June 12 annulment resonates in southwest

Nigerians from different walks of life gathered across the southwest states of Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo, to mark the 24th anniversary of the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The five states had Monday as public holiday to commemorate the annulment of the presidential election, believed to have been won by late business mogul and politician, MKO Abiola, an indigene of Ogun State.
In Lagos, the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, at a symposium organised by the government in collaboration with June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations, said the June 12 election annulment should further strengthen the bond of unity among the various Nigerian tribes.
According to Ambode, the day and the events that followed would remain evergreen in Nigeria’s political history, being a process through which Abiola and others laid down their lives in a bid to actualise the popular will of the people expressed through the ballot box.
Represented by Idiat Oluranti Adebule, the state’s deputy governor, Ambode observed that the seed of the fourth republic being enjoyed was sown and watered by the blood of men and women who were cut down in their prime, adding that their memories would be honoured until the end of time.
While acknowledging the fact that the June 12 struggle was waged not only by Abiola and members of his family but also pro-democracy groups, particularly National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), students, trade unions and indeed all Nigerians, Governor Ambode said it was a thing of joy that by the collective efforts of government and people, Lagos State, over the years, had kept alive the yearnings and aspirations of the people expressed on June 12, 1993.
He said: “It is an open fact that the successive democratically elected governments in the State since 1999 have been totally committed to democratic principles, rule of law, strengthening of democratic institutions as well as implementation of programmes and policies that would enhance the wellbeing of all Lagosians, without bias for tribe, religion, political belief or gender.”
Ndubuisi Kanu, chairman of the occasion and former military administrator of Lagos State, said notwithstanding the rising tensions and agitations from all parts of the country, Nigeria could still be salvaged through restructuring, which would not be about re-inventing the will but returning to a federation of different peoples.
Dele Ashiru, from the University of Lagos, who spoke on the theme: “development strategy in Lagos: a blueprint for national development,” praised Lagos’ path of developmental governance since return to democracy in 1999.

 
JOSHUA BASSEY