Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, has thrown his weight behind clamour in some quarters that former Chairman, National Electoral Commission (NEC), the late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, be immortalised.
He said that the late electoral commission boss deserved such, giving his role in delivering June 12, 1993 Presidential Poll, adjudged globally as the freest and fairest in the country.
It would be recalled that the Senate for the second term rejected a motion seeking to immortalise Nwosu as the parliament only agreed to honour his death by observing a minute silence and extending condolences to his family.
The Yoruba generalissimo gave this position in a statement on Friday, saying that the then NEC “through having a sincere chairman like Humphrey Nwosu” conducted a free and fair election that gave the late Chief MKO Abiola “the mandate that the Nigerian government then did not install him as president.”
According to Iba Adams, “the respect and the glory that Abiola is having today long after his passing is as a result of the honesty displayed by Prof. Nwosu and the products that worked with him that made it happen. If Abiola could be honoured by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, so also Nwosu must be immortalised as well”.
The Yoruba generalissimo said the Federal Government should, at least, ensure that a monument be named after the Nwosu as “a good precedence for other INEC chairmen to be honest when they are being given the position on the basis of organising elections in Nigeria.
“It is very important that Prof. Humphrey Nwosu should be recognised, the genesis of having a free and fair or the foundation of having a free and fair June 12, 1993 elections was through having a sincere NEC chairman like Humphrey Nwosu. Humphrey Nwosu conducted free and fair election that gave Aare MKO Abiola the mandate that the Nigerian government then did not install him as president.
“And the respect and the glory that Aare MKO Abiola is having today is as a result of the honesty displayed by the then NEC chairman and the products that worked with him that made it happen.
“So, if Abiola can be honoured by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, definitely Humphrey Nwosu has to be immortalised. At least, there should be a monument that they should name after him so that it can be a good precedence for other INEC chairmen to be honest when they are being given the position on the basis of organising elections in Nigeria,” Iba Adams said.
Adams, therefore, urged the National Assembly to immortalise Nwosu, saying that this became imperative if it wanted a free, fair and credible election in the country.
He said the National Assembly should also make this possible if it wanted people in important positions in the country “to uphold credibility,” describing the late Nwosu as a great man.
The Yoruba generalissimo, while noting that Nwosu later wrote a book after the election was annulled, to present the true story about the whole incident, urged that nothing must be done to deny him the honour he deserved, warning that should such be done, “his spirit will not be happy with Nigeria.”
This was just as he equally noted that it would amount to selfishness on the side of Yoruba people not to support the move to immortalise the late Nwosu, recalling that many Igbo supported the late Abiola to be immortalised.
Besides, he said countless Igbo people always participated in June 12 programmes, where one of the resolutions remained “that Abiola should be immortalised.”
“For any Yoruba to oppose Prof. Humphrey Nwosu from being immortalised, such would amount to self centeredness. We have to believe in justice because what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”.
