In her reaction to Buhari’s recent announcement, Hafsat Abiola stated that May 29 was pulled out of thin air. Yes, it certainly meant nothing to the family of Chief MKO Abiola and the pro-democracy movement spawned by the unjust denial of his presidential mandate and his untimely unexplained demise. Meanwhile it meant something to the remnants of the Northern military political establishment who did a number of things in their narrow interest on that date. Murder, arson, mayhem and finally the creation of states to destabilize the existing geopolitical arrangement and undermine the entitled response from Ndigbo to the wanton massacre of its people culminating in their being pushed out of the Nigerian Federation.
It is instructive that Hafsat did not once mention the name of Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, who made it clear that he did not believe that any Yoruba man, other than himself, was worthy of any honour. Hence he adamantly refused to do what a failed and flailing President Buhari, struggling to recover some modicum of relevance, has just done. What a wasted opportunity. It is perhaps part of Divine Justice that OBJ is alive today to witness this occasion, much as we THE PEOPLE, receive such news with measured ambivalence. The message is good. However the Messenger is seriously flawed. The word Populism can hardly be shoehorned into the same sentence with Buhari. It's that hard.
One other thing though. The establishment and/or shifting of a national holiday of such monumental significance is beyond the scope of an EXECUTIVE ORDER. Hence I doubt that, despite the current euphoria, this one can stand. There should have been open-ended public debate about the significance of the June 12 OR New Democracy Day holiday. This should be used as a Teaching Opportunity for all, those in NADECO and opponents of Abiola alike. June 12 was never a Yoruba thing, despite all the efforts to cast it in that mould. Hearts and minds need to be changed such that ultimately a proclamation in both houses of the National Assembly will indicate to ALL NIGERIANS that here at last is something about which WE ALL AGREE. This will overwhelm the deep-seated realization that the honoring of Chief MKO Abiola goes against every bone in Buhari’s body, the very personal mindset and antipathy towards any leadership prospect not of Northern, Muslim and Fulani origin. But then it would be much more acceptable and lavishly celebrated, when we acknowledge the mindset of the incumbent overcome to get to this day. It's going to be difficult. However, the Buhari administration must strive to distance this development from the campaigns for the 2019 Elections. Otherwise it may backfire.
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