June 12, 21 years after: Reminiscences

How time flies. Exactly today, 21 years ago, Nigerians went to the polls to elect a President who would govern the country after the exit of the military from the political centre stage.
Reminiscing about the past, it seems the events that convulsed Nigeria 21 years ago happened just yesterday. It was an election acclaimed globally to be the freest and fairest in Nigeria, ever. The two-party system foisted on Nigerians by the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida – the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) made things easier. While Bashorun MKO Abiola ran on the platform of the SDP, with Ambassador Babagana Kingibe as his running mate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa ran on the platform of the NRC, with foremost economist and former Governor of the Central Bank of Biafra, Dr. Sylvester Ugo, as the running mate.
It was an election like no other. Though it was organised by the military, Nigerians freely chose who they wanted to be their president. Abiola’s campaign slogan was Hope ’93. Nigerians had hoped that in Abiola’s presidency, their lot would improve dramatically. And it did, even if fleetingly. It is said that when it became evident that Abiola would win, Tofa sent him congratulatory message. That was perhaps the first and last time such a sportsmanly gesture would be displayed by a Nigerian presidential candidate.
But, why not? Abiola defeated Tofa in his home state of Kano and his running mate in Imo. His was a pan-Nigerian victory. Records also have it that as results were being announced, prices of goods and services were dropping. Such was the joy in the land and the hope engendered by the result of the election that some artisans were said to have refused payments for services rendered.
Of course, Abiola was not going to solve all of the country’s problems. No one man ever does and no government can. But hope is an essential ingredient of governance. Without hope, a people become disillusioned. A leader must inspire hope in the people. Unfortunately, that is one thing that is lacking now. Nigerians have become completely hopeless.
By annulling the election, Babangida committed a heinous crime against the country which he was privileged to rule for eight years. It is a crime that will forever haunt him.
On Sunday, I read for the umpteenth time the annulment speech which he delivered on June 26, 1993, two weeks after he annulled the poll. Just like 21 years ago, it still rang hollow. After the initial rambling about the socio-economic and political engineering his regime had undertaken in eight years, he attempted defending the indefensible by explaining why the election was annulled.
“Even before the presidential election, and indeed at the party conventions, we had full knowledge of the bad signals pertaining to the enormous breach of the rules and regulations of democratic elections. But because we were determined to keep faith with the deadline of 27th August 1993 for the return of civil rule, we overlooked the reported breaches. Unfortunately, these breaches continued into the presidential election of June 12, 1993, on an even greater proportion,” he rationalised.
“There were allegations of irregularities and other acts of bad conduct leveled against the presidential candidates but NEC went ahead and cleared them. There were proofs as well as documented evidence of widespread use of money during the party primaries as well as the presidential election. Evidence available to government put the total amount of money spent by the presidential candidates as over two billion, one hundred million naira (N2.1 billion). The use of money was again the major source of undermining the electoral process.
“Both these allegations and evidence were known to the National Defence and Security Council before the holding of the June 12, 1993 election, the National Defence and Security Council overlooked these areas of problems in its determination to fulfill the promise to hand over to an elected president on due date,” Babangida claimed.
“Apart from the tremendous negative use of money during the party primaries and presidential elections, there were moral issues which were also overlooked by the Defence and Security Council. There were cases of documented and confirmed conflict of interest between the government and both presidential aspirants which would compromise their positions and responsibilities were they to become president.”
There were so many other inane and absurd reasons advanced to rationalise the unconscionable act, including an attempt to save the judiciary from itself.
Yet, after acknowledging in one breath that “it is true that the presidential election was generally seen to be free, fair and peaceful,” Babangida went ahead to throw the sucker punch.

“To continue action on the basis of the June 12, 1993 election, and to proclaim and swear in a president who encouraged a campaign of divide and rule among our ethnic groups would have been detrimental to the survival of the Third Republic,” he said.
It is interesting to note that none of these alleged infractions had been substantiated till date. Babangida felt and still feels he owes Nigerians no explanation. As far as he is concerned, it is enough to patronizingly tell us that as the Commander-in-Chief then, he was responsible for what happened. That is the height of impunity.
Anybody who is still in doubt as to why Nigeria is in such a huge mess today needs not look any further. The fact that nobody has been brought to justice over that singular act that brought out the worst in us is the reason why it will be difficult for the country to make progress. For us to move forward as a nation, we must confront our past squarely. Other countries such as Turkey and Egypt are doing that. No one man should be more powerful than his country.
June 12 was more than an election. It destroyed so many myths which our unscrupulous elite used in wheedling the unwary. It laid bare the political chicanery inherent in the often hyped ethnic and religious divides.
Is it true that northerners don’t want southerners to rule Nigeria? The June 12 poll provided the answer which is No. Abiola, a southerner defeated Tofa in his home state of Kano and Ugo, his running mate, in his home state of Imo. He won overwhelming majority of votes in almost all the states, including the so-called core North.
Abiola, a Muslim from the Southwest, who had promoted the cause of Islam, perhaps, more than any other individual, picked a fellow Muslim, Kingibe, as running mate. It was a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Yet, he defeated Tofa even in the Christian dominated Southeast where his running mate came from. In one magic moment, Nigerians said no to all the contrived primordial cleavages that the elites have used in holding the country hostage.
Of course, all these things were achieved because of one man – Abiola. He was not a reluctant candidate. He craved to be President, worked hard for it by building the necessary bridges of understanding. Through his unequalled philanthropy, he blurred the ethnic and religious divides in the country. He was a household name in all the nooks and crannies of the country. He was his own godfather. Nigerians voted for him because they felt they knew him and they loved him.
Because they knew him, they believed in him. And because they believed in him, it was easy for them to buy into his promise of a better tomorrow. They “hoped” with him for the possibly of a brighter future, a great Nigeria.
The annulment of that election rudely dashed these hopes and threw Nigeria into a tailspin of ethno-religious crises. The annulment punctured Nigeria’s journey towards establishing a democratic society and aborted a determined and bold attempt by a people at fostering a nationhold.
The consequence is the unmitigated disaster we have on our hands right now.
If Nigeria must stop plumbing the tragic depth of despair, the spirit of June 12 must be recreated in 2015.