THE IMPORTANCE OF JUNE 12TH 1993 IN THE HISTORY OF NIGERIA
Introduction
As a participant in the National Democratic Coalition ( NADECO), which was organized as a mass resistance against dictatorship and an opposition movement against the annulment of June 12th 1993 presidential election in Nigeria, I would like to provide background information about the formation of NADECO as a resistance group, the goal of the movement, its vision, the truth of the apparent injustice as the whole world saw it at that time , and why President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to declare June 12th as a national holiday should be highly appreciated by all Nigerians.
How it all started
NADECO was formed right around the middle of the year 1994. It was purely a reaction to fix what was considered as a flawed approach of a military dictator in collaboration with some civilians seen as co-conspirators to overturn a clear decision of Nigerian electorates to elect a leader of their choice.
This was a bold move by some patriotic Nigerians to bring an end to military dictatorship and to reclaim the mandate freely given by the people of Nigeria in the June 12th 1993 to the late Chief MKO Abiola, not only to be the democratically elected president of Nigeria , but also to save democracy and the right of the people to freely choose their political leaders.
I belong to the Afenifere Group of NADECO under the leadership of Baba Adekunle Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, , Chief Bola Ige, Alhaji Lam Adesina, all of blessed memories, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Ayo Opadokun and a host of other eminent Yoruba leaders that were ardent followers of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The group held monthly meetings in the residence of Baba Abraham Adesanya at Ijebu-Igbo at that time.
These patriotic leaders coordinated their efforts with other Nigerian patriots at home and abroad to risk their lives so as to save democracy for Nigeria and prevent General Sanni Abacha and his allies getting away with their scheme of delegitimizing of democracy in Nigeria. The members of our team from Oyo State included Alhaji Lam Adesina, chief Michael Adeniyi Koleosho, Baba Jogunosinmi, Olujide Ajao, Alhaji Muili Popoola, ( Tunji Amole??) and myself.
The then military Head of State retired General Ibrahim Babangida, ordered that a presidential election be held on June 12th 1993 to handover power from the military to civilian government so as to ensure a democratic rule after several years of military dictatorship.
The election was reported in the news at that time as the best election ever held in Nigeria because it was devoid of thuggery and riggings. The election was conducted under the watchful eye of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and was headed by Professor Humphrey Nwosu.
The Bone of Contention
After it was announced all over the media – print and electronics, that Chief MKO Abiola won the election by a clear margin, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, who contested the election against Chief MKO Abiola , congratulated him for winning the election.
The electoral commission reported that of a total of 14,293,396 votes cats, Chief MKO Abiola the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate received 8,341,309 votes , while his opponent Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention Party (NRC) received 5,952,087 votes.
However the nation woke up the following morning to the surprising news that the election result was annulled by President Ibrahim Babangida and Nigerians were left in the dark as to the reason why the election was annulled.
Later, it was announced that an infamous group not known to many Nigerians, which was called Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), headed and coordinated by both Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe, a second republic senator and multimillionaire, and one Abimbola Davies were the ones who pushed for the annulment of the election result.
However, Nigerians and even the rest of the world , were suspicious of that unfolding scenario and they highly believed that it was a scam being perpetrated by some powerful Nigerians who always played their game by holding the country in the “jugular vein”
A couple of days after the annulment of the election results, the scheme which the planners of the annulment of the election result put in place started to unfold. It was revealed that Chief Francis Arthur Nzeribe and Mr. Abimbola Davies went to Abuja High Court on the eve of election day to stop the presidential election, claiming that there were irregularities and corruption in the conduct of SDP political party primary election won by Chief MKO Abiola.
The world also learned that the court presided over by late Justice Bassey Ita Ikpeme sat at 9.30 pm the same day the petition was filed and granted the request of the petitioners that the man who won what was considered the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history was elected at the party primaries through corruption, and the then Military leader , Rtd General Ibrahim Banbangida use that as an excuse to annul the election.
That single event and miscalculated decision put the country in an unprecedented tumor and led to a series of surprising changes in the rulership of the country as power brokers continued to play their games under cover. General Sanni Abacha took over the rulership of the country suddenly in another military coup on Nov 17th 1993 right in the middle of that crisis, despite the refusal of Nigerians to accept the annulment of the June 12th election.
Prior to Abacha’s sudden appearance , it was Chief Earnest Shonekan who was the interim/transition president of the country pending the resolution of the annulment crisis.
However, General Sanni Abacha, the minister of defense under Shonekan, suddenly took over from Shonekan and announced to Nigerians in a nation-wide broadcast that Chief Shonekan resigned because of the stagnant nature of his government and his inability to manage the democratic process in the country.
In order for Abacha to have absolute power required for effective dictatorship, by the month of September 1994, he used a decree to place his government not only above the jurisdiction of the courts but also to the power and right to detain anyone for any reason for up to three months without trial.
Unexpected Consequences
The annulment of the election result sparked off massive protests across the nation, triggering what seemed like a continuous civil unrest in the country.
All these eventually drew the attentions of the international communities. On June 11th 1994 , exactly one year after that democratic election, Chief MKO Abiola declared himself as President of Nigeria and travelled oversea for a few months not only to sought refuge oversea, but also to seek cooperations of international communities especially European and American countries to put pressure on General Sanni Abacha to step down for him as legitimate President of Nigeria .
Shortly after this, he returned to Nigeria and was arrested by General Sanni Abacha and charged for treason, and imprisoned in Abuja for 4 years when he died under mysterious circumstances in July 7th 1998.
During his detention General Sanni Abacha in turn pressurized Chief MKO Abiola to renege on his claim to election victory in exchange for his freedom, but like warrior he refused Abacha pressure and decided to fight the battle to the end.
From this brief history, the question of truth and justice on the part of Nigerian Military leaders continue to boggle the minds of Nigerians and other people in the world since that time, the incident was not only an injustice to Chief MKO Abiola but also an unfair denial of a clear choice to millions of Nigerians who voted for him in that election.
Based on oral and recorded history, it has been the inactions of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that made it possible for evil to triumph.
Besides, it is a fact that the world is often in a great peril from those who tolerated or encouraged evil than those who actually committed evil, and much more, when we do not have the courage to defend our rights, then we unconsciously choose to lose our dignity.
The Yoruba people in the west have a culture of democratic rule ever since the time of the Old Oyo Empire, which embraced the system of checks and balances on the rulership of the people.
Against the backdrop of these events came the boldness of these patriotic leaders to mobilize other Nigerians patriots at home and abroad to form NADECO, which energized the people and ushered them with an unbending courage to stand up to Abacha’s dictatorship and encouraged Chief MKO Abiola to claim his mandate freely given to him by millions of Nigerian voters who chose to embrace democracy.
Those courageous Nigerians under the leadership of Baba Adekunle Ajasin quickly resuscitated the highly sophisticated democratic politics of Western Nigeria and took up the leadership role not only to sensitize but also to mobilize all Nigerians for organized mass resistance against dictatorship by first organizing a group of 17 people , one person per each of all the 17 states in Nigeria which were collectively called “G 17”.
The group was subsequently upgraded to 34 members by increasing representation in the group to 2 members from each states and renamed “G 34”. The group composed of a broad coalition of democrats and conservatives who then made a courageous call on that Government of General Sanni Abacha to step down for Chief MKO Abiola who won the June 12th 1993 presidential election.
It was indeed a very dangerous and fearful time for people to voice their dissent against a well-known military dictator, as military assassins were made to seek out and assassinate people who were ever bold enough to question the dictator’s authority. Yet NADECO was determined to confront General Sanni Abacha and his allie’s ploy to delegitimize democracy in Nigeria.
In order to accomplish this goal, NADECO strategized to tackle Sanni Abacha from within and outside Nigeria, they organized serious protests and civil disobidence that completely paralyzed all the economic and social activities in the country and they intensify all possible efforts to strangulate Sanni Abacha Government financially.
On the international side, NADECO and its allies, were able to secure the support of international countries of especially Europe and America to impose economic sanctions against Nigeria, for example there are three oil refineries in Nigeria at that time , one each in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, the three refineries were built by Japanies companies with Japanies loan, Japan Gas company built Port Harcourt refinery, Saipem a Japanies company built Warri refinery and Chiyoda another Japanies company built Kaduna refineries,
and because of Japan sympathy for the course of NADECO to save democracy for Nigeria, Japan suddenly announced withdrawal from that contract of building and maintenance of the refineries and demanding that with immediate effect if any of the Nigerian three refineries should break down and require maintenance, at that time Nigeria would be required to pay upfront 100% cost of such maintenance – parts and labour- plus payments of 30% of outstanding loan Nigreria borrowed to build the refineries,
because Abacha Government cannot meet this conditions, his associates advised him to ignore Japan and start importing refined petrol from other countries to Nigeria, it was a terrible chaos of highest order, because vehicular transportations in Nigeria was completely paralyzed for months , when the refineries were not fully functional.
In addition to this social and economic obstacles Abacha was not even able to travel outside Nigeria at that time, because he was not welcomed in most of the countries of the world because his dictatorship pattern of government.
Clearly, military dictatorship is born from the power of the gun, and so , it often undermines the concept of the rule of law and gives birth to a culture of might, weapons, violence and intolerance, in addition, it breeds an environment of fear and terror. Dictators know that when people are afraid, they lose all senses of analysis and reflection, fear has always been a weapon of all dictator’s repressions.
It was on this principles that General Sanni Abacha sent his hit men to assassinate a number of fearless Nigerian patriots who dared to challenge his authority. Mrs. Kudirat Abiloa, the wife of Chief MKO Abiola , for example, was assassinated in broad day light on a Lagos street on June 9th 1996. An assassination attempt was also made on Baba Abraham Adesanya, a prominent leader of Afenifere group of NADECO at that time.
On October 1997, when Baba Adekunle Ajasin died, the Afenifere group of NADECO planned a befitting burial for this patriotic leader in OWO his home town in Ondo state where he was buried, the burial ceremony was planned to demonstrate not just to Nigerians alone but to the whole world that Afenifere was in full control of the people of Western Nigeria and of all well-meaning Nigerians at that time despite Abacha’s reign of terror. NADECO also demonstrated that folks were fully behind their NADECO leaders.
However, the fear of Abacha’s terror machines interfered with that burial plan as many of the local government political leaders that aligned with Afenifere were afraid of offending Abacha by publicly identifying with NADECO leaders because Abacha told the whole world that time that all Nigerians were behind him and his dictatorship agenda.
For example, some popular Yoruba cultural group that were arranged to grace the occasion were scared from attending that burial ceremony. Chief Bola Ige and myself were involved in mobilizing a popular “Gelede” group from Ijio, Iwajowa Local Government of Oke Ogun in Oyo State , but the fear of Abacha’s terror prevented the group from attending the burial ceremony. Besides, the apparent fear everyone knew that the federal government is the source of local government’s fundings.
Still on the mayhems inflicted by the Abacha machine, on one instance, Alhaji Lam Adesina another prominent leader of NADECO was detained on the order of General Sanni Abacha at Agodi Prison in Ibadan.
At a great risk of my life, I personally went to the Prison to see Lam Adesina to inquire of what happened but to my surprise five fully armed policemen and prison officers escorted him to the visitors reception areas of the Prison to see me . I was highly terrified that day and only encouraged Alhaji Lam Adesina to have faith and that the will of God would prevail in his circumstances. Alhaji Lam Adesina was eventually released.
It was also this time that another prominent leader of NADECO Chief Bol Ige was detained in the notorious Jos Prison. When he was released from prison I visited him in his Bodija residence in Ibadan where he narrated to me how Abacha men tricked him to come for a meeting in Abuja, and on getting to their office in Abuja he was asked to sit in an empty room and kept in that room for hours.
They then told his family members that were waiting for him outside that they should leave because the meeting would take a while. After sending his family members away, they then took him to Jos prison, but thankfully, he was later released.
These are some of the horrors I can recall that Abacha and his accomplices used to disarm and intimidate the highly determined NADECO leaders so as to strengthen his dictatorship and fasten his grip on power. I am sure several other NADECO associates must have been humiliated for being members of that group.
Conclusion
Abacha and his allies knew that the fastest way to dumb down a population is to scare them, but dictatorship of a few instead of the initiatives of the millions cannot produce a happier and or a more prosperous society.
It is a tested fact of life that sacrifice is sometimes painful when life is devoid of purpose, but when you live for something greater than yourself and the glorification of your own ego, then sacrifice becomes a lobour of love, clearly for NADECO at that time it was a case of “ALUTA CONTINUA” (the struggle continues). NADECO leaders believed that to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respect and enhances the freedom of others.
The leaders of NADECO believed that the secrete of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secrete of tyranny is keeping them ignorant, they also believed that patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom tree, and that freedom can never be voluntarily given by the oppressors, it must be demanded for by the oppressed .
It is also believed strongly that patriots who are not ready to die for freedom should put the word “freedom” out of their vocabulary. NADECO boldly encouraged Nigerians not to bend their back, as a man cannot ride you unless your back is bent for him to ride on. When people’s freedom are taking away from them, their peace of mind is equally taken away because no one can have any peace of mind unless he or she has freedom.
Nigeria freedom from various dark forces has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at a cheap price to the self-desire of a dictator. NADECO members were inspired by the fact that when we exposed ourselves to our deepest fear, then we render fear powerless and consequently the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes, and consequently we are freed from our yoke of oppression.
Of equal importance is the fact that if people who cherish freedom, and who know the importance of mutual respect are not ready to speak out at such crisis time, and to be more committed and visible, then, they can and should expect sad and painful tomorrow.
One other important fact anchored by the event of June 12th 1993 on the history of Nigeria is that truth never pleads or compromises or waiver, it invites and wait people’s acceptance. Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decorations, however as time goes by, what is true is revealed and what is false and fake will fade away.
In real life, sometimes clouds and darkness do surround us, yet heaven is just nearby and the day of triumph will surely come when justice and truth will be vindicated, though sometimes the wheel of justice grinds slowly. It is an important fact of life that justice is conscience of the whole humanity, and those who clearly recognized the voice of their own conscience usually recognizes the voice of justice.
I believed President Muhammadu Buhari not only recognize the voice of his own conscience but also the need to act according to that voice by declaring June 12th the new National Memorial Day. This apart, to have a recognition of the parts you play while alive by the highest authority of your country is such a great achievements.
The role played by not only NADECO leaders but also Chief MKO Abiola in the history of right of Nigerians to choose their political leaders should never be forgotten in the history of Nigeria and much more, a man must be willing to die for justice, death is an inescapable reality and men die daily, but good deeds live for ever, though, chief MKO Abiloa may be a multimillionaire during his lifetime, the parts he played in the June 12th 1993 election will placed him in a higher level of recognition and prominence when final history of Nigeria is truthfully and objectively written.
ATANDA JAMES
THE ASIWAJU OF ISEMI-ILE
