The need to save Nigeria’s economic fortunes from floundering and reduction of poverty occasioned by corruption were highlighted events that characterised the 30th anniversary of June 12 celebrations.
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Speaking as a guest speaker at the June 12 event organised by Alliance of Yoruba Democratic Movements (AYDM), a coalition of 121 Pan Yoruba coalition spread across the South West states including Edo, Delta, Kogi and Kwara State, Wale Adeoye, stated that to address the problem, there is need to involve collaboration of both government and the people.

Adeoye emphasised the need to focus on exceptional leadership, saying when the Action Group (AG) came into power in January 1952, the challenge was how to build the strongest economy in the region and its first policy was ‘free and compulsory education’.

“We need more great thinkers who can unite the people for collective response. We can repeat what chief Obafemi Awolowo did through creativity of leadership and commitment of the people to partner with the political leadership to transform the lives of our long-suffering people.

“To lift our people, Lagos must realise that its prosperity is nothing without the prosperity of the Yoruba frontier states. This is while the old Western Region needs to strengthen collaboration in agriculture, security, transportation and information technology.”

He maintained that Lagos should open up new frontiers of cooperation with Benin, Togo and Ghana, adding that Sokoto State collaborates with Niger Republic in many areas, the same as Borno State with Chad and Cameroon in some areas.

“More importantly, the neighbouring countries around Lagos have Yoruba indigenous people. In Cote d’ivoire alone, as at 1998, there were some 3.5million Yoruba people resident in that country. If there is a rail between Nigeria and Niger Republic, there is nothing wrong with a rail from Lagos to Ivory Coast. Lagos needs to work out collaboration with Delta state, which is just two hours by water transportation from Epe. This will create jobs and promote trade and investment across the old Western Region.”

Adeoye urged government/community partnership in building and maintenance of infrastructure, adding that Lagos needs to strengthen regional integration extended to the old Western Region to include the countries in West African Coast.
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He said Lagos needed to create its own Museum of History, where students from public and private schools could visit to learn about its history, adding that a booklet on the history of Lagos should also be produced and made compulsory for pupils to learn.

“Lagos needs to cut financial waste where possible through the creation of its own Anti Corruption Institution. Lagos needs not to wait for The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to address corruption in public and private institutions.

“We suggest that Lagos works with artisan and the informal sector such as Nigeria Automobile Technician Association (NATA), bricklayers beyond electoral fortunes. The Lagos State Government should appreciate the need for skilled artisan manpower, which continues to diminish. Today, our tillers, bricklayers, and artisans are from Togo, Ghana and the Benin Republic.

“The capital flight in the informal sector is in billions. We need to train our artisans (even if they have to pay for it) to ensure they at least meet West African Regional standards. It will involve training on work ethics, honesty and effective service delivery. Lagos and South West used to supply the West African Labour market with artisans. That has changed.

“The corruption in the informal sector today is huge. The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) should not just be about elections. There should be constant training on public relations, conflict management and civil relationship which today is extremely poor. The driving culture of public and private transportation in Lagos is chaotic and mind-boggling as it is often associated with violence and fatal accidents. How many training courses do NATA, NURTW members attend in one year? Is there a reward mechanism for drivers in Lagos? Do we have a data bank of all drivers in Lagos and their mental history? Many of these artisan groups are in AYDM, so we know their challenges and we speak from experience.”

Adeoye maintained that those calling for military rule were doing so out of ignorance and folly, saying Nigerians couldn’t question the financial crimes committed by the military administrations during their reign.

“Free speech was an aberration. Newspaper houses were shut. Journalists were detained or killed. Military rule is evil. History cannot erase easily the heat of the battle, the cries, the agony, the pains of the rich and the poor, the haves and have nots and the defenceless people alike when Nigeria was under the yoke of military rule.
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“The military itself suffered hemorrhage. Many of its officers were killed, detained or tortured. The impacts of military rule on the sub-consciousness of Nigerians find expression today in the spate of anger and violence on our streets, extremism and terrorism. The acts of aggression seen in people are not isolated from the damage done to our psyche by military rule. No matter the pains and shortcomings of the present, we may be moving slowly, but we are not moving backwards. The present is far better than anything the best military can offer.”

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on his part, urged the people to remain steadfast and guard the fledgling democracy jealousy, while stressing the need to remain united as one great people with common destiny and, most importantly, continue to have faith in the “Renewed Hope” mantra of President Bola Tinubu.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, added that what was most profound about this year’s celebration is that, for the first time since 1999, Nigeria is having at the helm of affairs, one of the foremost leaders of the June 12 struggle, in Tinubu.

“It is worthy to note that Lagos continues to play prominent roles in the sustenance and development of our democracy. In the victory of President Tinubu, and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, at the polls, Nigerians, once again, re-ignited the spirit of June 12, 1993 and the hope that it signifies by deemphasising the divisive issues of ethnicity and religion in leadership recruitment .

“The struggle for the de-annulment of that election won by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, which was spearheaded by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), was strongly resisted by the military, with devastating consequences. In the struggle, young Nigerians, including university students, paid the supreme price across the states as well as on the streets of Lagos, which was the epicentre of the protests against the blatant disrespect for the will of the Nigerian people expressed through the ballot.

“Today, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of that historic election in the annals of our country, it is proper and necessary to pay glowing tribute to the memories of the symbol of that struggle. Chief Abiola, his loving wife, the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola and all those who sacrificed their lives, includes those Nigerians who were killed on Ikorodu Road in Lagos.
We must salute the courage of the leadership of the Nigerian students (NANS) at the time. ”

Meanwhile, Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has urged President Bola Tinubu to fulfil the dreams of a prosperous country to Nigerians.

Adams added that the democracy icon, the late Moshood Abiola, stood for ‘justice, freedom, equity, liberty and sustainability of democratic tenets.’

Adams noted that the death of Abiola would not be in vain because, according to him, democracy has come to stay in Nigeria.
He added that though there are challenges that have threatened the foundation of this democracy, things could be better with a ‘proper approach’.
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“We cannot achieve much if our democracy is tied to the 1999 Constitution that we are using presently in Nigeria.
“The 1979 and 1999 Constitutions are tools that the military imposed on us to preserve their atrocities. The constitutions have always remained the bane of Nigeria. That is why we are where we are at the moment.

“Unless we embrace regionalism, and let the federating units develop at their own paces, Nigeria may find it very difficult to realise its lofty dreams. With a new administration in power, there is a need for President Tinubu to come up with a policy direction that has a human face,” he said.

Also speaking, the President of the Women Arise Initiative, Dr Joe Okei Odumakin, harped on the need to continue to re-invent ‘the spirit of June 12 in the national consciousness of every Nigerian’.
“Nigerians who put aside the primordial influence and voted for the late MKO Abiola must never give up.

“Identity Politics is not really bad, but it has been demonised here in Nigeria. All over the world, identity politics is practiced. So, we must work on the unity of this country. When there is unity, there is peace.

“I am appealing to President Tinubu for the de-annulment of June 12. Abiola must be recognised as one of our past presidents. He died for our collective struggle,” she stated.

Also, Civil society organisations under the aegis of June 12 Coalition Democratic Formations, has called on President Tinubu to put in place a mechanism for the establishment of ‘June 12 Mandate Centre,’ as a warehouse and research institute to keep the memory of the event and enrich the country’s democracy.

The General Secretary of the group, Comrade Nelson Ekujimi, demanded that compensation be paid to victims of the June 12 struggle both living and dead.

The group, while making the demands, asserted that the struggle for June 12, 1993 Presidential mandate was about restructuring of Nigeria along the lines of true federalism for a peaceful, progressive and prosperous country, to which “we at June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations remain resolutely and irrevocably committed.
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“Therefore, as we continue on the non-negotiable democratic path of seeking a better society through political restructuring of the polity to allow for devolution of political powers and deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
“While we recognise that some of the gains that have been made in the course of our democratic journey so far, we must also admit that some human errors have been committed, but as the people with an eye on history, we cannot but remain focused on the larger picture of a democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria to the glory of God and benefit of humanity,” he added.

Ekujimi commended and congratulated Nigerians for electing President Tinubu into office in the last election, describing him as one of the arrowheads, who initiated and consistently celebrated the annulled election as governor of Lagos State annually for eight years between 1999 and 2007 with other pro- democracy forces.

“It was his tenacity in keeping faith with June 12 commemoration that sustained the fire of the June 12 mandate even after he left office, with his successors in Lagos continuing in that tradition till its official recognition and declaration by government in 2018.

The rights activist, however, observed that Tinubu’s administration has started on a good footing by his constructive engagement with critical stakeholders in the Nigerian project on national issues, saying this is a signpost of his towering credentials as a democrat par excellence “and reinforces our belief in Renewed Hope for Nigeria.”

Ekujimi called on Nigerians to continue to keep an abiding faith with democracy and refuse to be incited and hoodwinked by anti-democratic elements who do not wish the country well.

Abiola’s daughter, Ayo Abiola, thanked the state government for always acknowledging the struggles of her late father.
Abiola said that her late father helped people who had one problem or the other, hence, he felt that running for and becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would ensure he transformed lives further.

She said that a testament to the struggle of June 12 was seeing a member now the president of the country.

‘’So, we hope and we pray and we expect to see great things from this administration, and we know that they will hold the principles of June 12 dear and close to their heart,” Abiola said.

Also, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) secretary general, Ayo Opadokun has urged President Tinubu to return Nigeria to federal constitutional governance upon which the nation secured independence.

The NADECO chieftain recalled how the military abrogated and substituted negotiated federal constitution and replaced it with various decrees, which had unitarised all government policies and activities.

According to him, this, in turn, has occasioned injustice, inequity, disregard for the rule of law and all kinds of discrimination.
Opadokun, in the message titled ‘June 12 and the Search for Democracy’, said Mr Tinubu should implement the report of the Nasir El-Rufai panel.

He said the panel recommended that APC fulfill its promise of returning Nigeria to federal constitutional governance.“President Tinubu perhaps was brought to the government to return Nigeria to the path of sanity where it will be able to establish a productive government that fastly lifts its people out of prolonged misery and poverty.”
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