June 12: Abiola Won’t Be Happy In His Grave – Aare Gani Adams

Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, on Saturday, said the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993, election, late Aare MKO Abiola will not be happy in his grave that the democracy he lived and died for had turned out to be autocratic in nature and practice.

Speaking at the annual June 12 commemoration anniversary organised by the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), in Lagos, Adams lamented that Nigeria’s democracy evolves in disunity, rivalry and wanton killings across the nation.

He stated that the democracy the late Aare MKO Abiola lived and died for had failed to accommodate his worthy ideals as people’s rights were being trampled upon.

He said: “This present danger has been threatening the fragile union of our great country.

“And sadly, Nigeria is sliding towards an anarchical terminal point.

“Nigeria is at war with itself because a section of the country has always betrayed the trust which is the bond that binds us together as a nation.

“A good example of this is the federal government’s ban and suspension of the Twitter platform and as far as I am concerned, it is another ploy to tamper with the citizens’ rights to freedom of speech and expression.

“And if the federal government succeeded in banning and suspending twitter, it would easily do the same for other social media platforms now that the federal government has said all social media platforms must be registered to continue operating in the country.

“We must follow the trend and rise against skewed regulations. We must stop this excessive use of federal might to truncate the ideals of democracy.”

He stressed that freedom of speech and expression is a major component of an ideal democracy, adding that Nigeria could not continue to live in deceit and self-denial.

Adams queried: “If democracy could not guarantee freedom of speech and expression, so what system of government will guarantee such component of good governance?

The Guest lecturer, Prof David Aworawo, who is the Head of Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, said the annulment of the June 12 elections, which was adjudged the freest and fairest in the annals of Nigeria, had created a lacuna for the country.

He stated that the event had also created a setback to the development process of national integration.

“June 12 elections had given us the opportunities to look back and redress the mistakes of the past.

“We can only change the narrative by reflecting on the June 12 milestone to achieve national integration and political stability.”