June 12- What Happened?

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In celebration of the June 12 Democracy Day all over Nigeria, we would love to tell you a true story.
This is not your regular story and not a sad one too, it is the experience of a young Nigerian during the aftermath of Chief M.K.O's death. This storyline would be incomplete without touching first the surface of history in Nigeria.

HISTORY

WHAT HAPPENED IN JUNE 1993?

Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola also known as M.K.O, was a businessman, philanthropist, publisher, aristocrat, politician, Muslim by religion, and a Nigerian, born on August 14, 1937 and died under suspicious circumstances.

In June 1993, Chief Moshood Abiola ran for the presidency and appeared to win the popular vote in what was considered to be a free and fair election. He won the election with a score of 58.36% of the 14 million votes cast and his rival, Tofa, polled 5,952,087 votes, representing 41.64%. Although the vote was annulled by the former military head of state, on the basis that the election was corrupt, and when Chief M.K.O  rallied support to claim the presidency, he was arrested for treason by the military regime led by the then head of state General Sani Abacha and was later sent to prison for four years. Both religious and human rights activists from across the globe called for his release.

One month later after the mysterious death of General Sani Abacha in June 1998, on the day Chief M.K.O was to be released from prison, he met with United States delegates in Nigeria which included Assistant Secretary Susan Rice and Thomas Pickering to discuss the country’s planned transition to democratic rule. It was during the July 7 meeting that M.K.O suddenly became ill, collapsed and later died in a hospital. Some said it was a coup while others believed he was beaten although autopsy results showed that he had died of heart failure. 👇

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In a report titled “The stolen victory and mysterious death of Abiola” an interview with Charles Stuart Kennedy in April 2003 was cited. Also, Thomas Pickering was said to have offered a first-hand account of the incident and its aftermath where he stated that “His (Chief M.K.O) supporters were claiming that he was the legal and rightful president of Nigeria and this made the military just a little bit nervous”.

THE STORY

I was six years old when Chief M.K.O Abiola died, a primary school student alongside my elder sister at a publicly owned institution Fazi Omar Ahmadiya (F.O.A) primary school Okokomaiko. It was a normal day for school as we were dressed up for learning as usual. We made our way to school that morning and had our assembly before we were dismissed to our various classes.

A few hours into school time I heard an emergency announcement but I couldn’t really tell what it was, all I knew was that we had to be kept safe within the school premises till whatever was happening out there was managed by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies at that time.

It got so intense that teargas were thrown into the school premises, I wouldn’t know why someone would throw such into a school to create fear and panic. Despite the pandemonium, the school was able to assemble her students’ which included pupils from schools one and two under various leaders. In my case my seniors were in front of me as they were the ones, I could see amidst them trying their best to create a path for us through the school’s back fence for safety.

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My sister Glory located me, she was older and ahead of me in school. That day Glory was my wonder woman like what we have in our superhero series today “Princess Diana”. I remember her grabbing her little brothers’ hands as she ran past the broken fence in other to get us to safety. As we ran out for safety, I could see with my eyes and feel the definition of riot right in front of me, Nigerians fighting, the street I walked through to school peacefully a few hours ago had become chaotic.

Carried away with what my mind, body, and soul were consuming at the moment I never realized that my wonder woman had let go of my hands, and by the time I noticed I was alone running OMG! panic set in. My feet became heavy, my vision blurred, I froze up and in fact, I went blank not knowing what was happening around me at the moment. Everywhere was white that’s all I remembered. Ever heard of peace during a pandemic or a storm? That was how it felt, trust me “That’s the best way I can explain it” Laughs.

When I became conscious everywhere was dark to my surprise and my hand was held by another wonder woman, my sister’s friend from school took me to my house. On reaching home there was this settlement and calmness when my parent and other siblings saw me as they were worried that two of their kids went to school and only one returned without knowing the whereabouts of the other.

My parents asked the hero that brought me home that night and she explained how everybody was running and yet I wasn’t. She explained that I stood still in the midst of the destruction as she ran, grabbed my hands, and took me to her parents till I became conscious and was ready to be brought home.

Conclusion

To date, I remain grateful to my parents, my two wonderful women, and to all of YOU for reading to the end.

This story is dedicated to all who experienced the aftermath of Chief M.K.O Abiola’s death.

God bless Nigeria.

Sources for history:

·         www.legit.ng

·         www.Adst.org

·         www.africa.upenn.edu

Please feel free to share your experiences with us via the comment section and if you have an interesting story or write-up you’d want to share with the world, you can as well reach out to us.

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