Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. |
The
significance of the celebration of June 12 1993 Presidential Election is a
reminder of our history to becoming a democratic country. On this day
twenty-six years ago, Nigeria voted for democracy against the jackboot notion
of oppressive totalitarianism.
The
collective decision by Nigerians to elect democracy on that day was not to
aggrandize the political elite or to replace military dictatorship with
civilian autocracy. No! The choice of democracy was to restore power to the
people.
Suffice
it to state that the idea of June 12 is not merely to declare it as a Democracy
Day – much as celebratory and commendable it might seem. The idea behind the
event of June 12 1993 embodies something much more bigger than that. It
was a threshold moment in our national life that demands of us as democrats to
do a soul searching and ask the salient question of all time: how better off
are Nigerians?
It
is not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day
is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders on
issues that border on fundamental human rights. It is not enough to declare
June 12 a work free day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have
the freedom to find a better life from the suffocating grip of poverty, when
Nigeria is now the global headquarters of extreme poverty. It is not enough to
declare June 12 a work free day when a disproportionate number of citizens are
not sure of where their next meal will come from and when the sanctity of their
lives is not guaranteed. It is not enough to declare June 12 a work free day
when freedom of the press, and of speech, fundamentals of democracy is being
assailed.
As
a compatriot who stood shoulder to shoulder with the icon of the June 12
struggle, Chief MKO Abiola of blessed memory, I know first-hand that the choice
of HOPE as his campaign slogan wasn’t merely a populist tokenism. He
didn’t mean to deceive Nigerians with a hope he could not deliver upon. And,
today, the minimum requirement for any June 12 convert is to demand of them
wherever they may be – either in government or in private lives – to deliver on
the promises they made to the people.
It
is therefore not acceptable that an administration which had an opportunity of
four years to deliver the promise of change to Nigerians, not only reneged on
that promise, but propelled the country into a near-comatose state will lay
claims to being a true friend of the June 12 struggle.
To
be a lover of June 12 is to believe in the common good of the people. June 12
is about the political leadership having the focus to retool the Nigerian
economy. It is about having the skills to create wealth and jobs for the
teeming mass of unemployed. It is not about the inclination for shared pains;
it is about shared prosperity.
As
we celebrate yet another episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire for hope
is more preponderant today much as it was twenty-six years ago. So, for
all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the HOPE alive.
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