Tinubu: We remember Nigerians who defended June 12 mandate
President Bola Tinubu has said the sacrifices of Nigerians who took to the streets to defend the June 12, 1993 presidential mandate must never be forgotten.
Speaking to reporters at the national premiere of MKO, a documentary on the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said countless Nigerians endured hardship and repression in defence of the mandate.
“We remember the countless unnamed Nigerians who filled the streets, endured hardship and stood firm in defence of the mandate freely given on June 12, 1993,” Onanuga said.
He said many paid the supreme price, while others suffered imprisonment, persecution, exile and loss of their livelihoods for refusing to surrender their democratic convictions.
“Many paid the supreme price. Many carried wounds that history may never fully record. Their sacrifice was not in vain, as we have had 27 years of unbroken democracy since 1999,” he said.
Onanuga also paid tribute to journalists, lawyers, students, workers, academics and Nigerians in the diaspora who contributed to the struggle for the restoration of democracy.
“The democracy we enjoy today was built upon the courage and sacrifices of the people we have identified. We owe them more than remembrance. We owe them a duty to ensure that no authority ever again overturns the freely expressed will of Nigerians,” he said.
The documentary, MKO, chronicles the life and political struggle of Abiola, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the pro-democracy campaign that followed.
