• If People Want Freedom, They Should Fight For It

Senator Louisa Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, former Lagos State Deputy governor and NADECO chieftain, was one of the women in the frontline for restoration of June 12 mandate. She told KAMAL TAYO OROPO that the best way to appreciate the date is to declare a public holiday in the name of ‘the winner’, Chief MKO Abiola.

Twenty years after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, how well will you describe the journey towards ensuring those ideals that the day represents?

We are still evolving democratically, and I hope that sooner than later, we will, in fact, have true democratic norms and culture that will stand the test of time.

How well have politicians been able to handle affairs of governance, especially in line with fairness and justice, which Junes 12 represents?

There are two sets of politicians: those in politics to serve and the ones that are there to serve their pockets. Though, I am still a politician myself, I will say the vast majority of the politicians we have the moment are those who merely want to serve their pocket.

There have been various efforts in the past to immortalise the June 12 struggle and advocacy, how satisfied are you with the efforts so far?

Well, I am not satisfied with the efforts made so far. This is because the struggle was an epic one, which gave us the democracy we have today and I do not believe that the government has done enough to immortalise the participants, particularly Chief MKO Abiola.

But there was a particular effort by the present administration to rename the University of Lagos after Abiola, which met with a lot of disquiet especially in the Southwest. Are you saying such an effort was insufficient or misplaced?

I will not say that the action was misplaced, but I do not believe that Abiola has got his rightful place in Nigeria. I mean, people talk about those who fought for the country’s independence, but Chief Abiola too was one of those who fought for the independence; he gave his life so that we will gain independence from the military rule and oppression.

In specific terms, what will you like to see done to immortalise his name?

As far as I am concerned, declaring Moshood Abiola Day will be a right step. There is Martin Luther King’s Day in the United States, why should it be so difficult to have a similar day in the memory of those who paid the supreme price for our democracy? And as far as I am concerned that should be on June 12.

Are you calling on the authorities to declare every June12 Moshood Abiola’s Day?

Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. And why not?

How confident are you seeing this happen, especially in view of the nature of politicking in the country?

I don’t know whether it will happen or not because there is still a section of the country that has blinkers in its eyes and do not want to accept that Abiola won that election. The people are still deluding themselves that he didn’t and that the election was inconclusive.

And the press, especially, are not making things better. I am not happy with the way media still write about the election, referring to the winner as ‘ the presumed winner in the inconclusive’. But the results are there. The election was conclusive. Because they were not declared does not mean the result were not there. Also, those of us who were in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) already had the full result.

If the government at the national level failed in this regard, would you like to see the Southwest governors take a step further?

I don’t think the steps Abiola took and the sacrifice he made was a Southwest affair. It is a sacrifice for democracy in the entire nation. The May 29 is not the true democracy day; the real democracy day is June 12.

In view of what you have experienced so far since the advent of this democratic experience, are you convinced this democracy is worth sacrificing one’s life for, the way Abiola and many ordinary Nigerians did?

Yes, one should be able to stand for something. And I think if you want freedom you have to be ready to sacrifice your life for it.

But how do you feel about ordinary people who were also in the forefront for the actualisation of this democracy, but who are now feeling short-changed by the system, which appears to only benefit those in government? Do you think politicians appreciate the sacrifice ordinary people made for June 12?

First of all, if the masses are complaining, I don’t think politicians are entirely to be blamed. After all, it is the same masses that put them there. So, they have to share part of the blame. If they were the ones who put them there, and they are now complaining, they know what to do next time; they should take them out!

What can they do in a system where it is practically impossible to get them out? What other option is available to them, especially when some of the politicians rig or manipulate themselves into offices and sustain their stay using hired thugs?

These things exist, but there is such a thing like the people’s power. We see it happening everyday in other parts of the world… if we are not ready to fight for our rights or too weak to do something about our situation, we will continue to be short-changed.

Don’t you think people are rather impotent under this system?

I think some of the blame should also go to the media; they are as much to blame as the people. The media are only ready to pander to whims of those in power and those who have money. And as such they not necessarily ready to speak the truth. I am not saying all the press, but I believe a large part of the blame should go to the press. When they see what is right, they are often not ready to say so because they have been bought over.

The press has been bought over, the police too have been bought, the judiciary has been bought and everyone has been bought over, don’t you think it is rather a societal problem? How do we restore societal value?

Those who have value should be in the forefront of restoration of the value. We have to fight for the restoration of our values.

How do you mean by that?

Well, how did we fight for June 12?

Are you advocating for a revolutionary challenge?

I am not advocating violence. I am completely against violence.  Of course, there must be other forms of revolution to effect a desired change. But that does not mean such approach has to be violent.  For example, I don’t think NADECO fired a shot when we were fighting for the restoration of Junes 12, and by extension for the restoration of democracy. In the end, we achieved our aims and we got democratic rule, which regrettably some of our politicians are abusing.

For the benefit of younger generations who may not be well aware of the sort of instruments you deployed during this battle, can you be specific on such tools?

We did it by lobbying, by sensitising the people and at that time, we had honest press.  However, I am sorry to say so, the press has now been highly compromised. I am not saying all, but a sizeable session. In the NADECO days, we had a responsible press, which gave us all the support.