Abiola, June 12 and the road not taken

Twenty-two years down the road, it is necessary to evaluate and understand the centrality of Chief Moshood Abiola’s sacrifice in bringing us the Fourth Republic. Chief Abiola was the winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election whose victory was voided by the military dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida. It was Abiola’s and other heroes’ and heroines’ sacrifice that has given us the long democratic dispensation we have been enjoying since 1999. The Abacha coup of November 1993 was a turning point in the struggle of Abiola to claim the presidency of Nigeria. With his victory in that year’s presidential election, Abiola became Nigeria’s President-presumptive and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, the Vice-President presumptive. Then Abacha seized power and the struggle entered a new phase.

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