President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday morning paid tribute to the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the late Chief MKO Abiola, and other heroes and martyrs of democracy for serving as catalysts for the emergence of civilian government in 1999.
In a speech to the nation, Jonathan said they made huge sacrifices and ensured that military dictatorship became a thing of the past.
In honour of Abiola, he said, “The Federal Government has decided that late Chief MKO Abiola should be honoured. In honour of Chief MKO Abiola, the University of Lagos is renamed the Moshood Abiola University.”
Abiola died in the detention on July 7, 1998 a month after military despot, Gen. Sani Abacha, died in office. Abiola had been arrested on June 23, 1994 in Lagos and detained till he died for demanding the actualisation of the mandate given him by Nigerians in the June 12, 1993 presidential election on the platform of the Social Democratic Party.
The election described as the most credible in the history of the country was annulled by a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, whose regime conducted the poll.
Abiola’s self-declaration as president based on the result of the election led to his incarceration and his eventual death.
By renaming UNILAG after Abiola, Jonathan has yielded to widespread clamour for the Federal Government to name a befitting monument after Abiola Jonathan.
In his speech, Jonathan said the decision to rename UNILAG after Abiola was borne out of his government’s desire to honour the politician, who he said paid the supreme price for democracy in the country. He added that an institute of democratic studies would also be established in the university.
Jonathan also disclosed his government’s plan to establish a presidential museum in Abuja.
The museum, he explained, would catalogue the lives of Nigeria’s former presidents since 1960.
He said Nigeria’s democratic experience in the last 13 years had been a mixed bag, giving the assurance, however, that the nation would not disintegrate.
“Nigeria is a nation of resilient people, Nigeria will never ever disintegrate,” he said.
He also vowed to eradicate violence from the nation’s electoral process and ensure the prosecution of persons indicted for acts of violence.
He said his administration would act on the recommendations of the White Paper of the report of the Sheikh Lemu committee on post-election violence.
Jonathan also said his “prayers and thoughts” were with the victims of various bomb blasts in the nation, noting, “We must take steps to heal the wounds of the past, strengthen our collective memory to take our country to greater heights.”
He vowed to confront the menace of terrorism, especially the threat posed by Boko Haram, adding that his administration would confront “all those who think they can derail us with violence perpetrated in churches, media houses.”
The President said the economy “grew by 7.2% in 2011,” expressing joy that Nigeria was receiving positive international ratings at a time that many other nations were being downgraded.
He stated that through its job creation programme, YouWin, his administration had provided opportunities for 1,200 youths.
He also said the nation’s four refineries had increased capacity utilisation from 30 per cent to 60 per cent.
He said the Public Works Women and Youth Empowerment Programme he inaugurated on February 13, 2012 would “370,000 youths in the year 2012 with 30% of those jobs being reserved for women.”
On agriculture, he said his administration would no longer provide continental dishes at state banquets, noting that only local menus would be served.
“Our policy to ensure rice self-sufficiency by 2015 is yielding fruit. In Kano, Nza rice mill has taken off and can hardly meet demand.
“For the first time ever, Nigeria will export one million metric tonnes of cassava to China, earning $136 million. Our goal is to add 20 million metric tonnes to our food supply by 2015. We must grow local and eat local,” Jonathan said.
He vowed to pursue the power reform programme and ensure the successful conclusion of the privatisation of the sector. Jonathan said his administration was moving forward steadily on cooperation with leading energy companies such as General Electric and Siemens, adding, “We are building about 4000 kilometers of transmission lines and new power plants.”
PUNCH
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