Speeches

16th Year Anniversary Of “June 12, 1993 Presidential Election”

Jun 12, 2009 - Why Democracy? Why June 12?

The truth is that Democracy itself as a process concerned with the election of leaders or representatives does not by itself solve all of the problems of a people.

In fact, there is no such guarantee.

There is however the guarantee that, without democracy, there will be no possibility of a better life. History has demonstrated that beyond a fair argument.

The truth therefore is that until the circumstances that precipitated the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential elections are dispensed with, such as arbitrariness, lawlessness and the usurpation of the power of the people expressed through the ballot box, for that long will we never have power, water, health, good schools, jobs or economic prosperity; those basic minimum goals of every ordinary community, that have for us now become illusory millennium development goals.

The reality is that these problems are not unique to us; they exist even in the most successful democracies, but they will remain difficult to surmount unless we have political stability.

It is only a politically stable nation that can plan power supply, water production, qualitative education and healthcare and prosper the economy to provide jobs.

The reason is simple. These basic necessities require time; not only to plan, but to deliver them. It can never be done by any magic wand.

It requires the total focus of the elected and the electorate, hour and hours of meetings, interactions and inter-relations of several hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, speaking as one, thinking together, working together to deliver a common goal.

Once political instability sets in, the contest for supremacy pushes issues of the economy and social development to the back burner.

The primary reason for which the state exists becomes secondary, as all attention is focused on the process of producing the leadership rather than the quality or effectiveness of the leadership.

June 12, riots, shut downs, fuel scarcity, darkness, produced a military compromise we did not prepare for; that led to a contrived civilian arrangement in1999 based on a constitution we had no say about and produced a leadership whose brief was to ensure that we did not break up, but not necessarily to provide the basic minimum development objectives.

That of course brought with it a lip service disposition to law and justice and its attendant attempt to subvert the questionable foundations of its existence a la tenure elongation.

The rest is history. We all left or forgot about lack of power, insecurity, the agitations of aggrieved members of the federation and other minimum basic developmental set backs. The whole nation was faced with the leadership or succession question.

Any change became better than no change at all. The cycle has been endless but 16 years have passed.

In that time, a desert in the Middle East has become the tourist capital of the World. Angola has come out of a civil war and is becoming one of the fastest growing countries in Africa. Kuwait has transformed into an architectural masterpiece and an emerging technology centre.

The Asian tigers whose products we denigrated have moved on. South Korea has hosted the World Cup, China the Olympics, South Africa, for whose liberation we stood vanguard got the nod to host Africa’s first ever World Cup. The list of missed opportunities is seemingly endless.

The dream of democracy has not come true for our people yet. But its promise holds true for those who persevere.

The painful lesson of our experience is that we have had to learn from our own failures and experiences rather than from those of others who started before us.

The British and American democracies are not perfect in spite of being several hundred years old. Certainly however, our democracy can be better.

While we persevere, we must insist on certain non-negotiable pillars, upon which democracy will stand – Truth and Justice.

The search for the truth will embolden us to ask questions about how we got to this pass. It will lead us to the custodians of our collective heritage over the last 49 years and request that they explain how they managed things, especially the conduct of our elections during their watch.

Once we find the truth, then we must be courageous to insist that justice be done. In doing justice, I do not mean mob justice because democracy does not accept that.

I mean justice according to law; that brings all those suspected of having compromised or abdicated their duties before a competent court of law, on the basis of the presumption that they are innocent, to be tried by men and women of honour and integrity.

I truly believe that once this is done, the most critical element that has delayed our development, the lack of legitimacy of leaders and governments will be set aright because we should have sent the most serious message that the votes of the electorates must count.

A legitimate government is the most appropriate platform for the delivery of socio-political and economic development.

It is not that day on the 12th of June 1993 that is the issue, neither can we restore the natural life of the symbol of our hopes, Bashorun M.K.O Abiola, even as we continue to bless his soul, nor that of his wife and many other Nigerians who paid the supreme price; on the contrary, it is the importance of how close we came on that day, which would have put us in a place different and better than we are today.

It is the need to remind ourselves that we did not cross the finish line on June 12, 1993, and that the race remains, yet to be won.

To the matyrs of June 12, 1993, I say that you are our heroes and your labour will not be in vain.

To the battle tested but not weary soldiers of the June 12 struggle, I salute your courage, and thank you for leadership that has made people like me beneficiaries.

Although the battle is not won, the presence of so many men and women of honour and integrity here today is a testimony that your cause is just, and that a large army of soldiers are assembling to fight that cause and take us all across the finish line.

Happy Anniversary

Eko o ni baje o!

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State