Jamiu Abiola, son of the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, has said Nigeria is still battling the same societal vices—poverty, ethnic bigotry, and religious intolerance—that his father fought against and ultimately died for in the struggle to actualise the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
Speaking in an interview to mark the 32nd anniversary of the historic election, Abiola, who currently serves as the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Linguistics and Foreign Matters, said while the ideals of June 12 are not dead, Nigeria’s democracy remains deeply undermined by the failure to overcome entrenched divisions and socio-economic challenges.
“The ideals of the noble struggle are not dead; they are still alive,” he said. “Those ideals include standing against poverty-induced policies and standing against actions that promote religious and tribal bias. These vices continue to destroy Nigeria’s social and economic cohesion.”
Abiola described the 1993 election, widely regarded as the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history, as a watershed moment when Nigerians rose above ethnic and religious lines to elect his father, who ran on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The election was, however, annulled by the military regime of then-president, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), plunging the country into political turmoil and triggering years of pro-democracy activism.
MKO Abiola was later arrested after declaring himself president in 1994. He died in detention on July 7, 1998, under mysterious circumstances. His wife, Kudirat Abiola, was assassinated in Lagos on June 4, 1996.
Defending his father’s decision to contest the election and later declare himself president, Jamiu said: “Many believed that the latter was a suicide move, but it is better to die fighting for what you believe in than to live after abandoning a worthy cause. Take away June 12, and my father would have just been a generous, wealthy man. Today, he is an icon.”
He said that although it took him years to come to terms with his parents’ deaths, writing two books—The President Who Never Ruled and The Stolen Presidency—helped him process the grief and appreciate the legacy they left behind.
“In the beginning, I was too bitter and angry to see any silver lining. But writing those books liberated me,” he said. “It helped me understand that my parents are on the same level as Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Omar Mukhtar.”
On calls by former Jigawa governor Sule Lamido for the federal government to pay financial entitlements owed to MKO Abiola, Jamiu declined to endorse any monetary demands. Instead, he emphasised the importance of upholding the ideals for which his parents died.
“The call I always make is for the government to uphold equity and fairness to Nigerians,” he said. “Only when democracy becomes meaningful to the people can I truly say my parents did not die in vain. If the government decides to pay what it owes, that’s up to them. But the Abiola family is not clamouring for it.”
He noted that his father’s legendary generosity, which extended to giving his life for democracy, should serve as a lesson to Nigerians about selflessness and sacrifice.
Reflecting on the state of the Abiola family more than two decades after MKO's death, Jamiu acknowledged challenges but said the family remains united under their matriarch, Mrs Adebisi Abiola.
“We are as united as we can possibly be, given our family’s size and history,” he said. “It is not easy managing such a large family, but we thank God for her. Even my father used to say, ‘The bigger the head, the bigger the headache.’”
He also acknowledged ongoing legal battles over his father’s estate but expressed confidence that these would eventually be resolved.
Speaking emotionally about what he misses most about his father, Jamiu said it was his humour and charisma.
“In his presence, there was never a dull moment,” he recalled. “I wrote the books to honour him and protect his legacy from powerful enemies who tried to rewrite history. My father deserved nothing less than to be remembered in the most impactful way.”
Nigeria officially recognises June 12 as Democracy Day in honour of MKO Abiola’s electoral victory, a gesture first made by President Muhammadu Buhari and continued by the Tinubu administration.
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