M.K.O ABIOLA: The President Who Never Ruled

"I did not vote for myself. Nigerians voted for me. I have already won the presidential election. You cannot re-sit for an exam you have already passed."- M.K.O Abiola.

On June 10th 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Public Holiday (Amendment) Bill, making June 12 a public holiday in the country thereby legalising June 12 as the country’s official Democracy Day in honour of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief  MKO Abiola. He further immortalised him by naming the Abuja National Stadium after him.

1993.

The Nigerian government was undergoing another attempt at stabilization. Major General Ibrahim Babangida, together with Nigerian political leaders, inaugurated a transitional Council to exist until democratic elections could be held to choose a president. 

MKO Abiola ran for the presidency in 1993, for which the election results were annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida because of allegations that they were corrupt and unfair.

1994.

Frustrated by one full year (less just a day) of futile attempts to reclaim his mandate that was invalidated by military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, Abiola proclaimed himself the “President and Commander-in-Chief” of the Federal republic of Nigeria and proclaimed “a new Government of National Unity”.

After the speech - fondly described as the ‘Epetedo Proclamation’ - having been delivered in Epetedo, Lagos Island, Sani Abacha, the military head of state, declared him wanted for treason and ordered his arrest. He was incarcerated for four years and died on July 7, 1998 — the day he was to be freed.

The June 12, 1993 election was considered by many to have been the cleanest in Nigeria's history and was praised as a concerted effort to overcome ethnic and religious divisions throughout the country. 

Abiola remained under arrest for four years, and was not allowed visits by either his family or personal physician. He was denied proper medical care, even after being examined by state-authorized doctors. 

On July 7, 1998, only days before his scheduled release from prison, Abiola collapsed during a visit with a U.S. delegation and died in Abuja, Nigeria, of an alleged heart attack. 

His long-time friend and supporter, Wole Soyinka, expressed doubts that the death was the result of natural causes. "I'm convinced that some kind of slow poison was administered to Abiola," he told an interviewer after learning of his friend's death. Soyinka claimed that other Nigerian political prisoners had been injected with poison and indicated that he had received a note prior to Abiola's death stating that his friend would be killed within the next few days.

An autopsy found that Abiola's heart was seriously diseased and confirmed it as the cause of his death. The U.S. delegation visiting Abiola at the time of his attack saw no reason to presume foul play, indicating that the presiding doctors felt that the symptoms were consistent with a heart attack.

Abiola's death shocked and saddened a country that had come close to experiencing true democracy through valid elections for the first time in its history. 

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, commented on Abiola's passing by saying, "His death is the end of a chapter." Instead of celebrating his release and the possible resurgence of democracy, Nigeria stepped back to re-gather itself, and start the process again.

No one can give you power. It is yours. Take it! From this day, show to the world that anyone who takes the people of Nigeria for fools is deceiving himself and will have the people to answer to. God bless you all. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Long live the Government of National Unity- Culled from the ‘Epetedo Proclamation’.