Oyo State governorship aspirant, Dr. Abideen Olaiya, has joined in the clamour for recognising June 12, 1993 as a democracy day stressing that giving attention to May 29,1999 is a misplaced priority.
Dr. Olaiya, who stated this while speaking on the commemoration of June 12, 1993 election said the day was the foundation of the current democratic system.
He said June 12, 1993 was the mother of current democracy that began in 1999 emphasising that it was the event of the day and its aftermath that led to May 29,1999 transition.
Dr. Olaiya explained that it was high time the Federal Government gave due recognition to June 12 while the key player, Chief MKO Abiola should be accorded posthumously the status of former President of Nigeria.
”If not for June 12, May 29 transition from Military to civilian would have been a mirage. May 29 is a product of June 12 and the day as well as the major stakeholder, Chief MKO Abiola should be accorded the respect they deserve”.
Dr. Olaiya decried the rate at which successive democratically elected officials in various arm of government had been playing politics with June 12.
He noted that many of the advocates of June 12 were political with the spirit of the day and were full of motion without movement, slogan without voice, and journey without destination.
”In reality, June 12 means challenge the status quo, it means no retreat no surrender, it means people’s votes must count and it means people’s welfare policies must be taken as a top priority. Until good governance is established in Nigeria, the spirit of June 12 will keep roving our political landscape.”
The lecturer turned politician said June 12, 1993 experience was a turning point in his life which enticed him to politics.
Dr. Olaiya said he started picking interest in politics with observed insensitivity and injustice through the annulment of the election which remained the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria.
”I was apolitical throughout the first three decades of my life, probably because of my family background as nobody in my family till then was a politician. When Chief MKO made his intention known to lead the country, it gave me ray of hope but it was the annulment of the election and subsequent events that followed that turned me to active politician in 1995.”
