It was two years ago that President Buhari made the announcement, which was in 2018, exactly 25 years. “I think that the action taken by President Buhari was already quite profound given that we were looking at 25years or so of silence on this question. She weighed the actions and attitudes of previous Nigerian leaders before President Muhammadu Buhari decided to honour her father and raised June 12 as a milestone in Nigeria’s democratic progression. The question that remains hanging in the balance is whether, without going the whole hog of announcing the result and declaring Abiola winner, the ghost of June 12 has been appeased? “But, when I saw my mom become an activist and she was more accessible, I did what I could to support them and then, when they died, I just continued.” Hafsat said that her mother inspired her into activism, noting that although her father was so larger than life, she doubted whether things were going to happen just like. Her words: “Actually, it is not that we should try to kill ourselves, but we should try to persevere to make things better and those actions affirm our humanity, our dignity and give us a new lease for our future, I think that is what I learnt from that whole experience.” The activist recalled that when things are difficult, we say we cannot kill ourselves, even as she admonished Nigerians to always stand their ground. I think when things are difficult it does not mean we should cave in,” she stated. “If the people will not be present to have themselves disgraced in that way and the people were not, because they resisted the annulment the best way that they could. “It took a long time, 25 years after the June 12 elections for the election to be recognised by the Nigerian government, but the recognition was a signal that you cannot shave the people’s head. And the military decided that the vote and their actions did not count. “Really, because they had been the one that came out to vote in an election that was free and fair. Hafsat, whose mother, Kudirat, was also assassinated in the course of seeking the validation of the June 12 presidential mandate of her husband, said the whole point of the annulment was to shave the head of the Nigerian people in their absence. “I think,” Hafsat explained, “for this circumstance, the one that best describes the circumstances, is that you cannot shave a man’s head in his absence.” Hafsat Abiola-Costello, on her reflections on the June 12 enigma, particularly her understanding of the import of the observation of the date as a public holiday.Īmong these poignant statements made by Abiola in the course of the pursuit for the validation of the presidential mandate, which best represents the implication of imperatives of declaring June 12 a day of remembrance: “You cannot shave a man’s hair in his absence,” “You cannot jump into a moving train,” “You cannot clap with one hand.” The Guardian Life spoke with M.K.O Abiola’s daughter, Mrs. The gesture is also intended to commemorate the lessons of free, fair and credible polls to democracy as an inclusive system of governance. Last Friday, was the first time that Nigeria acknowledged the suitability of June 12 the national honour it deserves as a public holiday. Whenever elections are rigged, does it true testimony that the lessons of June 12 had been well digested? What about the translation of elections into mini-war fares? Each passing moment, it is sounds as if the conversations over June 12 have not touched on the core of the eternal lessons surrounding the supreme sacrifice paid by Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola to liberate Nigerians from the clutches of bad leadership and poverty.
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