Jamiu Abiola, son of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, has expressed that Nigeria would have achieved greater economic progress had his father been allowed to assume office after winning the annulled 1993 presidential election.
Speaking on Thursday during Channels Television’s June 12 Special Forum, which commemorated 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance in Nigeria, Jamiu highlighted the missed opportunities of that era.
“Nigeria would have been in a far better place economically because 1993 was a globally prosperous period,” he stated. “We could have taken advantage of that economic boom. But instead, we got a kleptomaniac leader. I won’t even talk about (Sani) Abacha, he has his issues wherever he is.”
Jamiu, currently serving as the Senior Special Adviser on Linguistics and Foreign Affairs to President Bola Tinubu, lamented ongoing efforts to erase his father’s legacy from the national narrative, even 30 years after the annulled election and 25 years after MKO’s death.
“In 2015, I wrote a book titled The President Who Never Ruled because I realised people were actively trying to rewrite Nigeria’s history without my father’s contribution,” he explained. “Foreign dignitaries would come and mention other leaders like Yar’Adua, but not MKO Abiola. It was like they wanted to shave his head in his absence.”
MKO Abiola who is widely regarded as the winner of the 1993 presidential election, was posthumously honoured in 2018 with the title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who also designated June 12 as Nigeria’s official Democracy Day, an act seen as long overdue recognition of his role in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
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