Motion to honour June 12 heroes divides confab
Echoes of June 12, 1993 presidential election reverberated at the national conference on Thursday when a motion was moved to recognize the winner of the annulled election, late M.K.O. Abiola.
The motion, which was moved by Orok Duke, saw the delegates divided along regional lines as those from the southern Nigerian favoured the motion while those from the northern region felt otherwise.
Those who were opposed to the motion, led by a representative of the civil society, Mallam Nasir Kura, were shouting “no!, no!”
The reaction led to a rowdy session, which attracted the attention of security men and others, even outside the plenary.
The mover of the motion, Duke, said that apart from Abiola, others that died as a result of the annulment of the election deserved to be honoured.
He specifically asked for the permission of the plenary to pay tribute to all those who died, including Abiola, who he described as the one who spearheaded Nigeria’s democracy.
Duke added that the Conference should cause the authorities to always remember “June 12 as a watershed in the history of Nigeria.“
That a monument in tandem with what the conference had proposed for other heroes and heroines should be recommended in honour of MKO Abiola.
His motion did not go down well with some delegates as they continued with their negative reaction, but for the quick intervention of the Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, there might have probably been a fisticuff among the delegates.
The anti-June 12 delegates, which included Umaru Mohammed Hadejia representing Jigawa state, continued in their opposition to the motion, but Duke refused to be intimidated.He argued that the country cannot afford to carry on as if June 12 never existed, and further submitted that many Nigerians died on that day.
According to him, “June 12 is a preamble as to why we are here today, it is a continuation of unfinished business of 1993 that we are here. Moshood Abiola paid that ultimate sacrifice and it is not something we can wish away and assume that it never happened to us, it did.“
I was an active participant, and some of the delegates here were victims of June 12.
If we forget history it will repeat itself as tragedy. Those who fell for the sake of June 12 should be remembered today if nothing.”Duke’s motion was supported by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who said he was disappointed by the opposition from some delegates to the motion.
He said, “It is unfortunate that even members of this assembly, particularly those of us who were victims of Abacha regard June 12 1993 as a mere issue.“
I think the delegate who raised this motion should be praised rather than vilified. Without June 12 there will be no May 29. June 12 is the basis of our freedom and democracy and we should remember the day for what it is worth.”
The Deputy National Resident of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Issa Aremu, agreed, adding that the best way to remember June 12 would be to have a free and fair election in 2015.
Aremu said, “What we are seeing today shows we have not learnt from what happened on June 12. Elections are still becoming a do or die affair with a lot of unnecessary and avoidable violence.“
The real memory of June 12 to be significant for all of us and for us to make it worthwhile is to reaffirm our commitment to free and fair elections in Nigeria.
”But Hadejia described the motion as “irrelevant”, an attempt which the delegate said was aimed at wasting the time of the conference.“
It is important for people to realize that we are representing Nigerians for something extremely important for this country.“
And I am beginning to suspect, Mr Chairman, that there are certain people who are coming with ideas to disrupt this meeting so that we don’t perform.
It is important that for the Chair to begin to call people to order so that we can continue, thank you Mr Chairman.”Other speakers like Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Chief Edwin Clark, faulted his arguments as they insisted that without June 12, there might be no May 29 and there was the need to honour those who died during the struggle for the revalidation of the election.
Ozekhome said, “Many people paid the supreme prize to attain the democracy we are having today but which some people, unfortunately, are messing up. We should not trivialize June 12 and make it look like it is something that is not important.“
We should observe one minute of silence in honour of people who died during the June 12 crisis whether from the East, North South or West.
“They are Nigerians and they paid the supreme price. We should give honour to whom honour is due. June 12 is not just important, it is the watershed of Nigeria’s democracy.”
Clark in his contribution argued that “for the small-mindedness of the authorities, June 12 should have been the day the country should be observing as democracy day.”
At the end of the rancourous debate, Kutigi called for a minute silence, which was observed by the delegates, in honour of all those that died as a result of the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections.
Source: PUNCH
