By Emeka Ejere
The eldest son of Chief Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Mr. Kola Abiola, has revealed how he pushed for his late father to be honoured, saying he welcomed President Buhari’s decision to do so although the honour was “very political”.
He spoke during an interview on Channels Television.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday, conferred MKO Abiola with the nation’s highest honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, (GCFR) – a honour exclusively conferred only on presidents and former presidents.
While MKO Abiola was given a posthumous award GCFR, his then running mate, Babagana Kingibe, will be awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Also, late human rights activist and senior lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, was awarded the GCON.
Election data from the June 1993 presidential election showed Mr Abiola won the polls but he was never formally declared winner and was not sworn into office by the military government of Ibrahim Babangida.
Mr Abiola was later imprisoned by the Sani Abacha military regime as he struggled to actualise his mandate. He died in prison in 1998.
Successive governments have brushed aside calls for him to be honoured and for the federal government to recognise June 12 as democracy day.
Kola Abiola said he was convinced the executive arm of government decided that honouring his father was the right thing to do even though it was a political decision.
“I think it is very political,” he said.
How it all started
Mr. Abiola, who described the president’s action as an unfinished business, said he had been looking forward to this day. “I saw it coming,” he said.
He explained how he had made several attempts with past administrations to ensure that his father was honoured, to no avail.
“I have been through this before and I have seen the roles different people play when it’s about to be done.
“They come up with issues like, ‘it’s posthumous, it can’t be done. It can’t be given to dead people’… And so on,” he said.
He explained how past administrations shut down most if his father’s businesses to stop him and his family from pushing for them. “They figured, if we don’t have the means, we can’t fight them,” he said.
Mr Abiola said even though advocating for national recognition for his father, he was “a little silent about it” during former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
“After him (Obasanjo), I approached the late Yar’Adua but unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough. Maybe he would have done it.
“I started talking to people in Jonathan’s administration, but nothing formal came out of it,” he said.
He explained how former president Goodluck Jonathan unsuccessfully attempted to hounour MKO Abiola by renaming the University of Lagos.
On May 29, 2012, Mr Jonathan had in his broadcast to the nation to mark the May 29 Democracy Day and one year of his administration, announced that the federal government would change the institution’s name from University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University.
He said the gesture was to honour the late politician for his contributions to democracy in the country.
“Destiny and circumstances conspired to place upon his shoulders a historic burden, and he rose to the occasion with character and courage. He deserves recognition for his martyrdom, and public-spiritedness and for being the man of history that he was,” he had said.
The renaming of the university however provoked widespread condemnation and protests, including no fewer than three court cases.
Staff and alumni of the University also opposed the renaming of the institution as they claimed they were not consulted.
Students of the University protested on the streets of Lagos against the renaming of the institution.
In June of the same year, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos granted an interim order restraining the Federal Government from renaming the University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University.
According to Mr Abiola, the government did not “go about it the right way.”
He queried the past administration for not consulting his family before making the announcement.
“At the point they made the announcement, it blew back at their faces.
“That was a mistake, they were trying to regionalise MKO which is wrong because he (MKO) was voted across the region irrespective of tribe or religion,” he said.
He explained how he tried to convince Mr Jonathan and make him see the political benefits involved.
“I told them. I said if it’s just for political reasons, this is the thing to do to help your government and your chances at the election. But we couldn’t get Jonathan to get it done,” he said.
He said with the help of Pastor Bakare, he approached President Buhari, who finally honoured his late father.
Mr Abiola hailed the president’s action, stating that what he (Buhari) has done is way more than expected.
When asked if he and his family have been adequately compensated by the national recognition, Mr Abiola said he is happy he got what he wanted.
“I went for national recognition, I got that. We got the title – GCFR, we got the public holiday and also an apology. For me, I’m compensated,” he said.
He said it was a humbling action from the president which is also the beginning of truth and reconciliation in Nigeria.