-By Lloyd Ukwu-<\/p>\n
The June 12 1993 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola was
\nadjudicated the freest and fairest election in Nigerian history.
\nLamentably, the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida annulled
\nthe election. In place of Abiola, he appointed Ernest Shonekan to head an
\ninterim government. The Shonekan government wobbled under its own weight
\nof illegitimacy, inherent weakness and lack of moral authority. It finally
\ncollapsed when General Sani Abacha, the Minister for Defense in the
\ninterim government, shoved aside Shonekan and seized power.<\/p>\n
The majority of Nigerians, including those in the United States of America
\nwere appalled by the annulment of the June 12 election and the continued
\nmilitary rule under General Abacha. They were determined to force out the
\nmilitary and install the winner of the June 12 election, M.K.O. Abiola, as
\npresident. This resulted in the formation of National Democratic Coalition
\n(NADECO) by a number of prominent Nigerian politicians. Facing swift
\npersecution inside Nigeria, NADECO Abroad was created.The NADECO Abroad
\nwas led by Chief Anthony Enahoro. Other overseas branches were created.
\nChief Ralph Obioha led the NADECO-USA, Chief Raph Uwechue, the NADECO-UK
\nand retired General Cornelius Adebayo, NADECO-Canada. Washington DC, the
\ncapital of USA, was the hotbed of the NADECO-USA opposition to the Abacha
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
As the Counsel General of NADECO-USA, I incorporated the NADECO-USA and
\ndonated my law office in downtown (Central Business District) Washington,
\nDC for five years as the headquarters of NADECO operations in Washington,
\nDC. Chief Ralph Obioha spearheaded the NADECO-USA drive to oust the Abacha
\nregime and establish democracy in Nigeria. Among other things, he
\naddressed the US Congress, traveled extensively and gave series of
\nspeeches. He solicited and garnered recognition and help from different
\ncountries of the world. Other senior members of NADECO, including Bola
\nTinubu and John Oyegun lived in the Washington DC area and were also very
\nactive in the campaign to dislodge the Abacha government and install the
\nwinner of the June 12 election as president. The military junta of General
\nSani Abacha fought back. It unleashed a wave of terror on NADECO and other
\nprodemocracy activists. In Nigeria, he hung playwright and environmental
\nactivist, Ken Saro Wiwa, and the Ogoni 9. Abacha was a brutal, murderous
\nand barbaric dictator. But then Abacha was a product of Babangida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
\nscuttling of the June 12 elections. But then it was General Mohammadu
\nBuhari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overthrow of a democratically elected government of Alahji
\nShehu Shagari that set the stage for Babangidaism.<\/p>\n
With the mysterious deaths of both Sani Abacha and Chief MKO Abiola, most
\nof the members of oversea NADECO ended their exile; they returned home. It
\nboggles the mind that anyone that fought, under the auspices of NADECO,
\nagainst the Abacha military dictatorship can ever support Buhari for the
\npresidency. After all, Buhari, in some respect, was a more ruthless
\ndictator than Abacha. By whatever stretch of the imagination, Buhari is
\nnot qualified to lead a democratic Nigeria. His credentials and
\nantecedents speak against him. His antecedence shows clearly that, for
\nyears, he subverted the ideals NADECO stood for and fought for: democracy,
\nrule of law, fundamental human rights, freedom of worship, etc. In his
\ndesperation for power, he, in 1984, ousted President Shehu Shagari from
\npower, thus, brutally truncating the nation nascent but thriving
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
Now, he wants to benefit from democracy; he wants to be a democratically
\nelected president of Nigeria. The backing of Buhari presidential
\nambition by some former NADECO members is tantamount to a pat on the back
\nfor Buhari; he is being rewarded for shooting his way into power and
\ncommitting atrocities; jailing, maiming and killing of the innocent. It
\nsends a dangerous signal to the younger military officers: that it is okay
\nto plot coups, trample the constitution, and kill, maim and jail Nigerian
\ncitizens, for you will be rewarded for it. So, if Abacha were alive today,
\nand is running for president of Nigeria, the likes of Tinubu and Oyegun
\nwill have no compunction in sponsoring his presidency. After all, all
\nAbacha did was to follow in the footsteps of Buhari: seize power, hold
\nNigerians in submission to the gun and kill and maim. Buhari in one
\nrespect is worse than Abacha \u201c he overthrew a democratically elected
\ngovernment, Abacha did not. In other countries of the world, like the USA,
\npeople honor their war heroes. Lamentably, in Nigeria, we seemed poised to
\nhonor a coup plotters and brutal killer.<\/p>\n
The support for Buhari by the likes of the Tinubus and Oyeguns is
\ninconceivable. It is a betrayal of the NADECO cause. Tinubu and Oyegun are
\nturncoats. They are making mockery of the post June 12 struggle for
\ndemocracy and social justice that led to the establishment of democracy in
\nNigeria. They are desecrating the memory MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Ken
\nSaro Wiwa and many of those that died in the struggle against Abacha
\nmilitary tyranny and the institution of democracy in Nigeria. But then, it
\nis obvious that the motivation for their dalliance with Buhari is avarice,
\ngrasping avarice. Tinubu has a personal stake in the Buhari
\npresidency. He is scheming for the office of the Vice President. His
\nprot\u00c3\u00a9g\u00c3\u00a9, Yemi Osinbajo, is Buhari running mate. In the 2011
\npresidential election, Tinubu did not ally with Buhari because the Buhari
\npresidential campaign refused to meet his condition. Tinubu demanded that
\nBuhari running mate, Tunde Bakari, write and sign a post-dated
\nresignation letter, stating that if Buhari is elected president, he, the
\nVice President, will resign and relinquish the office of the Vice
\nPresident to Tinubu. There are speculations that Tinubu, this time, is
\nsupporting Buhari because Osinbajo, a Tinubu acolyte, wrote and signed a
\npost-dated resignation letter, stating that if elected the Vice President,
\nhe will, in three months, resign his post to make way for Tinubu.<\/p>\n
Tinubu rode on the coattail of MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Ken Saro Wiwa
\ninto power. He paid little lip service to NADECO and dumped it for his
\nselfish ends. Today, the same Tinubu is asking APC voters to disobey
\nelectoral laws with impunity by voting and remaining in the voting unit in
\ndirect contravention of the law. And his cheerleader SANs, Fashola and
\nOsibanjo instead of calling him to other, are cheering him on. It is a
\ncoded language for violence. Tinubu is telling the youths to stay and
\nunleash mayhem on fellow Nigerians. He wants to swim in their blood
\n(again) to power.<\/p>\n
Bola Tinubu has shamelessly betrayed the ideals that NADECO stood for by
\nsupporting the very persons that it was meant to fight. Buhari presidency
\nhas nothing to offer Nigerians. His political party, the APC talks about
\nchange. Yes, of course, they will bring about change but it can only be
\nretrograde, destructive change. Evidently, Nigerians can see through him.
\nNo wonder, they have, in the past, rejected him three consecutive times.
\nThis time around, despite his deliberate and frantic attempt to recast
\nhimself as a democrat with respect for the rule of law and tenets of
\ndemocracy, Nigerians will reject him again.
\n——————————————————————————————————<\/p>\n
Lloyd Ukwu, an international lawyer, writes from Port Harcourt, Nigeria
\nlawgroupinternational@gmail.com<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
-By Lloyd Ukwu- The June 12 1993 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola was adjudicated the freest and fairest election in Nigerian history. Lamentably, the military government of General Ibrahim…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n