In 1993,The Then Military Regime Of President General Ibrahim Babangia,Introduced Two Party System,And So Two Parties,The Social Democratic Party And The National Republican Convention Were Born,They Parties Had Their Conventions,The SDP(Social Democratic Party)Chosed Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola,A Yoruba Man From Abeokuta,And Alhaji Bashir Tofa,From Kano State,Was Chosen By The NRC(National Republican Convention)As Its Presidential Candidate,Both Candidates Are Muslims From South And North,Chief Abiola Chosed Another Muslim,Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe As His Running Mate,Thus Producing The First Ever Muslim-Muslim Ticket,Then Alhaji Bashir Tofa From The North Chosed An Ibo Man Dr.Sylvester Ugoh,As His Running Mate,But As The Elections Drew Closer,No One Expected What We Were To Withness,It Was A Bashing Of NRC's Candidate At The Polls,By A Muslim-Muslim Ticket,Nigerians Ignored Their Religious Differences And Chosed The Candidates They Think Are Best For Them,So As Results Started Coming In,Suddenly,Nigerians Were To Realise The Folly General Babangida And His Cohorts In The Military Leadership Then Played On The Psyche Of Nigerians,After Their Waiting For 8Years,The Release Of The Remaining Results Were Cancelled,But Before This Time,Chief Abiola Was leading In All The States,Then Babangida Cancelled The Entire Elections,Consequences Of This Singular Action Is Still In The Minds Of Nigerians Uptil Today,Then Interim Government Of Ernest Shonekan Was Introduced,To Deceive Nigerians,And Pacify The Yoruba Tribe,From Where Chief Abiola Came From,This Arrangement Did Not Last Long,Because As General Babangida Was Forced To Step Aside,He Retired Military Offices That Will Oppose The Favoured Offices Who Connived With Him To Cancel The Best Election Ever In Nigeria History,That Defied Ethnic,Religious And Cultural Divide That Has Been The Bane Of Past Elections,So This Military Cabal Left Behind By General Babangida And Led By General Sani Abacha,Shoved Aside The Interim Government Of Chief Ernest Shonekan,An Egba Chief From Same Town As The Winner Of June 12 1993 Election Late Chief Abiola.
After The Interim Government Was Removed By Abacha,He Could Not Handle The Political Fall Out Of The Cancelled Election,The Ogoni People Were Agitating Against Shell,And The Internal Strife In Ogoniland Led To The Killing Of Prominent Citizens,And Abacha Arrested Leaders Of Mosop Led By Ken Saro Wiwa,A One Time Commisioner Of Education In Rivers State,And An Author,The Military Junta Under Abacha,Set Up A Tribunal,Tried Them,They Were Convicted And Hanged,This Was Happening While Nigerias Then Foreign Affairs Minister Chief Tom Ikimi Was Attending A Commonwealth Meeting In Australia,This Singular Act Of Abacha Regime,United All Human Rights Activists In Nigeria,And Provided Them More Fuel For The Struggle To Actualise The June 12 Election,NADECO And Other Human Rights Organisation With Dr Beko Ransome Kuti,Rear Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe,Rear Admiral Ndubisi Kanu,Chief Ayo Adebanjo,Bola Tinubu And Others Kept The Issue Of June 12 Alive,Threatened European Investments In Nigeria,Most Are Lagos Based,So Strikes In Lagos,Crippled Many Foreign Companies,And European Capitals And Their American Ally,Opened Their Eyes To The Unfolding Events,While The Crisis Was Going On,Nigerians Woke Up Early Morning Of June 8,1998 To The News That Nigerias Head Of State(Maximum Ruler),Has Died,It Was A Breaking News,So Many Including Myself,Never Believed It,Until General Abdul Salami,Came On National Television To Confirm Same,And He Was Sworn As The New Head Of State,General Abdul Salami Invited Abiolas Family To See Him,While Also Initiating Consultations For Resolving The Impasse,It Was During This Process,That Chief Abiola Died On The 7Th Day Of July 1998,Meanwhile The New Government Was Releasing 'Political'Prisoners Including One Time Military Head Of State,General Mathew Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo,Who Now Was Drafted Into One Of The New Political Parties ,Peoples Democratic Party,He Was Supported By Northerners And Won The Parties Nomination As Presidential Candidate,And Later Won The Election.
General Obasanjo Knows Nigeria Too Well,So He Played On The Sentiment Of Nigerians,Yearning For Change,That Change Was Twisted Along The Line,Because He Obasanjo Represented A Faction Of The School Of Thought,That Cancelled Chief Abiolas Election,Otherwise,Why Would Some Forces Refuse To Hand Over Power To Chief Abiola,But Hand Over To General Obasanjo,Who Is Of Same Yoruba Stock As Chief Abiola,They Are Both From Same State,Though From Different Towns(Chief Abiola Is From Abeokuta)While General Obasanjo Is An Owu Indigene,This Questioned Is Still To Be Asked And No One Will Be Ready To Give Us An Answer, Even As We Ask This Question Baring In Mind Impending Elections.
General Obasanjo Ruled Nigeria For Eight Years,Then He Selected The Junior Brother Of His Deputy While Serving As Military Head Of State In The Person Of Alhaji Umar Yaradua,Who Is The Junior Brother Of Late General Shehu Musa Yaradua,General Obasanjo Used Every Known And Unknown Democratic Means To Impose Alhaji Umar Yaradua On Nigerians,Until He Died Of Liver Complications After A Long Battle,He Was Replaced By His Deputy,Goodluck Jonathan,An Ijawman From Bayelsa State,The Ijaw Tribe Is One Of The Large Ethnic Groups In Nigeria,Though Not One Of The Three Major Tribes,But They Have Most Of The Oil Companies Operating In Their Area,So They Were Threatening Oil Businesses Owned By Europeans And Americans Through Militant Activities,So Here Is The Unfolding Scenario,Ijaws Can Not Form A Government,Just Like The Other Major Tribes Of IBO,HAUSA AND YORUBAs,But Because Of Militant Activities,General Obasanjo Through His International Links,Either Good Or Bad Made Overseas Investors To Accept The Likely Hood Of A Jonathan Candidacy,Not Because He Has The Number Or Political Base Or Machinery To Run A Successful Campaign,But Because His Victory Will Pacify The Restive Ijaw Militants,Weather This Is Going To Happen,Time Will Tell,While Selling Jonathans Candidacy,He Has Not Been Able To Sell The Policy Of Fairness,Equity,Fairplay And Justice To Nigerians,His Political Permutations,Is That Northerners With Stake In The Oil Industry Will Support Jonathans Candidacy And Tell Their People To Vote For Him,So Now We Hear Some Northerners Saying,Its Time To Reward South-South,Acronym,Used For The Geographical Location Of Jonathans Tribe,But In This South-South,We Have Other Tribes,Benis,Ishans,Ogonis,Urhobo,Itsekiri,Ndonis And Many Others,Then In Nigeria,We Have Other Ethnic Tribes Too,Obasanjo Has Told His Tribe,And The Governors Of States That Make Up His Tribe,That They Are For Jonathan,In The North Some Governors Are Supporting President Jonathans Candidacy Also,But The Question,That This Writer Asks,What Will Happen Next If President Jonatthan Wins,Then Completes His Term?Will General Obasanjo And His Likes Will Still Be Around To Se-Elect Leaders For Us,Or What Legacy Is He Building,Democracy By Force Or By Mutual Understanding Of Nigerians Through Dialogue,And Not Dialogue As Defined By General Obasanjo And The Super Civil Servants Like Chief Edwin Clarke That Worked With Him.
General Obasanjo Has Stifled Democratic Culture In Nigeria,Through Manipulations Of Instruments Of Power,Not For The Good Of Nigerians,But For The Service And Economic Good Of His Neo Colonial Masters,By Encouraging Economics Democracy In Nigeria,These Are What We Nigerians,Should Be Thinking As The Year 2011 Approaches!
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