social injustice, ethnic chauvinism, and the repudiation of the
collective will of the people by military tyrants; and the triumph of
the will of the people, and their awakened aspirations over the terror
of the gun. However, in addition to its symbolisms, June 12 has some
lessons for Nigerians.
To overcome the drawbacks of parliamentary democracy and enhance the
fragile unity of our heterogeneous country, the crafters of the Nigerian
constitutions opted for presidential democracy. Conscientiously, they
crafted the Nigerian constitution to encourage the election of national
and unifying figures to the presidency. Unlike in parliamentary
democracy, where a local, parochial bigot, elected to represent a
rustic, insular outpost in parliament, can, through the internal
power-play of parliament, emerge the prime minister, only a national
figure, with an across the board appeal to the Nigerian electorate, can
become a president.
Moshood Abiola was an epitome of this recherché national and unifying
figure. For many years, he traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria
making friends, forming alliances and doling out his philanthropic
largesse. Although, a devote Moslem, he transcended religious
intolerance that emanates from every religion’s tendency to claim a
monopoly on the Truth, and thus, impress it on its votaries that theirs
is the only true faith. He extended his patronage to Christians, and
Christian projects. It was a testament to the trust – that bestrides
religious divides – reposed on him by Nigerians that Christians voted
en-masse for his Moslem/Moslem presidential ticket. In addition, he
bestrode the divisiveness of tribe in Nigerian politics. His friendship
and benevolence knew no bounds; it was totally indifferent to tribal and
regional divides. Invariably, he unified what was, for long, a
fissiparous and finicky electorate notorious for its extreme sensitivity
to ethnic and other peculiarities. Thus, he won a decisive victory in
that most transparent and credible presidential election in the history
of Nigeria.
Unfortunately, in stark contrast to Moshood Abiola, President Buhari is
an Islamic fundamentalist and an unabashed proponent of the Sharia penal
code. His undisguised religious bigotry unnerves many Nigerian
Christians; some even suspect that he has an agenda to Islamize Nigeria.
His tribalism and nepotism are deepening and widening the ethnic and
sectarian fault lines of the country. Never before, not even during the
civil war, have Nigerians been so divided along tribal, religious and
regional lines. Buhari’s appointments, especially, in the security
agencies were totally insensitive to federal character. It was so skewed
against southern Nigerians, especially, the Igbo. Of his eighteen
appointees to head the military and other security agencies, fourteen
were northerners, four, southerners, and none, Igbo. His Fulanization of
the leadership of the Nigerian security apparatus and his
administration’s obvious support for the Fulani blood-spattered
incursions into the Middle Belt and South of Nigeria is very worrisome.
Buhari is an extremely divisive figure; his presidency is rattling the
peace of the country by eroding mutual trust amongst Nigerians and
exacerbating ethnic and sectarian discords.
The June 12 election was acclaimed the most transparent and credible
election in Nigerian history. Contrarily, the election that re-elected
Buhari to a second term was undoubtedly rigged in favor of Buhari. Many
Nigerians suspected it and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
has evidence to that effect. In addition, impartial and reputable
international election observers, including the European Union, and
International Republic Institute, in their final reports of the February
23rd 2019 presidential election that re-elected President Buhari to a
second term, wrote that the election was deeply flawed.
So, as we extol the recognition of June 12 as the Nigerian Democracy
Day, it is important that we appreciate the lessons from June 12. The
lessons of June 12 are that Nigerians can organize and hold indisputably
free and fair presidential election; and a true national and unifying
figure can unify the Nigerian electorate and win a decisive presidential
victory without resort to electoral fraud. The other lessons of June 12
include open-mindedness, religious tolerance, and accommodation for all
in total blindness to creed and tongue, as opposed to the
narrow-mindedness, religious intolerance, tribalism, nepotism and
electoral fraud that are the hallmarks of the Buhari administration.
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria
maciln18@yahoo.com
0803 529 2908