By Igbotako Nowinta
The June 12, 2019 shocking re-naming of Abuja National Stadium in honor of Chief Moshood Abiola to eternally place his name where he truly belongs, knowing that he was an undeniable pillar of sports in Nigeria, an enthusiast per excellence, for that matter, is something fierce critics of President Buhari can never downplay, in spite of the challenges facing the All Progressives Congress-led government today. The Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja in Nigeria, is nothing but a genuine appreciation by the Federal Government, of the gigantic work of a fanatic lover of sports, a passionate contributor and rigid exponent of sporting development in Nigeria. Chief Moshood Abiola dwarfed his earthly limitations, shortcomings and known personal cum human inadequacies by his extraordinary love for sports and unparalleled philanthropic gestures. One can visibly remember the then famous ‘Abiola Babes,’ and say this honor is most duly deserving for such a rare giant of sports.
By proclaiming June 12 a democracy day and national holiday in Nigeria, and renaming Abuja National Stadium after Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, the Muhammadu Buhari government became the first to officially immortalize the man who sacrificed his life on the altar of democracy.
The institutionalization of June 12 as ‘democracy day’ in Nigeria, no doubt is like a soothing balm to many years of mental and emotional anguish being suffered by the immediate family of the late Abiola, and the camp of pro-democracy and human rights activists in Nigeria.
Some critics and oppositional forces have expectedly seen nothing special about the proclamation of June 12 as democracy day, saying President Muhammadu Buhari has only scored a political/electoral goal into the net of mere symbolism, to pacify the Yoruba race in the country.
But as a keen follower of international politics and world history, the immortalization of Chief Moshood Abiola Kashimawo Abiola by the Buhari Administration is not only a watershed, but an enchanting development to me personally, as a key player when l was Chairman, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) Edo State, Nigeria, from 1995 to 1999.
I recollect quickly here, as the Deputy State Chairman of Joint Action Committee of Nigeria (JACON), we played our part and dues along with Comrade Osagie Obayuwana ( former Attorney General & Commissioner of Justice Edo State), and other comrades, squealing consistently on the then military authorities to revalidate the June 12 Presidential Election in Nigeria.
Looking at the international stage, using France and the United States of America (some of the greatest democracies in the world) as case studies, where the peculiarity of the monumental bitter struggles in those countries had led to the adoption of July 14 in France and July 4 in USA, as ‘days of freedom,’ the President of Nigeria has simply elevated himself as an unequalled statesman in the recent democratic history of Nigeria.
On July 14, 1789, the Bastille, a terrible fortress and prison which symbolized the oppression by the autocratic rulers in France was attacked and conquered by the masses.
The war between Great Britain and its American colonies started in April 1776; on June 7, 1776 the American Continental Congress decided that the colonies ‘ought to be free and independent,’ prompting the request for Thomas Jefferson to write the ‘declaration of independence.’
On July 4, 1776, the declaration was approved and dispatched to the then thirteen colonies.
If the freest and most credible Presidential Election in our checkered history was held on June 12, 1993, what is wrong honoring the man who paid the supreme price with a memorial day as ‘democracy day?’
It is disheartening that the likes of Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Olusegun Obasanjo etc., fumbled recklessly in the shallow pit of unwarranted malice against the uncommon and enviable sacrifice made by Abiola, in spite of torrential persuasions from well-meaning Nigerians, when they failed to shine the light on June 12.
The June 12, 2019 shocking re-naming of Abuja National Stadium in honor of Chief Moshood Abiola to eternally place his name where he truly belongs, knowing that he was an undeniable pillar of sports in Nigeria, an enthusiast per excellence, for that matter, is something fierce critics of President Buhari can never downplay, in spite of the challenges facing the All Progressives Congress-led government today.
The Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja in Nigeria, is nothing but a genuine appreciation by the Federal Government, of the gigantic work of a fanatic lover of sports, a passionate contributor and rigid exponent of sporting development in Nigeria.
Chief Moshood Abiola dwarfed his earthly limitations, shortcomings and known personal cum human inadequacies by his extraordinary love for sports and unparalleled philanthropic gestures.
One can visibly remember the then famous ‘Abiola Babes,’ and say this honor is most duly deserving for such a rare giant of sports.
Nowinta wrote: Where We Are – a call for democratic revolution in Nigeria.
