made it a public holiday, I concentrated my thoughts on those who were born June 12 1993 and in June generally. They would have been 30 years old today and entitled to the suffrage. They may have been voting since age 18. Or did they? A recent vox pop conducted by a national newspaper produced interesting opinions held by some of these June 12vers regarding their understanding of June 12 and level of active political participation generally. The respondents, most of them university undergrads, did show good grasp of the epochal 1993 elections but appalling lack of interest in partisan politics over all.
Let’s take Aishat Ayidagba (real name), a marketer born in October 1993: “I got to know the significance of the date as I grew older; that the late MKO Abiola ran against in the presidential election and won. History also has it that his wife died in the fight to gain our freedom from military dictatorship, so that date was made a public holiday by the government to celebrate his struggle for Nigerians. His legacy lives on and I’m glad to have been born in the same year.
We need more Nigerians who will continue to advocate for our rights just as the late MKO Abiola did. A lot of Nigerians don’t want to go through the pain of seeing a better Nigeria. Some wait for other people to take chances towards the development of the country, while others just watch without contributing anything. I urge everyone to be part of the change.”
Here is Tunde Ogala, a University of Wales graduate. “I know June 12 to be called the late MKO Abiola Day to celebrate the death of the man and his late wife, Kudirat. The day is also my birthday and I am very excited that a hero is celebrated annually on that day. I believe in my government, despite the hardships, so I am hoping for the best for Nigeria. We just need to give our leaders a little time for things to progress. Let’s give the current government time to do great things.”
Unlike the first two, Bolatito Fadairo, showed nonchalance not expected of the youth. To her, “The day is celebrated in remembrance of an annulled presidential election on June 12, 1993. Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, often referred to as MKO Abiola, ran for the presidency and was widely regarded as the winner … . MKO Abiola was a popular Nigerian Yoruba businessman, publisher, politician and aristocrat of the Yoruba Egba clan. To me, democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people, but there is no democracy in Nigeria. I really can’t remember where I was on June 12, 1993. There is nothing significant about it, to me, other than the fact that it’s my birth month.”
This cloud of apathy hasn’t yet lifted many years after the symbol of June 12 faded out. Thousands of twelvers who said they registered to vote in the 2023 elections failed to pick up their voter’s cards. Some said they couldn’t trust politicians to deliver what they promise. This mirrors the thought of Tony Wilson of the “Cool and the Gang” fame. He labelled politicians as liars in a popular song of his, “The Politician”. He described him (the politician) as “a man of many words, tells many lies, what he says today he’ll never do.” A politician, running for an elective office, in Nigeria for example, will promise to build an airport if he gets elected. If you are a voter you should know right away that he is either lying or doesn’t know your priority isn’t an airport which you may never use. George Orwell, author of the Nobel Prize winning political satire “Animal Farm”, said in one of his essays “Politics and the English Language” that “politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia”.
Should we stay out of or walk away from politics because the practice of it is not right? No. Politics will always be there, run away or not. What to do is to get involved in order to alter or change the rules of the game. Who are worthier change agents than our June twelvers who see the progenitor of June 12 as “our hero”?
