Kudos to film maker Ose Oyamedan. Thirty-three years and four months after 12 June 1993, there is a documentary which tells Nigerians and the rest of the world what happened. As it is typical of us, it is a time for celebration. Not the appropriate time to ask the needed questions. Questions on why a cabal of less than 10 men could have the effrontery to alter the trajectory of a nation?
All Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola wanted was to become the President of Nigeria. That became a crime that was punishable by death. In the freest election in the history of this country, he was coasting to victory. Nigeria was about to be free from the death strangulation of the Northern hegemony. Millions of downtrodden Nigerians were about to take to the streets in celebration. Then they struck!!!
Ibrahim Babangida, then head of the military junta, single handedly spearheaded the annulment. The annulment led to protests and Babangida’s resignation as military President. Then the installation of a weak interim civilian administration, and the continuation of military rule under Sani Abacha following a bloodless palace coup. Abiola, the winner of the election, died in prison in 1998 after he was charged and convicted of treason for declaring himself President and Commander-in-Chief.
On the day he was expected to be released from detention, Abiola reportedly became restless, started coughing, and collapsed during the meeting. He was attended to by medical personnel and the United States delegation but died shortly after being taken to the State House Clinic. The then Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, said that there was no foul play involved and dismissed conspiracy theories about poisoning.
The questions that we should ask today is not why it took forever for this documentary to come out. Years had gone and the present-day generation is already asking the critical question: Who is MKO Abiola? Or why the family members were not celebrated during the movie premiere.
The Federal Government was all over this event. Where are the people connected to Abiola’s heroism? Where is the justice for the man who died in vain for us to have the democracy we have today?
Abiola’s campaign focused on economic issues. He was a vocal critic of the Babangida regime’s Structural Adjustment Programme, which imposed austerity measures to ensure state fiscal discipline following the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
When will Abiola ever get the justice that led to his assassination? Yes, I used that word. Where is justice for the man who sacrificed his life for us to be here today as a people?
Not to rain on the parade of Oyamadan, the great film maker. Bringing out a movie of this magnitude in our history should not about celebration. Abiola, was detained for four years, from his arrest in 1994 until his death. His detention was shrouded in secrecy, with the businessman and politician moved between different detention facilities throughout the period he spent in custody. When will there be a documentary on that?
Over to you filmmaker Oyamendan. We must not wait three decades after Abiola’s death for that.
So, I think. A man died in vain.
