Guardian

ON the march again, On the march again, waiting for Mr. President, MKO is our man o, was the theme song during Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential campaign.

The Guardian visited the sprawling resident and headquarters of Hope ‘93 at Abiola Crescent, Ikeja, last week. For somebody visiting the area for the first time, the thinking might be that the street was named after him as an honour. But that was where he lived. Like Abiola, who was a unique personality, the street also appeared unique. Not the conventional long stretch of road, just a circle street with an entrance.

Walking round to locate the compound where the man who held Nigerians spellbound with the Hope 93 slogan was not difficult.

The building stood out not only in colour, but also in shape and space. Though it is not the tallest building within the vicinity, it puts on an aura of what Abiola stood for. The white colour in which the building is painted is sparkling and still tells the story that a great man once lived there, especially the serenity within the abode.

The compound is well planned with a storey building duplex and two bungalows. The inter-locking concrete floor added colour, shape and taste to the design of the compound. It also complemented the tombs, white and black, of Abiola and Kudirat sited in the middle of the compound and in front of the one-storey building.

Abiola was regarded as a compassionate man and more than a decade he left the scene the philosophy is still being carried on by those he touched.

There were two gates into the compound. But The Guardian decided to take the one, with the signpost advertising one of his daughter’s projects, KIND.

The Guardian knocked, hoping that it would take getting attention from a security man to be let in. But all it took was to push the walkway gate to the security post by the gate, where one of the security officers asked what was the mission of the reporter and after narrating the reason for coming, he directed the reporter to the appropriate person.

One of his children, Abdul Mumuni Abiola engaged The Guardian thus;

“I remember the dynamics of the era. How people were so happy to be around my father and he made people feel good when they came around. He was a humble man, and was very simple in most ways. I remember a man who just wanted to see people improved. He did not believe in boundary, neither did he discriminate. He just wanted to help people, not minding where they came from. Most of the things he did were not because he wanted people to replicate that for his children, he just did them. He did them because he felt if he did not do it, who else would do it? I think there was no one at that time that was as philanthropic and generous as my father.  I also remember that he was a disciplined man who remembered and understood that life is for a very short time. And if you are in a position to help other people, there should not be a reason not to do it.

During the incarceration of father, I want people to know that he was very steadfast about the mandate because he knew that if he did not defend it to the end, the scenario could be repeated. And I was also proud that many were really standing up for the mandate. Now, it is like we have forgotten what happened then and anybody that forgets the past does not have a future.

“Our leaders are more like gods to the normal people, they come, splash a couple of naira notes and everybody shouts, which would do us no good. And 20 years later, nothing has changed; things are getting worse. This tells that when people say time will heal wounds, Nigeria is not a country where time heals wound. And that shows that there is something wrong and we need to go back to the drawing board for a strategy that would move this country forward. My father believed in a united Nigeria and I believe in a united Nigeria and I hope and pray that the country moves forward and we are able to fight for our right. We are the people who voted them and we should be able to caution them when they are going astray.

“Our politicians are not abiding by the June 12 doctrine. My father had an agenda and that agenda should be really looked at because my father was not just a mere man, he was a great thinker and I am sure he must have gone over that agenda. And I believed it would have solved many if not all the challenges we are grappling with now and we would have moved forward. Everybody knows what to do, we know what is right or wrong, I just pray that God will help our leaders to make the right decision that will help the country.

“The country has not done enough to pay respect to him because there could be more that could be done. But what they can do to honour the man, I think, if they can just implement some of the programmes in his agenda, he would be happier. So I would like to see changes, children not hungry in schools, better facilities in schools, better healthcare and things that would allow the ordinary man live better, executing projects that touch the lives of the masses. That is where the honour of my father will come out, even if no structure is named after him.”