Jamiu Abiola, son of the late Chief MKO Abiola, has stated that Nigeria’s economic trajectory would have been significantly improved had his father been allowed to assume office following his widely acclaimed victory in the annulled 1993 presidential election.
Speaking during Channels Television’s June 12 Special Forum, which marked 26 years of unbroken democratic rule, Jamiu reflected on the missed opportunities that followed the annulment of what is still regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest election.
“Nigeria would have been better because, at that time, it was a very special time in global times; that 1993 period was a time when the world itself was having an international economic boom,” he said.
“So, we could have tapped into that. But what did we get in return? We got a kleptomaniac as head of state.”
Though he refrained from elaborating, Jamiu made a pointed reference to General Sani Abacha, under whose regime MKO Abiola was arrested and later died in detention.
“I am not going to talk about Abacha because he has his problems wherever he has found himself,” he added.
Jamiu, who currently serves as the Senior Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Linguistics and Foreign Affairs, also expressed concern over continued efforts to erase his father’s legacy from the country’s historical narrative.
“I wrote a book in 2015 because I came to realise that my father’s name was becoming like a memory that was becoming distant and people were hellbent on rewriting the history of Nigeria without him,” he said.
“People would come from abroad, foreign presidents, they would mention Yar’Adua and others and they would not mention Chief MKO Abiola. Some people wanted to bury his name. Like my father would say: they wanted to shave his head in his absence.”
To preserve his father’s legacy, Jamiu authored a book titled “The President Who Never Ruled”, ensuring that Abiola’s name remains etched in Nigeria’s democratic story.
In 2018, Chief MKO Abiola was posthumously honoured with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by then-President Muhammadu Buhari, who also declared June 12 as Nigeria’s official Democracy Day, a gesture hailed by many as a long overdue recognition of Abiola’s sacrifice for democracy.
What you should know
Chief MKO Abiola is widely revered as the symbol of Nigeria’s struggle for democracy. Although he never took office, his victory in the 1993 election and subsequent persecution became a defining moment in the country’s political history.
His son, Jamiu Abiola, remains an advocate for preserving that legacy in a nation still grappling with the consequences of that lost mandate.
