Alhaji Jamiu Abiola, son of the
late presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO
Abiola, has claimed that he once begged former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to
honour his father for the sacrifices he made for democracy in Nigeria but was
ignored.
According to him, Obasanjo, in
spite of being schoolmate with the late Abiola, was perceived as hating him.
In an interview with Vanguard;
Jamiu, who is the third child of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, said: “Right
now, I can say that I am the happiest man, not just literally, but factually. I
am the happiest man because for so long I felt that my parents died for nothing
because there is nothing worse than somebody making a sacrifice and the
sacrifice not recognised.
“It was recognised by Nigerians
but those that got power after June 12 found it convenient to sweep it under
the carpet for reasons best known to them.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is of
the same calibre with people like Mandela and Chief Abiola. Now he has shown
that it is not about where anyone comes from, but about the fact that we are
one. That is the symbolic meaning of what he has done.
“25 years ago the election was
held and nobody that got to power did what he has done. President Goodluck
Jonathan tried by naming the University of Lagos after him but people felt
that, UNILAG was too small for Chief Abiola. I was very happy when he did it
because I believe that if someone is going somewhere, he must start from
somewhere.
“When Obasanjo was the President,
I visited him several times and called him several times. He also called me.
“Even when I wrote my first book,
he did a fantastic review of the book and said the book gave people hope.
“There was a time I sent him a
text message when he was President, telling him that peoples’ impression about
his failure to honour Abiola was because he did not like him.
“Unfortunately, he did not do it.
“When I wrote the second book on
my father, I gave him the book. I am sure he read it. All I have done for my
father were not for a favour. They are the things I am supposed to do as a son.
I saw it as an obligation. I will also want my son to do so for me.
“Half a loaf of bread is better
than none. President Jonathan did what he did because he had good intention.
“Unfortunately, MKO Abiola has a
lot of enemies, who claim to be his friends. Those were the people causing the
problem. Imagine a President of Nigeria making a statement and less than five
minutes later, people were in BRT buses protesting against the announcement.
They were on Third Mainland Bridge causing problems. How were they mobilised?
“A lot of people, who did not want Jonathan to
have goodwill in the Southwest, opposed it. That is to show that MKO Abiola was
so powerful that even in death, he has so many enemies. That is why I said we
have to thank President Buhari specially. I am not saying he is angelic but he
should be supported to excel.”
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