Gowon, Obasanjo, other ex-leaders absent from June 12 celebration It is June12 Hypocrisy......Atiku

Gowon, Obasanjo, other ex-leaders absent from June 12 celebration
It is June12 Hypocrisy......Atiku

Buhari at June 12 inaugural National Democracy Day Celebration at the Eagle Square in Abuja. Photo/Twitter/AsoRock

It was meant to be the celebration of a democratic milestone witnessed by people of the home country and leaders of other nations. But yesterday’s Democracy Day left many observers puzzled as none of Nigeria’s former leaders attended.

Although the names of Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida and Yakubu Gowon were included in copies of the programme shared to guests at the Eagle Square Abuja venue of the event, nobody caught a glimpse of any of the past leaders.

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were however joined on the occasion by top government officials, and foreign leaders: President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz; President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame; President of Liberia, George Weah; President of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso; and President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo.

Others included: President of Senegal, Macky Sall; Prime Minister of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda; President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow; President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou; President of Guinea-Bissau, José Mário Gómes Vaz; and President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon.

“With the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day, my father’s vision has been fulfilled, even after death,” said Abdulmumini Abiola, son of the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was nullified by the Ibrahim Babangida government.

Following two decades of heated debates and agitations on the significance of June 12 to Nigeria’s politics and history, Buhari on Monday finally signed a bill recognising the former as Democracy Day.

“It is important we understand that Nigeria belongs to all of us or none of us at all,” Abdulmumini told participants during the celebration in Ogun State yesterday.

“Today is a historic day. The actualisation of the long battle and campaign for June 12 as Democracy Day has finally come to fruition. The event of June 12 marked the freest and fairest elections held in Nigeria at the time.

“The decision by General Ibrahim Babaginda to annul the election was a surprise to both my family and the Nigerian people because my dad and Babaginda were close friends. But I was so proud that Chief M.K.O. Abiola was able to stand for what he believed to be true,” said Abdulmumini.

He added that his father died a happy man, having fought for the entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria.

But former vice president and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 23, 2019 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, condemned the Federal Government’s “June 12 hypocrisy”.

In a signed statement yesterday, Atiku noted: “It is not enough to declare June 12 Democracy Day when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders on issues that border on fundamental human rights. It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have the freedom to find a better life from the suffocating grip of poverty, when Nigeria is now the global headquarters of extreme poverty.

“It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when a disproportionate number of citizens are not sure of where their next meal will come from and when the sanctity of their lives is not guaranteed. It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when freedom of the press and of speech, fundamentals of democracy, are being assailed.”

He said further: “It is not acceptable that an administration which had an opportunity of four years to deliver the promise of change to Nigerians (not only reneged on that promise, but propelled the country into a near-comatose state) will lay claims to being a true friend of the June 12 struggle.

“To be a lover of June 12 is to believe in the common good of the people. June 12 is about the political leadership having the focus to retool the Nigerian economy. It is about having the skills to create wealth and jobs for the teeming mass of unemployed. It is not about the inclination for shared pains; it is about shared prosperity.”