June 12 anniversary: Activists insist on MKO’s immortalisation

The 22nd anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election was celebrated in Lagos on Friday with a call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immortalise the winner of the election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O.) Abiola.
Abiola, the candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), was coasting home to victory when the election was annulled by the then military President, General Ibrahim Babangida.
Abiola died on July 7, 1998 at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja in controversial circumstances
At the 22nd anniversary of the election held at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, urged federal and state governments to immortalise the acclaimed winner of the election.
He specifically urged Buhari to rename the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos after Abiola.
He said: “Nothing will be too much for the man who sacrificed himself for the democracy being enjoyed today across the country. While credit must be given to former President Goodluck Jonathan for his decision to name the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after the hero of our democracy, I believe a lot still need to be done to honour Bashorun MKO Abiola and stamp his name as a true hero of our democracy.
“We all know that Abiola was a good lover of sports. He was the proprietor of one of the best-run football clubs in this country, Abiola Babes Football Club. Therefore, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, renovate and rename the National Stadium, Lagos after Bashorun Abiola.
“The decision will also go a long way to encourage the young ones that whatever sacrifice they make for their country is not in vain.”
He also advised the Federal Government to honour all Nigerians “who lost their lives in the struggle to enthrone the democracy that we all enjoy today.”
Delivering his keynote address, Prof. Godini Darah of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka said: “In the two decades, there have been the victors and the vanquished. The formation of political parties in 1998 signalled the dispersal of former fellow travellers. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) evolved from the womb of 34 democrats who dared Abacha. Many of them are now in different camps.
“The June 12 tornado also unified and broadened the platforms and geography of radical politics in Nigeria. By the 1990s, the epidemic of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) had hollowed the solidarity of left-wing movements considerably,” he pointed.
Coordinator of Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, called for the appreciation and immortalisation of all heroes and heroines of the June 12 saga.
Also at the event were the Executive Director, Centre for Culture and Development, Prof. Sophie Oluwole, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Online, Gabriel Akinadewo, Comrade Joseph Eva, traditional rulers, members of the Oodua Progressives Union (OPU) from Europe and America, state chairmen of OPC and other chieftains.