MKO’S FAMILY ASKS FG TO SETTLE DEBTS

Twenty years after the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the family of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola yesterday pleaded with the Federal Government to settle outstanding debts to their late benefactor.

Abiola’s younger brother, Mubashiru, gave a clean bill of health to former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, in the death of the business mogul, while the eldest son of the deceased urged Nigerians to remain united.

Also yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan acknowledged the importance of the date and noted that some states have already declared it work-free in honour of the martyr. President Jonathan, however, did not disclose plans by the Federal Government in that regard. His move to honour Abiola last year by renaming the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after the deceased was fiercely resisted by stakeholders and drew sharp criticisms from opposition politicians.

Abiola, whose electoral victory was annulled on June 23, 1993 by the Babangida regime, died in controversial circumstances while in incarceration on July 7, 1998.

In some South West states, yesterday was declared as public holiday by their state governments to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the election date, which many Nigerians had repeatedly asked the Federal Government to recognise as the nation’s Democracy Day.

In Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, government officials, pro-democracy activists, civil servants, students, artisans and civil society groups participated in the “2013 Democracy Walk,” which was organised to mark the anniversary.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun; his wife, Olufunso, Deputy Governor, Prince Segun Adesegun, Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, and the governor’s Special Assistant on Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), Mrs. Hafsat Abiola-Costello, were among those who thronged the Abiola’s family house in Oja Agbo area of Abeokuta as part of activities to commemorate the date.

Speaking with reporters at the Abiola’s Oja Agbo family house, Alhaji Mubashiru, who is also the head of the Abiola family, said the Federal Government owed the late political icon and business mogul.

According to him, the late Abiola executed some contracts worth billions of Naira for the Federal Government but he was not paid before his death.

Mubashiru, who did not disclose the sum, urged President Jonathan to convene a meeting with the Abiola family on how to settle the debts.

“I take advantage of today’s 20th anniversary of June 12 to request President Jonathan to invite the MKO Abiola family to a meeting to deliberate on how the Federal Government intends to settle the long standing debts owed that political icon, business mogul and symbol of our modern day democracy,” he said.

Curiously, however, Mubashiru used the occasion to exonerate General Babangida from the death of MKO.

“I don’t believe that Babangida was the one that killed MKO. Everybody knew that Babangida was not in the government when MKO died. How could you say somebody who was not somewhere did something? It is not possible. Babangida does not know anything about the death of MKO,” he told reporters.

Mubashiru, who described Babangida’s government as “the best ever in the nation’s history,” claimed that the former military president had been supportive of the Abiola family over the years.

His words: “I want to state unequivocally that General Babangida’s administration remains the best ever in the nation’s history and implore our current administrators at the various levels of governance to embrace the vision of June 12, by ensuring that every Nigerian family gets food on their tables and shelters on their heads, all employable youths get jobs while the nooks and crannies of the federation enjoy the basic amenities.

“He (Babangida) always supports the family. There was a time Abiola’s daughter was having her wedding, Babangida was here with his wife right from Minna, sat down with us and he left his wife to stay with us till the second day.”

In his address, Amosun described the June 12, 1993 presidential election as “a watershed” and called on the Federal Government to declare June 12 a national holiday as well as immortalize the late Abiola.

He said, “We believe such a gesture will further give good expression to the wordings of our National Anthem that the labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain. The University of Lagos that was renamed Moshood Abiola University is still a subject of controversy in the court of public opinion and the law court.

“The Federal Government in collaboration with the distinguished members of the National Assembly should therefore come together and honour MKO nationally. He was never a sectional leader. Rather, he was a visionary and national leader, whose, contributions to national development cuts across all tribes and cities, towns and villages in the country.”

The governor noted that the current civil rule was a product of the sacrifice made by the late Abiola, urging all Nigerians to continue to work towards entrenching democratic norms in the country.

CONTRARY to the stand of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has dominated the Federal  Government since 1999, President Goodluck Jonathan has shown  that he recognized the Abiola mandate as a watershed  in the political evolvement of the country.

The President while swearing in members of the Police Service Commission at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday said the event was holding on a date he recognized as very important to the country.

He acknowledged the fact that some state governments recognize the date officially and regretted that this was not the case for the Federal Government.

"Today is also a unique day June 12, a date that has changed the political history of this country in one way or the other. In some parts of the country some state governments have declared public holiday to marked today but at the centre it has not been formally recognised as a public holiday. We appreciate what happened on this day, that you are being inaugurated on this date, I think is a unique date," the President said.

The swearing in took place shortl Mr. Kola Abiola yesterday made a case for unity in the country, which according to him was the principle upon which June 12 stood.  

Speaking yesterday in Lagos at a symposium organised by the Save Nigeria Group to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the date, the scion of the family noted that his late father paid the price of being ahead of his contemporaries by being a pioneer in all sectors of the country.

He said: “A lot of us voted for MKO from all nooks and crannies of this nation because he was a Nigerian, first and foremost. We went to the polls 20 years ago as united Nigerians. We all voted for one man we believed depicted one Nigeria. Down the line 20 years, we are talking about the North trying to disrupt the leadership of the south.

“If there is no united Nigeria, we won’t be talking about June 12. The June 12 symbol will become null and void if we are not united because that reference entity does not exist anymore. So, in whatever we do, we should look at leadership that provides us with one Nigeria,” he said, adding: “We need to look at ourselves first as Nigerians, that is when we begin to find solutions to our problems.”

On the immortalization of his father, he said: “History will make it happen but the biggest problem I see is a deliberate attempt to rewrite history, but there is nothing they do to immortalize him that would make a difference.”

He urged government to sell its ideals and programmes to the masses, saying that there is need for consistency in the policies of government to ensure growth and development.

Source: Compass