Fellow Nigerians, if you are a regular follower and frequent
reader of my column, you would, in the past few weeks, have
encountered the serialisation of the great lessons’ life has taught
me in the last 59 years of inhabiting this planet.
But I have decided to take a break from my biographical
narration in deference to the recent June 12 celebration as a
national holiday and our new Democracy Day in Nigeria replacing May
29 which is now effectively merely Inauguration Day. It is right
that June 12 should be Democracy Day given the utmost import of
that day in the annals of our democratic history and especially in
the realisation and actualisation of democracy that we now call the
Fourth Republic. You will therefore understand, and appreciate, in
a jiffy why it was expedient for me to write about June 12,
although in a sense it is an integral part of my life’s
experience.
Let me start by raising a toast to President Muhammadu Buhari on
the smart decision to acknowledge the importance and significance
of that day Nigerians united to vote for one man without ethnic and
religious considerations or colouration. It is also noteworthy, and
remarkable, that President Buhari chose to honour some of the
notable figures in the struggle for the fulfilment and revalidation
of the June 12, 1993, Presidential mandate, which was freely and
overwhelmingly given to Chief Moshood Abiola by Nigerians. This is
probably the biggest and best goal scored so far by President
Buhari since his return to power in 2015. Nothing, and no one, can
rob or deprive him of the plaudits and applause that are ascribed
to this particularly delightful gesture with pleasure. Thank you,
Mr President, from the bottom of my heart. I was and remain
overwhelmed by your generosity of spirit particularly because you
did not have to do it. Others who had better reasons to do it,
spectacularly failed to do so and they were not crucified for it.
Instead Nigerians shrugged and moved on. Building on your great
spirit of atonement, you have further endeared yourself to me by
naming the National Stadium in Abuja after MKO Abiola. What more
can one ask of you? As I wrote when the announcement was first made
about June 12 becoming Democracy Day, and the actual ceremony came
up in the Presidential villa in Abuja, it matters not to me if
there were political undertones to these kind and gracious gifts.
People will read politics and ulterior motives into anything, but
one must always appreciate and celebrate humaness and humanity, and
this is one of such occasions. And so, as for me and my house, God
used President Buhari to make what seemed impossible possible, and
that should suffice for now if not for ever.
Have you noticed how, suddenly everyone is now an apostle of
June 12! What is worse is the revisionist history which is being
espoused and churned out by several people, mostly in order to
cleanse or whitewash themselves because of the nefarious roles that
they placed in the truncation of the Dream. Some are mere
charlatans who seek to jump on the bandwagon with the hope of
feathering their nests. Those who know the truth, know, and it is
my fervent hope that before too long we will start seeing accurate
memoirs from those who seek nothing more than truth and justice. We
owe this to the memory of MKO.
Having said that, let’s now get down to the very serious
business of the day. It is not enough celebrating the date June 12
or naming the Abuja National Stadium or any other edifice or
institution after Chief Abiola. The spirit of June 12 must also be
absorbed and imbibed. That is what can make sense and achieve the
desired purpose eventually. Making a fetish, ritual or routine of
the date alone is of no substance, if Nigeria and Nigerians have
nothing concrete to benefit from it. And what can we gain?
One, Nigeria needs another Abiola, or a fair replica of him or
any of our avowed nationalists and patriots that travelled the
space called Nigeria before him. I have always maintained that the
monumental victory recorded by Abiola on June 12, 1993, was not an
accident or a fluke. It was a reward for the phenomenal life of
hard work, sacrifice, dedication, generosity and uncommon love for
mankind that Abiola demonstrated and evinced. Abiola was not
interested in where you came from or what religion you practiced,
he was more concerned about your performance and service delivery.
Nigeria desperately needs another completely detribalised, secular
and worldly man or woman, at the very top of our political
stratosphere. On this score, I doubt if Buhari is willing or able
to make the substantial effort necessary given his age and
antecedents. However, if he tries this second term around, he may
still go on to become a global statesman and a leader whose story
will be told and retold in Nigerian folklore.
Two, Nigeria requires a leader who knows how to spot talent,
like Abiola, and nurture it. Chief Abiola surrounded himself with
the best brains in every endeavour that he undertook, be it
religion, social life, business, sport or politics. There are too
many of such people and space will not permit me to name them
individually, but rest assured that in their respective fields,
they are like a list of Who is Who. What they also had was
diligence and integrity, although some of them later became
compromised for a variety of reasons which is not the subject of
this discourse. What the Buhari government needs to demonstrate,
very glaringly and urgently, is the ability to reward and embrace
talent and merit. It must target and bring on board the very best
that Nigeria has to offer. Unfortunately, this has not been the
case thus far, and it is Nigeria and her people that has suffered
badly.
President Buhari must regard and welcome every Nigerian as a
part of one big and united family. The biggest problem facing us is
the lack of unity and cohesion, borne partly from the suspicion
that mediocrity is crowned whilst merit is demoted. This is
responsible for the spate of killings all over Nigeria. True love
has taken flight and what is left is concentrated bitterness. Chief
Abiola felt at home in every nook and cranny of Nigeria and he was
welcomed with open arms. There should be a method to our madness.
President Buhari should put the past behind and whatever informed
his seeming aloofness and nonchalance. Leadership must inspire, it
must rouse the people from their deep slumber. What I see in Buhari
is a President who has turned taciturnity into an art. This makes
it difficult for Nigerians to read his mind or know the direction
he is facing. It makes for stilted and struggling nation building
and development. It is a recipe for deep stagnation in our social
and political life.
Three, Nigeria is a secular State and its secularity should be
maintained decidedly and decisively. The tension about religion is
borne out of the decision of our leaders to dabble into matters
which ordinarily should remain a personal matter between man and
his God. Whosoever wants to serve his God fervently should work
very hard to raise the funds needed and necessary. Nigeria can no
longer afford to waste resources on personal projects that should
never be of interest or concern to the State. Our infrastructure
deficit is way too high for us to continue our profligate
lifestyle. When we de-emphasise matters of religion in State
policies, individuals would be encouraged to invest directly in
their faith and religion, as they should. Everyone knew Chief
Abiola as a devout Muslim, but they also knew him as a liberal who
tolerated other religions within his group of companies and could
be trusted enough if he makes appointments that seemed lopsided. It
was for that singular reason that he was able to get away with the
Muslim-Muslim ticket of Abiola and Kingibe, just like he would have
done had it been his preferred ticket of Abiola and Atiku. Buhari’s
trajectory and seemingly fundamentalist speeches in the past have
come back to haunt and dog his every move. A large chunk of
Nigerians tends to see him as someone who favours his religion and
his tribe above others and who may even go the extra mile to stifle
other faiths and tribes. Whereas, on the other hand, Chief Abiola
invested in churches and mosques all over the federation with his
personal funds and brought people of different tribes and ethnicity
into his magic circle.
I vividly remember an encounter between Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe
and I in 1993. Kingibe was the Vice-Presidential candidate of the
Social Democratic Party. As soon as Chief Abiola returned to Lagos
from the Jos Primaries which he won by the whiskers, I was at his
house to remind him of his promise to attend the Grand House
Reception at Guv’nor Ken Calebs Olumese’s Niteshift, on Opebi Road,
Lagos, which was easily the most prestigious nightclub in Lagos at
the time. Kola Abiola had whisked his Dad away for a couple of
hours’ rest, but Chief Abiola still made it to the club where he
mingled and danced with everyone, whether saints or sinners. After
that big night, the Guv’nor of Niteshift requested me to help
invite Alhaji Kingibe and I went to his house and a deal was
sealed. But close to the date, Kingibe developed cold feet and said
he wasn’t going to attend again because some members of his faith
might misconstrue his motives and motivation and accuse him of
interacting with men and women of low morals which could easily get
him into trouble. I understood but it was difficult to back out at
that stage because the preparations had gone too far. So, I
approached Chief Abiola for his intervention and fortunately Alhaji
Kingibe was coming to see him. When Kingibe arrived, Chief asked
why he would rather disappoint those who wanted to host and honour
him. Kingibe expressed his apprehension to Abiola who responded
with a powerful salvo, “you are not more Muslim than me, if I can
enter the nightclub, there’s no reason you cannot enter…” That did
the magic and Kingibe agreed to attend and we all had great fun.
And that was one of the things that endeared their joint ticket to
those who were not overtly religious. The Abiola/Kingibe
disposition would easily douse the kind of volatility of religious
conflagration in Nigeria today.
Education is the greatest leveller between the rich and the poor
anywhere in the world. Abiola was inspired by his own background
and experiences. Had it not been for education, he would never have
attained the heights he did. It was education that gave him the
exposure he had. To show his appreciation and his understanding of
how education could lead to social, economic and political
emancipation and integration, Chief Abiola invested heavily in
education not only via scholarships to indigent students nationwide
but also by contributing to educational infrastructure in all parts
of the country. In what was regarded as the biggest single donation
ever to higher institutions at the time, Chief Abiola gave out
about 30 million Naira to all Nigerian universities. Beyond that,
he built libraries for many schools. He also made books available
and affordable for students by establishing Abiola Bookshops which
became a haven and succour to many students and lecturers. Abiola
was committed to devoting a large part of his personal fortune to
the education of the people. I am sure that he would have done the
same in government by allocating a substantial part of the
country’s budget to education. I know that under Abiola the
intractable problems between the government and staff of our
tertiary institutions would have been a thing of the past. He would
have accommodated and provided for them, no matter what.
Abiola knew that food was a critical necessity in everyone’s
life and that attracted his attention. He established Abiola Farms
in Ogun, Kwara and Taraba States. Long before local rice production
became the vogue in Nigeria, he had invested in rice mills and
massive silos in Daka. He also owned Banuso Fisheries. His Wonder
Bakeries Limited was built to international standards and I was a
happy distributor of Wonderloaf at a point in 1991 after I resigned
from my celebrated job as Editor of Classique magazine. Just
imagine the spiralling effect of Abiola’s investments. He used to
tell anyone who cared to listen that only entrepreneurs like him
could know how to create employment and job opportunities. Abiola
was a serial investor who touched lives everywhere in Nigeria and
beyond. In his private life he was already doing the business that
he knew public life would demand of him.
It behoves a government determined to successfully govern for
its people to demonstrate its preparedness to attain the next level
by sincerely nurturing talent, shunning ethnicity and religion,
fostering education, engendering food production and promoting job
creation. That was Abiola’s way. It is my hope and prayer that
Democracy Day will be seen as a day when the nation’s leaders renew
their vows to govern for Nigeria in the essence epitomised by our
gloriously appointed and anointed leaders such as MKO Abiola.
Democracy Day must not just be celebratory and ceremonial. It
must be much more. It must be Liberation Day, with freedom from the
shackles of deprivation, poverty, diseases and insecurity of all
shades and form.
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