Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has showered encomiums on Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the 1993 presidential election, on his 25th year memoriam yesterday, saying the late Abiola’s legacy lives on.
Abiola died in military detention on July 7, 1998. Marking the anniversary of his death, Tinubu in a Tweet further described the late businessman, publisher, and politician as “a champion of democracy.”
The President stated: “Today, our nation honours the sacrifice and example of a true hero, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, 25 years after his sad demise.
“A true champion of democracy, his courage and integrity, complete dedication to public service, exemplified the highest ideals of our great nation.
“His legacy endures and his message of hope echoes still. May Allah SWT grant him mercy and increase his rewards.”
The June 12 Election
After an aborted initial primary, Abiola stood for the presidential nomination of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and beat Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe and Atiku Abubakar to secure the presidential nomination of the SDP ahead of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections.
He then ran for the presidency in 1993. Abiola’s running mate was his primary opponent, Gana Kingibe. He defeated his rival, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. The presidential election was declared Nigeria’s freest and fairest by national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his Northern opponent’s home state of Kano.
Abiola won at the federal capital, Abuja, the military polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states.
Abiola, a Western Muslim was able to secure a national mandate freely and fairly, unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. However, the election was annulled by Military President Ibrahim Babangida, causing a political crisis which led to General Sani Abacha seizing power later that year.
His support in the June 1993 presidential election cut across all geo-political zones and religious divisions. Abiola was the first Nigerian politician to accomplish such a spread during his time.
By the time of his death, he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy.
Abiola was awarded the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), awarded to only Nigerian heads of state, posthumously on June 6, 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria’s democracy day was changed from May 29 to June 12 in his honour.
His Background
Abiola was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State to the family of Salawu and Suliat Wuraola Abiola. His father was a produce trader who primarily traded in cocoa, and his mother traded in kola nuts.
His name, Kashimawo, means “Let us wait and see”.
Moshood Abiola was his father’s 23rd child, but the first of them to survive infancy, hence the name ‘Kashimawo’.
It was not until he was 15 years old that he was properly named Moshood by his parents.
Abiola attended African Central School, Abeokuta for his primary education.
As a young boy, he assisted his father in the cocoa trade, but by the end of 1946, his father’s business venture was failing, precipitated by the destruction of a cocoa consignment declared by a produce inspector to be of poor quality and unworthy for export and to be destroyed immediately.
At the age of nine, he started his first business selling firewood gathered in the forest at dawn before school, to support his father and siblings.
Abiola founded a band at the age of 15 and would perform at various ceremonies in exchange for food. He was eventually able to require payment for his performances, and used the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta.
Abiola was the editor of the school magazine The Trumpeter, Olusegun Obasanjo was deputy editor. At the age of 19, he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons ostensibly because of its stronger pan-Nigerian origin compared with the Obafemi Awolowo-led Action Group.
In 1960, he obtained a government scholarship to study at the University of Glasgow, where he later earned a degree in Accountancy and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He later became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
