BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

It has been two decades since June 12, 1993 presidential election which has been described as the country’s freest and fairest poll, and which apparently ushered in the present dispensation of democracy in Nigeria.
On the anniversary of the epochal election, a pertinent question takes the front burner: How far has democracy taken Nigeria?

SINCE the annulment of  the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, never has the historic poll been commemorated like the 2013 version.

Between 1994 (the first anniversary) and 1998, June 12 was mainly marked in Lagos while the remaining five South-west states joined in 1999.

At previous anniversaries, leading politicians and activists gathered at various locations to reminisce and commemorate the poll adjudged the freest and fairest in the annals of elections in the country. They also showered  tributes on the heroes and heroines of June 12, especially Abiola, who died in government detention while struggling to reclaim his annulled mandate.

Different celebration
However, the 2013 anniversary of June 12 was a  departure from the past, with activities held in other parts of the country apart from the South-west  where Abiola hailed from. Indeed, for the first time, the Federal Government took part in June 12 activities.

President Goodluck Jonathan, in a way, celebrated the day in Aso Rock, Abuja while the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, participated fully in a ‘Democracy Audit’ organised by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, to mark June 12.

Maku’s participation made the 2013 edition different  from past events where pro-June 12 activists had a one-way traffic lambasting the Federal Government for not honouring Abiola and failing to develop the country without a response from the latter.

Late Chief MKO Abiola

In 2013, complaints of lack of development, prevalence of flawed elections, and call for Abiola to be immortalized dominated proceedings but government concurred, for the first time, and promised to honour Abiola, the revered symbol of democracy in the country.

Accross the land
Across the country, 15 events such as lectures, symposium, democracy walks, rallies and conferences were held. The activities include:

* President Jonathan acknowledging June 12 while inaugurating the chairman and members of the re-constituted Police Service Commission, PSC, in Abuja. He described June 12 as a unique day that changed the political history of the nation, saying that though the Federal Government was yet to recognize the day as a public holiday, some state governments had done so. “We appreciate what happened on this day; that you are being inaugurated on this date, I think is a unique date,” he told the PSC members.

The Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front (NDPSF) rally in Warri, Delta State with Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo calling for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference and prosecution of past leaders of the country who masterminded the annulment of June 12.

The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) rally in Ota, Ogun State.

*Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists forum at Airport Hotel, Ikeja where participants called on Nigerians to stop reducing every anniversary of the annulment of June 12 presidential election to a day of lamentation.

*The National Association of Nigerian Students NANS rally.

*Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) event at Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Lagos.
Ogun State Government Democracy Day walk in Abeokuta, which terminated at Abiola’s Oja-Agbo family house, where the head of the family, Mubashiru Abiola, exonerated former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, from  complicity that led to the death of Abiola in government’s custody. He said since Abiola’s death, Babangida had been a pillar to the family. He called on government to immortalize Abiola and pay the debts it owed the late politician.

*Lagos State Government in collaboration with the June 12 Coalition symposium at the Blue Roof Hall of LTV 8, Agidingbi, Lagos

*Osun State Government symposium at Freedom Square, Osogbo, where Governor Rauf Aregbesola asked the Federal Government to explain to Nigerians what led to Abiola’s death. At the same event, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, said the annulment of the June 12 election cost Nigeria an opportunity to be a big player in global politics.
lEkiti State Government symposium at Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado-Ekiti.

*June 12 Movement with leading activists and politicians including Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Governor Godswill Akpabio event  at Abiola’s Toyin Street, Ikeja residence, where they also laid wreaths on his graveside and that of his wife, Kudirat.

*Ondo State Government  symposium in Akure, where Governor Olusegun Mimiko called on the Federal Government to elevate June 12 to a pan-Nigerian event

*Save Nigeria Group Democracy Audit at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos

At the various events, participants, among others, urged government to immortalize Abiola by doing any or combination of these: Naming Aso Rock after him, naming Abuja Stadium after him, declaring Abiola as posthumous president of Nigeria and hanging his portrait beside those of past presidents and heads of state.

Prominent Nigerians, who honoured the late politician Abiola and urged government to pursue policies that would provide basic amenities and eradicate poverty, were former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos),  Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Mimiko (Ondo); former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu; founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr Frederick Fasehun; former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba; Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Dr Tunde Bakare; Chief Frank Kokori and Femi Falana (SAN).

Others include Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Chief  Ayo Opadokun; Prof Fagbohun; Prince Dayo Adeyeye; President of Nigeria Guild of Editors, Femi Adesina; Mr. Abdul Oroh; Abiola’s first son, Kola; Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin; Ms Ann Kio-Briggs; Mr  Jimi Agbaje; Mrs. Modupe Adelaja and Hon Dino Melaye.

Nigeria worse in 2013 than 1993 – Bakare
At the Democracy Audit organized by the SNG at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, participants lamented that little or no improvement in the welfare of Nigerians had been achieved since 1993, adding that poverty among the citizenry had worsened.

Convener of the group, Bakare, said since the historic election, Nigeria had remained impoverished and the problems Abiola promised to tackle remain unsolved.

He spoke as Information Minister, Maku, at  the event, countered that some improvement, even though little, had been made, saying government was making progress in the areas of power supply by commencing the building of 10 power plants, stopped fertilizer racketeering to boost agriculture, delivered 32 roads in 2012, saved N118 billion from ghost workers among others and urged the citizenry to support the government in the effort to develop the country.

Maku said the military designed June 12 to fail ab-initio, adding that history had already placed Abiola in a position of honour.

Asked if FG had any plan to give M.K.O a post-humous honour, the Minister disclosed that government was interested in immortalizing him. He said: “History will continue to immortalize Abiola, because he died fighting the cause for true democracy, which we are all enjoying today. I can say that the fact that I’m here today, representing government, shows that we are still looking at better ways to immortalize him, even though, there was public outcry when President Jonathan renamed the University of Lagos after him.
In a speech entitled: “From Hope ’93 to 2013: How Far Has Democracy Brought Nigeria?”, Bakare said though some gains like freedom of speech had been recorded, they were not enough as the problems of poverty and flawed elections among others persist.

His words:  “The 1993 MKO Abiola vs. Bashir Tofa election, conducted exactly 20 years ago today, is popularly termed the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria. It was Nigeria’s first taste of a renascent democracy after so many years of military rule, coups and counter-coups. It was an election whose callous annulment shook the nation. Since then, the country has witnessed a lot of changes – for better, and for worse. However, none of those occurrences have left the country exactly the same…

“One other feature of Hope ’93 we are not likely to easily forget is the campaign song. The ‘MKO-is-our-man’ jingle. That catchy tune was a song of lamentation from a figure that symbolized the aspirations of many Nigerians, and we shall call him/her Citizen X for the purpose of this piece.

In mathematics, X stands for the unknown and will here represent millions of faceless Nigerians who remain impoverished under the deteriorating Nigerian structure. In that jingle, Citizen X aptly articulated the manifestations of the many problems bedeviling Nigerian in a way that facts, figures and data graphically represented on endless bar charts and pie charts would never appropriately convey. Citizen X’s lamentation captured the agonizing conditions of Nigeria using the best rubric – human indices – in a way that all of us could – and still can – relate to his angst.

“He sings: ‘no work, no food, no house, no light, no potable water, no viable means of transportation’. He laments that there are neither functioning schools nor resources in our hospitals. The entire country, in short, was dysfunctional. This jingle, though a campaign message for a candidate who was seeking the highest office in the land, spoke factually to the Nigerian situation of 1993.

Now, let us fast forward to the year 2013 and ask how things are different.
Are we better off as a nation? If so, how far have we traveled from the point of Citizen X’s lamentation? Do we now have better employment indices? Is there food security through the length and breadth of Nigeria? Is our housing problem a thing of the past? Do we have potable water in our cities and rural areas? Is there regular and uninterrupted electricity supply? Do we have improved transportation facilities? What of education? Do we have more and better schools? Are our hospitals any better?

“The country remains impoverished by many indications…In the 20 years between June 12, 1993 election and today, Nigeria has earned enough money to create a Dubai in each of the six geo-political zones and make our citizens some of the most prosperous people on earth, but what we have instead is collapse of infrastructure, deepening poverty (70% rate from 45% in 1999), social dislocations, high unemployment rate and violent crimes.”

According to the SNG Convener, Nigeria’s democracy has not been without its gains. He said, “For a moment, I will look at the bright side and express some gratitude that the stranglehold placed on the nation by various jackboots is no longer there. What strangles us these days is poor leadership.

There are certain gains that democratic rule in Nigeria has afforded us and they must be acknowledged despite all the shortcomings of Nigeria’s version. For example, we have freedom of speech far better than we did in the past. There is also a much freer press than we had in the past. The recent case of Leadership Newspapers vs. Federal Government shows us how far we have come. Some 20 years ago, that would have been a totally different story and a totally differently outcome from what we have now. To an extent, too, there is a judiciary that still manages to serve as the last hope of the common man.

Once in a while, a public official even manages to get sent to jail for economic crimes. These are the gains of democracy in Nigeria and though they might appear insignificant or inadequate, they still constitute a step forward compared to where Nigeria traveled from to arrive here. We have even progressed enough to have the Freedom of Information Bill signed into law.

The relative freedom Nigeria currently enjoys is worth its weight in gold. Despite all that Nigeria has been unable to achieve, we can comfortably gather here today to talk of June 12 because we have a semblance of democracy. For that, we should be grateful to those who sowed their blood for this freedom.
“Despite these gains, there is a still a lot missing in our governance. We still haven’t come sufficiently close to free and fair elections; a lot of people are disenfranchised by poverty and illiteracy; we are largely excluded from the governance of our own country; and, very critically, we lack good governance. Nigeria is far behind in almost every index that signifies progress and only takes the lead in the ones that signal retrogression.”