• Hausa Edition
  • Podcast
  • Conferences
  • LeVogue Magazine
  • Business News
  • Print Advert Rates
  • Online Advert Rates
  • Contact Us
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Leadership Newspapers
Read in Hausa
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Leadership Newspapers
No Result
View All Result

June 12: Democracy Still Work In Progress

by Leadership News
3 weeks ago
in Editorial
democracy day
Share on WhatsAppShare on FacebookShare on XTelegram

Today evokes good and bad memories about Nigeria’s democratic journey.

Advertisement

Exactly this day 32 years ago, the General Ibrahim Babangida-led military junta annulled what was widely acclaimed as Nigeria’s freest and fairest election, conducted on June 12, 1993.

In the election conducted by the Prof. Humphrey Nwosu-led National Electoral Commission, business mogul and philanthropist, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, was on the cusp of victory before the process was stopped.

That annulment, the agitations for its revalidation, and the military crackdown that followed cast Nigeria down a precarious route that threatened the very foundations of its nationhood and brought the country to the brink of collapse.

It was Nigeria’s most trying period post-civil war. After General Babangida stepped aside as the head of the military regime, his successor, General Sani Abacha, had to deal with the pro-democracy activists’ demand for the revalidation of the election. Things took a dramatic turn when the late Abiola declared himself president a year later on June 11, 1994, at Epetedo in Lagos, and General Abacha promptly arrested and charged him with treason. This only galvanised more groups, labour unions, and individuals to call for Abiola’s release and his installation as president.

RELATED

Nigeria Needs N2.1trn Investment To Meet Local Cement Demands, Crash Prices

Need To Stabilise Cement Prices

1 day ago
Constituency Projects: Matters Arising

Constituency Projects: Matters Arising

2 days ago

The Abacha regime came down very hard on perceived opponents. Some were clamped in detention, some were killed or maimed for life, while many were harried into exile. Many simply disappeared without a trace, while a few were assassinated, including Abiola’s wife, Kudirat.

In a twist of fate, both the jailer (Abacha) and the jailed (Abiola) later died in 1998, paving the way for the restoration of democracy a year later in 1999 following a short but successful transition midwifed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), at the end of which former Head of State, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, emerged from prison to become president. While Obasanjo, in his inaugural speech, proclaimed May 29—his inauguration day—as Democracy Day, President Muhammadu Buhari was to move it to June 12 in 2018.

Some of the notable figures in that struggle to retrieve governance from the military junta have received national recognition. Abiola has been posthumously conferred with the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), an award reserved for presidents and heads of state, while both his running mate, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, and the late pro-democracy and human rights advocate, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, received the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). Commendably, Buhari also tendered an unreserved apology to the Abiola family for the injustice done to it, pledging that such injustice would not be allowed again in the country.

As a newspaper, we recall that the APC-led federal government also promised that other persons who played active roles in that democratic struggle would be compiled and honoured. A day like this provides an opportune moment for the fulfilment of that promise. A person like Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, under whose watch that landmark election was conducted, deserves his flowers.

Above all, the struggle to have genuine democracy in Nigeria is far from over.

While the credibility of the 1993 election remains intact, the same cannot be said of the elections being conducted in the country these days. Many present-day politicians are so desperate to achieve political power that they will go to any length to achieve their end—most of the time bypassing the rules for fair electoral conduct. Also, due to weak and sometimes compromised electoral and judicial officers, the wrong people emerge as election winners and the judiciary affirms them. This defeats the essential value of the democratic choice of leaders through popular mandate.

The June 12, 1993 election stood out due to the unacrimonious nature of the electioneering and polling. People freely voted for their preferred candidates irrespective of religious and regional cleavages—unlike the last general election, where issues of religious and regional identity, as well as violence, marred the process. In some parts of Nigeria, citizens were threatened against—and forcibly prevented from—voting for their preferred candidates. The failure by stakeholders to abide by the process has led to widespread rejection of poll results, leading to long drawn-out litigations.

After 26 years of unbroken democracy, most Nigerians are getting poorer and poorer, and there is less guarantee of the freedom of expression. The government and its security agencies have grown increasingly repressive against peaceful protest—the height of it being the violent suppression of the EndSARS protest in Lagos in October 2020 and the EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024. There is also growing concern that the government is weaponising the Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act 2024 to persecute journalists and activists across Nigeria.

One of the driving forces for the democratic struggle was to reclaim the country from corrupt military men. Unfortunately, the struggle this time should be how to reclaim the country from corrupt politicians who seem to have captured the country and its institutions, and are using their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the country and the people. As a result, the hope of a glorious nation that pro-democracy campaigners paid huge prices for seems to be a pipe dream.

As Nigerians mark another Democracy Day today, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and all politicians in the country need to take a critical look at themselves and their conduct to see whether they represent the good or the bad part of Nigeria’s democracy.

Beyond the celebratory events and speeches by the president and various leaders in the nation, Nigerian politicians need to commit themselves to the principles of genuine democracy. That is the only was to make it meaningful to the citizenry.


We’ve got the edge. Get real-time reports, breaking scoops, and exclusive angles delivered straight to your phone. Don’t settle for stale news. Join LEADERSHIP NEWS on WhatsApp for 24/7 updates →

Join Our WhatsApp Channel

BREAKING NEWS: Nigerians can now earn US Dollars from the comfort of their homes with Ultra-Premium domains, acquire them for as low as $1700 and profit as much as $25,000. Click here to learn how you can earn US Dollars consistently.


Tags: Democracy DayJune 12
SendShareTweetShare
Previous Post

15 Years After, UMTH Conducts Another Successful Kidney Transplant

Next Post

NCAC, MEFA Kickstart First Of Six 4500-seater Performance Spaces At Arts & Craft Village

Leadership News

Leadership News

You May Like

Nigeria Needs N2.1trn Investment To Meet Local Cement Demands, Crash Prices
Editorial

Need To Stabilise Cement Prices

2025/07/05
Constituency Projects: Matters Arising
Editorial

Constituency Projects: Matters Arising

2025/07/04
The Return Of The Stolen Artefacts
Editorial

The Return Of The Stolen Artefacts

2025/07/03
Taming The Monster Of Inter-agency Clashes
Editorial

Needed: Synergy Among Security Agencies

2025/07/02
Drug Abuse: Time To Confront The Issue
Editorial

Drug Abuse: Time To Confront The Issue

2025/07/01
Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif: Justice Beyond Repression
Editorial

Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif: Justice Beyond Repression

2025/06/30
Leadership Conference advertisement

LATEST

ICC Under Fire Over ‘Bias’ Against Africa

In Brazil, Tinubu Vows To Eliminate Delays, Bureaucratic Bottlenecks In Agric Sector

Nigerian Gov’t Grants Visa Overstayers Amnesty To Regularise Status

Revocation: Kaduna Govt To Refund Buyers Of Queen Amina, Alhuda-huda College Houses 

40 Ghanaian Victims Rescued As Police Bust Human Trafficking Syndicate In Ondo

NASS To Transmit Constitution Review Report To State Assemblies Before December

Jigawa Local Gov’t Chairman Dies At 61

Club World Cup: 9-man PSG Defeat Bayern To Reach Semi-final

Sujimoto Pays ₦273m Salary Arrears, Eyes Construction Of Tallest Tower In Banana Island

Liverpool Stars Honour Diogo Jota, André Silva At Funeral In Portugal

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Football
  • Others
    • LeVogue Magazine
    • Conferences
    • National Economy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Leadership Media Group - All Rights Reserved.