A human rights activist, Femi Falana, has asked the federal
government to recognise other Nigerians who played a part in the struggle for
the annulled June 12, 1993, election.
Mr Abiola was arrested in 1994 while struggling to claim
his mandate from a military dictator, Sani Abacha, at the time. He died in
custody in July 1998.
During his speech at the Democracy Day celebration on
Wednesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari announced
the change of name of the National Stadium to MKO Abiola Stadium.
Mr Falana, who appeared as a guest on a Channels TV
programme, said the federal government should, beyond conferring national
honours on Mr Abiola and late activist, Gani Fawehinmi, “identify other heroes
of that struggle from all over the country”.
“This was not a NADECO and Afenifere affair (alone),” said
Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
The lawyer explained how the June 12 election birthed the
struggle for civil society organisations in the country.
He said after the 1993 election, Bashir Tofa, the candidate
of the National Republican Convention (NRC), congratulated MKO Abiola and
refused to give in to the pressure of heading to the tribunal.
“The point has been made abundantly clear, after that
election, Bashir Tofa, the other candidate congratulated his opponent, and that
is what is done in any civilised society; he was under pressure to go to the
tribunal, but he said no.
“From that moment, the civil society came in, the
progressive trade unions came in and made the country ungovernable for the
dictator.”
Mr Falana noted that “the beauty of those who are coming
from the civil society who have found themselves either in the executive or the
legislature is to ensure that those ideals are actualised and implemented in
government.
“That is why June 12 is so significant.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a
statement Wednesday said the declaration of June 12 as a public holiday by the
Buhari administration reeks of “hypocrisy and political desperation ahead of
the 2019 presidential election.”
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