The Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Alao has described the newly institutionalized June 12 as a celebration of mediocrity, adding it is also a mockery of what the late Moshood Abiola fought and died for.
Oba Alao lamented the quality of the electoral process that produced the current leadership and dismissed it as a shamble, calling the political elite to task for their role in the menace which, according to him, rubbished the essence of primary elections, for instance, in electoral exercise.
The Vice-chairman of Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs raised the alarm on the danger inherent in manipulating the political process to preserve the interest of a few drawn from different ethnic and religious divide at the expense of the generality of the populace, expressing fear on the end result of such practice.
“Today June 12, 2019, is a sad day to me as one who witnessed the struggle which the late MKO Abiola put up against a military system which was determined to frustrate the popular mandate freely and fairly given to him in 1993. What I see them doing today is not what Abiola fought for. It is not a reflection of June 12 and good governance which he died for. What we see is only what those politicians want for their own interest alone,” he noted.
The Olugbon, thus, called on his fellow royal fathers in the country to rise to the challenge posed by politicians’ indifference to the rights of Nigerians, urging them to reclaim the rights for the people because traditional rulers are the hope to whom common people daily look forward to the direction.
He also pointed out that the insecurity in the country is alarming enough to wake the political elite up to the reality that the polity is overdue for a total cleansing.
“I am even tempted to say we are not yet ripe for democracy if what we see now is all they can offer us. But I still have hope in this country but our political class has work to do in this regard,” he said.
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