Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said June 12 remained a
\nthreshold in Nigeria\u2019s national life and demanded some soul-searching
\nfrom Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Mr Abubakar said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday that the day was
\none to ask the salient question of \u201cHow better off are Nigerians?\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mr Abubakar, June 12 demands something bigger than merely
\ndeclaring it a Democracy Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cJune 12 is at the soul of our democratic struggle; a threshold in our
\nnational life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe significance of the celebration of June 12, 1993, Presidential
\nElection is a reminder of our history to becoming a democratic country.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn this day 26 years ago, Nigeria voted for democracy against the
\njackboot notion of oppressive totalitarianism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe collective decision by Nigerians to elect democracy on that day was
\nnot to aggrandise the political elite or to replace military
\ndictatorship with civilian autocracy. No.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe choice of democracy was to restore power to the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate
\nin the last general elections, there is still disrespect for the rule of
\nlaw and disregard of court orders on issues that border on fundamental
\nhuman rights.<\/p>\n
He said that it was not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when
\nordinary Nigerians still didn\u2019t have the freedom to find a better life
\nfrom the grip of poverty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when a
\ndisproportionate number of citizens are not sure of where their next
\nmeal will come from and when the sanctity of their lives is not
\nguaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when freedom of the
\npress, and of speech, fundamentals of democracy is being assailed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Abubakar said that as a compatriot who stood shoulder-to-shoulder
\nwith the icon of the June 12 struggle, the late Chief MKO Abiola, he
\nknew first-hand that the choice of HOPE as his campaign slogan wasn\u2019t
\n\u201cmerely a populist tokenism.\u201d He said Mr Abiola did not mean to deceive
\nNigerians with a hope he could not deliver upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, the minimum requirement for any June 12 convert is to demand of
\nthem wherever they may be \u2013 either in government or in private lives \u2013
\nto deliver on the promises they made to the people.\u201d Mr Abubakar said
\nthat being a lover of June 12 was to believe in the common good of the
\npeople. \u201cJune 12 is about the political leadership having the focus to
\nretool the Nigerian economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is about having the skills to create wealth and jobs for the teeming
\nmass of unemployed. It is not about the inclination for shared pains; it
\nis about shared prosperity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we celebrate yet another episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire
\nfor hope is more preponderant today much as it was 26 years ago. \u201cSo,
\nfor all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the hope alive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said June 12 remained a threshold in Nigeria\u2019s national life and demanded some soul-searching from Nigerians. Mr Abubakar said in a statement in Abuja…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n