Until the Fourth Republic, 29th May was just an ordinary day. No United Nations’ Day, No International Day. No global anniversary. Nothing, except that John F. Kennedy, the assassinated United States President, was born on 29th May 1917.
My problem started with the 1914 Amalgamation and Flora Shaw’s (Lord Lugard’s wife) Nigeria. We can’t forget the sweat and blood of the struggle for independence! On 30th May 1967, while my parents were discussing having another child, Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the Republic of Biafra! I hate to talk about the several 29th May of the three years civil war – my hospital delivery amidst gunshots, my first birthday with helicopter hovering overhead to be sure the gathering was not rebel troops etc
The real trouble started in my university. By way of background, in April 1978, the “Ali Must Go!”, the first major students’ riot against fees increase crippled Nigeria leading to the death of many students, especially at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. The anniversary of that event often spilled into May, causing protest and school closures. Besides, ABU never really forgave the military government and was always in the forefront of any agitations or protests. On 23rd May 1986, a few days to my Jambite birthday, “Ango Must Go!” exploded across Nigeria when innocent ABU students were murdered in cold-blood by security forces.
On my 19th birthday, I was dodging bullets and teargas to get to motor park on the way to Benin following school closure. For the next four years throughout my university days, every anniversary of the ABU massacre led to more riots, more killings and indefinite school closures. One of such led the Ibrahim Babangida military government to close the universities for nearly a year, leading to the now famous, “six years for a four-year course” due to ASUU strike.
After university, I managed to rescue my birthday from Nigeria but not for long. Nigeria happened again on 12th June 1993, 13 days after my birthday and this time, I lost control totally. Everything from then on was either 12th June anniversary or days before. Hear me, while I was still enjoying my birthday cake, on 4th June 1996, Kudirat Abiola was assassinated on the street of Lagos. I almost went into coma! Who will be this wicked to lock up her husband, the one alleged to have committed treason, and then kill his wife! A classic case of visiting the sins of the “husband on his wife”.
After Kudirat’s death, I suspended celebration of my birthday definitely. It was a wise preemptive decision because on 8th June 1998, General Sani Abacha suddenly died. Knowing Nigeria, I concluded that 12th June or 8th June would never go away. And I was right. But the worse was yet to come!
As if things were not bad enough, before my very eyes, the new Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in a national live broadcast, proclaimed 29th May 1999 as the new handover date. After that broadcast, we sat still; no one uttered a word. Some awkward moments passed and my boss (back then) said: “29th May? No national significance”. Unconsciously, I replied, “it’s my birthday”. His friend responded, looking straight at me: “Good for you, but 1st October is better”. I had mixed feelings then about the change to 29th May and I still do even now! From that very day, I switched off on politics, having expended much time and energy on the 12th June struggle.
My interest in politics was restored when late President Umaru Yar’Adua openly confessed that the election that brought him to power was flawed! I stand corrected, he’s probably the first President, worldwide, to make such a claim! He insisted on electoral reforms for credible, free and fair election. Sadly, he passed on and his successor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan remained true to the cause. On the path to electoral credibility, card readers, among others, were introduced and this time, I was sure to celebrate 29th May 2015 at the Eagle Square with the new President whoever won. This was not to be as large-scale reliance on incidence forms by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and massive under-age voting in many parts of the country marred the process. I refused to attend that eagerly awaited handover.
From 2016 – 2022, my expectations were level and I was rarely disappointed. During this period, INEC began a series of electoral reforms for transparent, free and fair election. A new electoral law was signed, abolishing the incidence form. The acclaimed game-changer, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) was introduced in 2021, and real-time, polling unit level result upload on INEC Result Viewing (iREV) portal, a viewing process of election results was introduced to prevent rigging.
Finally, Nigeria was about to have a credible election, even better that of 12th June 1993. The expectation was palpable; coupled with the agitation by youths to take back their country from the ruling class! I ordered two suits, my tailor made two native attires for my 29th May 2023 celebration; because I believed that whoever wins the 2023 Presidential Election will be the people’s choice!
The Presidential and National Assembly election on Saturday, 25th February 2023 was an anti-climax! BIVAS failed to transmit/upload results and iREV malfunctioned. Everything fell apart. Again, I suspended my 29th May birthday, but this time to reflect deeply on my beloved country.
Frankly, I strongly feel that the Federal Government should move handover date back to 1st October so I can have my 29th May back!
Dr. Okogun, an organisation and management expert, is based in Lagos.
