Soyinka, has called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to
posthumously declare the
acclaimed winner of the annulled
June 12, 1993 presidential
election, late Chief Moshood
Abiola, an elected president.
He described the renaming of
government facilities after the late businessman as dubious.
Soyinka said this at an event
marking the 14th anniversary of
Abiola's death held at his Ikeja,
Lagos State residene on Saturday.
In his message read by the
President of Campaign for
Democracy and Women Arise, Dr.
Joe Okei-Odumakin, Soyinka
described the antagonists of
Abiola in the desire to honour
him after his death as
"compulsive deniers."
He said, "Nothing can restore
Nigeria's murdered president to
life but the consequences of the
original denial remain with us till
today. Trust is gone. Political
treachery is paraded as political morality. There shall always be a
call, however, to restore truth and redress history. It
goes beyond dubious renaming
ceremonies which generate needless and distracting
controversies.
"MKO Abiola was the nation's elected President; let that fact
be enshrined in the nation's
records. Then, we would have
embarked on one of the
tributaries to the amplitude of
the true national reconciliation.
"Abiola proved himself the
personification of rare political
courage. This nation owes him.
All who have held, and hold office
today since his death are
permanently indebted to him and
to his terminal sacrifice, it is a
moral demand that the
incumbent president exercises a
fraction of his exemplary
courage, and re-establish Abiola,
albeit posthumously, as Nigeria's
democratically elected president."
The Convener of the Save Nigeria
Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said
Nigerians would continually
honour Abiola whether the
government honours him or not.
Odumakin, in her remarks, also
said Abiola must be regarded as
a former president of the
country.
She said, "The CD enjoins
Nigerians to continue to insist on
the gazette of June 12 election
results as belatedly declared by
Humphrey Nwosu. We insist on
the posthumous recognition of
Abiola as president of Nigeria
and his portraits to be displayed
among past Nigeria's Presidents
and Heads of State."
Also, the National Coordinator of
the Oodua Peoples Congress, Mr.
Gani Adams, described Abiola's
death as a great sacrifice to
Nigeria. He called on Nigerians to
declare July 7 as MKO Abiola
Remembrance Day, just as the
June 12 anniversary.
Abiola's daughter, Mrs. Kudirat
Abiola-Costello, said the honour people gave to Abiola
after his
death had been a source of
courage to the family, adding that he did not die in vain.
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