As Nigeria marks this year’s Democracy Day, some persons who were part of the June 12th, 1998 election annulment struggle have recounted how they took to the street with President Bola Tinubu against the Nigerian Military,
Frank Kokori who was part of the struggle expressed happiness that one of the comrades who participated in the struggle is now the President of the country.
Addressing journalists in an event organised by Coalition for a Better Nigeria, Kokori said many of them were arrested and locked up, but some escaped to foreign countries and continued the struggle there.
“I feel nostalgic that 30 years ago, Nigeria has been under the rulership of the Military, over 30 years of absolute tyrant and dictatorship. I feel happy more that in my twilight years, I have to witness for the first time since the advent of democracy in this country that a participant of that struggle of June 12 to free our country from the hands of military is now the President.
“I am happy today that at my age, I have seen a man, my dear comrade and a partner in that struggle, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who was in the trenches with us I remember when some of us were finally picked up and locked up.
“Some managed to escape the evil machinations of the Military, and they escaped into exile, and those were the soldiers internationally, Anthony Enahoro, Wole Soyinka, John Oyegun, they were so many, they were flying the flag abroad with so much deprivation”, Kokori said.
The former President of Ijaw Youth Council, Asari Dokubo said when the June 1993 presidential election was cancelled, some of them wanted to go into arms struggle, but MKO Abiola was not ready for that.
“When finally it dawned on us that they were ready to kill him, and after he was arrested, we went to the trenches together with President Bola Tinubu, Pa Enahoro, Dan Suleiman, David Jang, Woke Soyinka, Ndubuisi Kalu and several others.
“So, today, our joy is that one of us who made these sacrifices is now at the saddle and we want him to inaugurate MKO Abiola posthumously as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, he noted.
In his address, the National Coordinator Coalition for A Better Nigeria, Comrade Awa Bamiji said if Tinubu’s presidency serves as an atonement for June 12 election, then the government should reserve the position of the Minister for Information and Culture for the Coalition.
He said for three Decades running, the Coalition remains the most organised Youths’/Civil Societies’ Platform with intimidating number of affiliate Organisations within and outside Nigeria.
“Our long chain of successes accounted for the organisational structure and capacity of this promising group,” he added.
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