Speeches

17th Anniversary Of The June 12, 1993 Elections

Jun 12, 2010 - Remember that June 12 as a day of reckoning emerged from a national flaw that manifested itself by way of electoral disappointment.

We got so close on June 12, 1993 and literally threw it away and the echoes of that disappointment still reverberate today in the name of Electoral Reforms.

From that disappointment, all was not lost. Although the announcements of the results of the elections were not concluded, hope did not evaporate. M.K.O's campaign mantra, "Hope '93" was kept alive.

The streets of Lagos were the battlegrounds. Blood was shed, lives were lost, martyrs were slain and from there emerged the victory of the people's mandate over totalitarian authority in the 1999 elections that produced Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

I may never have come to government if he was not Governor.

Today the message of hope and its aromatic fragrance is flowing across Nigeria from Lagos as an example that nothing is impossible. That is MKO's legacy.

Many now often only remember Abiola for the events that happened between 1993 and 1998, a period of the last 5 (five) years of his very dramatic life and fairy tale story of poverty to stupendous riches.

His philanthropy and the many lives he changed with his generosity; his entrepreneurship as alter ego of Concord Airlines, Concord Newspaper, ITT have almost become mere footnotes. Nobody talks of them on June 12.

His most defining legacy had nothing to do with how rich he was; it has everything to do with his morality and courage to sacrifice everything for June 12.

In doing so, he acquired a rare moral authority even in death that has bequeathed a vast store of goodwill to his family, dependents and associates.

Perhaps most importantly, by fulfilling his mortal covenant with the creator, MKO has traded life for immorality.

In Yoruba mythology, "Aiku", immortality, is a uniquely sought after bequest. It is described as "Baale Oro". The most precious of all bequests.

MKO has acquired ire aiku, baale oro and has become immortal, because he remains and will endure in all our hearts year on year and this is why we gather every June 12 in his honor and remembrance.

I am honored, humbled and privileged to be part of such a gathering in honor of Africa's great son, a Nigerian Icon and symbol of freedoms and hope.

May he continue to rest in perfect peace.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State