President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Nigerians not to take democracy for granted. The president spoke on the commemoration of Democracy Day celebrations.
The occasion is marked yearly to remember the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by the late Moshood Kashimaro Abiola.
“We must not take democracy for granted, we must guard it jealously,” the president said on Monday.
The president who said democracy is better than military rule, noted that Nigerians who experienced military rule can differentiate between freedom and dictatorship.
Recall that former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida annulled the election won by Abiola on the basis that some prominent Nigerians did not want the winner of the historic election to rule.
Abiola later died in detention on July 7, 1998.
Based on popular demand from not a few Nigerians, former President Muhammadu Buhari, on June 6, 2018, declared June 12 Democracy Day, and also conferred on the late MKO the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR.
“For the past 18 years, Nigerians have been celebrating May 29, as Democracy Day. That was the date when, for the second time in our history, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government. The first time this happened was on October 21, 1979,” Buhari said.
“But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by this administration, June 12, 1993 was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29 or even the October 1.
“June 12, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our independence.
“The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the then military government does not distract from the democratic credentials of that process.
“Accordingly, after due consultations, the Federal, Government has decided that henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as Democracy Day.
“Therefore, the government has decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land, GCFR, to the late Chief MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled elections,” the ex-president noted.
