Atiku Abubakar, Presidential
candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP has described the celebration
of June 12 as the “soul of Democratic struggle”
The former Vice President in a
statement he personally signed and made available on Wednesday said June 12 is
not merely to be declared a Democracy Day, but that the idea behind the event
of June 12, 1993 “demands Nigerians as democrats to do a soul searching and ask
the salient question of all time: how better off are Nigerians?
According to Atiku, it is not
enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day is
disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders.
The statement reads: “June 12 is
at the soul of our democratic struggle; a threshold in our national life.
“The significance of the
celebration of June 12, 1993, Presidential Election is a reminder of our
history to becoming a democratic country. On this day twenty-six years ago,
Nigeria voted for democracy against the jackboot notion of oppressive
totalitarianism.
“The collective decision by
Nigerians to elect democracy on that day was not to aggrandize the political
elite or to replace the military dictatorship with civilian autocracy. No! The
choice of democracy was to restore power to the people.
“Suffice it to state that the
idea of June 12 is not merely to declare it as a Democracy Day – much as
celebratory and commendable it might seem.
“The idea behind the event of
June 12, 1993, embodies something much bigger than that. It was a threshold
moment in our national life that demands of us as democrats to do a soul
searching and ask the salient question of all time: how better off are
Nigerians?
“It is not enough to declare June
12 a Democracy Day when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule
of law and wantonly disregards court orders on issues that border on
fundamental human rights.
“ It is not enough to declare
June 12 a work-free day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have
the freedom to find a better life from the suffocating grip of poverty, when
Nigeria is now the global headquarters of extreme poverty.
“It is not enough to declare June
12 a work-free day when a disproportionate number of citizens are not sure of
where their next meal will come from and when the sanctity of their lives is
not guaranteed.
“It is not enough to declare June
12 a work-free day when freedom of the press, and of speech, fundamentals of democracy
is being assailed.
“As a compatriot who stood
shoulder to shoulder with the icon of the June 12 struggle, Chief MKO Abiola of
blessed memory, I know first-hand that the choice of HOPE as his campaign
slogan wasn’t merely a populist tokenism.
“ He didn’t mean to deceive
Nigerians with a hope he could not deliver upon. And, today, the minimum
requirement for any June 12 convert is to demand of them wherever they may be –
either in government or in private lives – to deliver on the promises they made
to the people.
“It is therefore not acceptable
that an administration which had an opportunity of four years to deliver the
promise of change to Nigerians, not only reneged on that promise but propelled
the country into a near-comatose state will lay claims to being a true friend
of the June 12 struggle.
“To be a lover of June 12 is to
believe in the common good of the people. June 12 is about the political
leadership having the focus to retool the Nigerian economy. It is about having
the skills to create wealth and jobs for the teeming mass of unemployed. It is
not about the inclination for shared pains; it is about shared prosperity.
“As we celebrate yet another
episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire for hope is more preponderant today
much as it was twenty-six years ago. So, for all true lovers of democracy, let
us keep the HOPE alive.”
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Your administration spent eight yes, but it just hatch the eggs of squandermanear and illegal squaring of wealth to denied the citizens of their rights to have good roads, good drinking water,good electric city light, good education etc. And you are now talking. Abi?
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