It happened some 35 odd years ago but the debate has not ended. The public presentation of the autobiography of one of its chief protagonists and dramatis personae, this year, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (alias IBB) has not reduced the controversy, even with the belated acknowledgement that the late Moshood K. Abiola was the winner of an election that has been acclaimed as the freest and most transparent ever held in Nigeria. The consequences of the ill-advised and unilateral annulment of that election left negative scars on our political landscape ever since then. The wound is still festering.
June 12 did not only reveal the in-built corruption, abuse of power and violence in Nigeria’s political system; it stands as an eloquent testimony against military involvement in nation building, especially in a colonial state. A modern colonial state, like Nigeria, is one put together by coercion by a foreign power, principally to serve its interest. The intervention of any other coercive force, like the Nigerian military, makes stability even more difficult and retards progress or sustainable development. It is not only an affront against democracy itself, it is also a setback to the clock of nation building.
We cannot ignore the desperate anti-democratic role played by the political party that presumably won the election, in this case- the Social Democratic Party(SDP) in this saga. General Abacha had upstaged the ill-fated military-imposed Ernest Shonekan administration, promising a quick return to civilian rule. Abiola and his supporters were sucked in and decided to work with him, naively believing that Abacha would hand over power to Abiola. They nominated some of the members that formed Abacha’s initial cabinet, which included Abiola’s running mate, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, and the former Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande, among others. Of course, Abacha had other ideas and played along with the politicians.
I was with him in South Africa at the formal inauguration of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela as the first black president of post-apartheid South Africa in 1994. I was invited for the trip by his media aid, David Attah. I had earlier been to South Africa as a member of the International Press Institute (IPI) to interact with the recently freed Nelson Mandela.
Chief M.K.O. Abiola had been to South Africa too but was not given any official recognition as the presumed winner of the June 12 election. I had also in parenthesis, accompanied him during a short visit to Imo State to the residence of Senator Isidore Obasi in Mbaise. We later had dinner at the residence of Hon. Ralph Obioha in Aro-Ndizuogu. This was before the election.
The June 12 Saga would have passed as an epic struggle for a truly democratic state. A shared victory and triumph for a better society were sacrificed on the altar of personal greed, elusive power seeking, and the interest of a few political job-seekers. If the struggle had not been derailed through an incestuous and ambiguous compromise, Abiola would have, perhaps, been celebrated as an undisputed cultural icon and a true symbol of democracy. The politicians in this drama of power-play appeared to have ignored the ambitions of a powerful clique of the military elite contesting power and authority in the political arena of Nigeria at the time. But that is history now. Or is it? The struggle for power and privileges gave way to a total commitment to social justice, democratic political freedom, order, and a better society. It was illusory and shortsighted for the political class to believe that Abacha would transfer power to it, “à la carte”, to use that inelegant phrase by now President Tinubu, who by the way, was part of the infamous June saga.
The world is full of persons who claim they have the right to rewrite history on their own terms. They are many in Nigeria. There was an election judged by experts to be one of the best in the election history of Nigeria. I had stood in line, along with others and voted. My vote was counted. It was later declared “annulled” by some powerful men in the society. Another dream deferred. Another hope dashed. Another valent path not followed. This is yet another sovereignty gap which we, as stakeholders, must bridge,as the search for true heroes of nation-building continues.
Prof. Ihechukwu Madubuike
