National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has highlighted the adoption of Chief MKO Abiola’s manifesto “Farewell to poverty” as the best way to immortalise the late politician and businessman.
He made this known over the weekend when the Abiola family paid him a courtesy visit days after President Muhammadu Buhari declared June 12, the date of Abiola’s election as president in 1993, as the new Democracy Day and bestowed Nigeria’s highest honour, Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), on Abiola.
Tinubu said, “We’ve continued to struggle for this day that this injustice must be corrected to become part of our history. And if we truly are democrats, we must take the fulfilment of the date as a dream that must be realised and that has come from a military man, a man of military background, who is now truly committed to democratic principles and values. We must adopt now hope and farewell to poverty as next crusade to continue to immortailse the beliefs and values of MKO Abiola.”
Responding, the leader of the delegation and Abiola’s eldest child, Mrs Lola Abiola-Edewor, said: “For all of those years we’ve been in great distress because not only did we lose our father, we just began to wonder if it was all worth it.
“And see how many governments we’ve had since 1993 till date and nobody saw it fit to do that which is right. The Lord bless President Buhari for this singular honour that he’s done this family and that’s really why we’ve come to see Asiwaju, to thank him for the role he played in the whole saga, which turned out to be a watershed made right. To thank him for standing in, standing firm and standing strong.”
Buhari will on Tuesday bestow the GCFR honour on Abiola and the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second highest honour, on Abiola’s deputy, Amb. Babagana Kingibe and late foremost human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.