Nigerian Government Urged To Further Immortalise MKO Abiola

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Nigerian Government Urged To Further Immortalise MKO Abiola

The Nigerian Government has been Urged to further keep the memory of late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola alive by immortalising him in different ways.

Since the demise of Abiola, he has been receiving posthumous honours for his sacrifice and contributions to usher democracy into Nigeria.

Though a handful monuments have been named after him, they remain a shadow of themselves as they receive little or no attention from the government in terms of maintenance.

As a result, political analysts have urged the Nigerian Government to put more effort into immortalising and preserving the memories of late icons like Abiola.

Hauwua Evelyn, a sociologist, stated that the government must ensure that the history of the country is well preserved, adding that the memories and impacts of heroes of the country must not be forgotten.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, Evelyn said the government must ensure that Abiola was not forgotten as he played a vital role in the democratic history of the country.

She also condemned that removal of History as a subject from the curriculum of schools in Nigeria.

She said, “Preservation of memories generally is something that cannot be overemphasized, it is like keeping a historical document on everybody that has lived and impacted society.

“I will always say that the erasure of history as a discipline in our institutions is an error in totality. It is very important that we keep our history and one of the ways to keep our history is to immortalise heroes and legends that have impacted our country in one way or another.

“Actualisation of June 12 as a democracy is an achievement of the current government and it is a good one in the right direction.

“However, I believe that something could be done to immortalise Abiola as a legend even though he was not our President, he has played a very vital role in the history of Nigeria. It might just be important if the government go a little further to immortalise MKO Abiola.”

On his part, a political scientist, Prof Tunde Adeniran, posited that Abiola would remain immortalised when political actors align with his ideologies.

In an interview with SaharaReporters, he said that government must sustain the spirit of June 12 and allow fairness and impartiality in the political system of the country.

He said, “I believe that the immortalisation of MKO Abiola will be best done when we consolidate democratic practices when there is justice in the land.

“It was a good move that June 12 has been declared Democracy Day, it is highly commendable and we should make sure that we do everything to sustain the spirit of June 12 and the commemoration and the essence of June 12 should be firmly stamped in the consciousness of Nigeria.

“What he stood for would continue to remind us what we are striving for. Those coming behind will have a sense of history that there was a time that people were ready to sacrifice for ideology and they will know that the time has come for us to stand for something that is of great values.

“Once people are aware of that, it makes sense preserving their memories, that is the essence what they would be remembered forever.

“We would like to see the situation in which people now live and do whatever we want to do in our political life in a very free and fair manner within the spirit if fairness and justice to the rule of law and above all ensuring that nothing is done to distract from whatever gains that have been made in the past in terms of promotion of democratic ideas and I believe that until these practices become part of our culture as a people, no matter who is there, we will ensure that the institutions that we built should be sustained.”