June 12: Nigeria won’t won’t make progress until Abiola is recognised as president

A son of the late MKO Abiola, presumed winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election, Jamiu Abiola, has declared that Nigeria won’t make progress until his father is recognised as a president,

stressing that Chief Abiola should be so honoured because he and his wife, late Kudirat Abiola, sacrificed their lives to ensure that democracy was enthroned at a time military dictatorship reigned supreme.

Speaking in an interview with The Punch, Jamiu stated that the United States government named a street after his mother, the late Kudirat, because of the historical role she played in the post-June 12 struggle, adding that the Americans did that to spite the Nigerian government.

Abiola’s son, while insisting that the Federal Government has a responsibility to recognise his late father as a president though he was never allowed to rule, said; “This country will not prosper unless my father –the president –is recognised as a president of this country because he was and my mother (late Kudirat Abiola) ought to be honoured because they laid down their lives to ensure the enthronement of democracy while military dictatorship reigned supreme.

“Because of the historical role that my mother played in the post-June 12 struggle, a street was named after her by the United States government. It was on the 44th Street (and incidentally, my mother was killed at the age of 44) on Manhattan not far from the United Nations building on the same street with the Nigerian Embassy.

“The government of New York did that for a reason – to spite the Nigerian government at that time and to let the government know that what it was doing was wrong.”

Jamiu, who revealed that his father felt disappointed that the United States’ government could not help him become President of Nigeria, said; “after the presidential election, he went to America, trying to get the American government to back him so that he could realise the mandate Nigerians gave him through the ballot box.

“But that was impossible because there was no way the American government could work with a man that won an election but was not declared as the president of the country. Thus, he was disappointed. He had felt that since the Americans, like many other foreign observers, saw that the election was free and fair, he would gain their support to actualise his mandate. He went to look for help in America but he didn’t get it so he went back to Nigeria and that was when he now declared himself as president. We all know what happened afterwards.”