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June 12 Democracy Day: Abiola’s Daughter Writes, Appreciates Buhari

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By Eric Elezuo

One of Chief MKO Abiola’s daughter, Tundun Abiola, has written a passionate letter to President Muhammadu Buhari for magnanimously replacing May 29 with June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, in addition to honouring him with the highest honour in the land, the GCFR.

Buhari had on Wednesday, contrary to all expectation, announced that Nigeria’s democracy day will no longer be on May 29 as has been celebrated since 2000 but will now be on June 12, the day a supposedly free and fair election was held in the country.

Tundun Abiola praised Buhari for his moral courage among other glaring qualities, stressing her joy that the honour was done by none other person than Buhari.

Below is the full text of the letter:

Your Excellency,

I write to offer my most heart-felt thanks for your historic gesture. I cannot overstate my appreciation as a citizen of our great country and as the daughter of a great man.

Thank you for displaying moral courage, leadership, equity, honesty and a noble example worthy of emulation. You have put right a grievous wrong and lifted a heavy weight. Of all the Presidents of the Fourth Republic, I am thankful that it was you and not the one who actually owed him. There is no debt or sentiment behind your decision. It is simply the right thing to do. Your acknowledgement of the winning Muslim/Muslim ticket of my father and Ambassador Babagana Kingibe GCON harkens back to a time when that was not unthinkable in Nigeria.

This yearly commemoration will remind us of who we were, Nigerians first. We were a nation that based judgments on competence, character and antecedents, not tribe or religion. Thank you for fanning the embers to restart the fire for national unity and brotherhood.

The immoral annulment of our freest and fairest election, my father’s four year incarceration without a fair trial and conviction by a competent court of law, his appalling neglect, suffering and then murder should have been the nadir of the tragic situation but it was not. I always thought you could only kill a man once but every time my father was referred to as the “presumed winner”, he was robbed and killed again. With every effort by some to diminish or entirely erase his contributions, he was robbed and killed again.

Every government since 1999 is a direct result of the struggle initiated by this man but the struggle would never have ignited without the support of other peerless Nigerians who fought alongside him. Contrary to every human instinct of fear, self-interest and self-preservation, people like Chief Gani Fawehinmi GCON challenged a brutal regime. It cost some their lives. My step-mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was brutally, needlessly assassinated at the young age of 45 leaving behind seven children. I recall Chief Alfred Rewane, a man who died at the hands of far lesser men than himself for the offence of being an outstanding patriot. These and many others are Nigerians who invested their all into our country unlike those whose sole aim is to exploit. With a stroke of your pen, you have ensured that they did not die in vain. The weight of living with a grave injustice that Your Excellency has freed my family from is one that no Nigerian should carry. Perhaps your return to the leadership of this country was to heal not just the wounds of corruption and misrule but of all historical injuries since the Civil War.

In the words of our national anthem, “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain”. May Your Excellency never labour in vain. God bless Nigeria.

With the highest regards,

Tundun Abiola

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Army Buries 17 Personnel Killed in Okuama Community

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The 17 military personnel killed in Okuama community in Delta on March 14 have been laid to rest.

The corpses of the soldiers, which arrived at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja at about 2:26 pm on Wednesday, were committed to mother death after burial rites were observed.

President Bola Tinubu, Service Chiefs and other dignitaries were in attendance at the burial ceremony.

DAILY POST recalls that the troops of 181 Amphibious Batallion, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, while on a peace mission to Okuoma Community were ambushed and killed by some irate youths.

The incident occurred when the troops responded to a distress call following a communal crisis between Okuoma and Okoloba communities in Delta State.

The personnel comprised one Lieutenant Colonel, two Majors, one Captain and 13 soldiers.

The officers are Commanding Officer 181 Amphibious Battalion, Lt. Col. A.H Ali; Maj S.D Shafa (N/13976); Maj D.E Obi (N/14395) and Capt U Zakari (N/16348).

The soldiers are SSgt Yahaya Saidu (#3NA/36/2974); Cpl Yahaya Danbaba (1ONA/65/7274); Cpl Kabiru Bashir (11NA/66/9853); LCpl Bulus Haruna (16NA/TS/5844); LCpl Sola Opeyemi (17NA/760719); and LCpl Bello Anas (17NA/76/290).

They also include LCpl Hamman Peter (NA/T82653); LCpl Ibrahim Abdullahi (18NA/77/1191); Pte Alhaji Isah (17NA/76/6079); Pte Clement Francis (19NA/78/0911); Pte Abubakar Ali (19NA/78/2162); Pte Ibrahim Adamu (19NA/78/6079) and Pte Adamu Ibrahim (21NA/80/4795).

DailyPost

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Thomas Yormah Emerges As New WAEC Chairman

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By Eric Elezuo

The West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) has a new Chairman, he is Prof. Thomas Brima Rick Yormah, a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Fourah Bay College and former Pro ViceChancellor, University of Sierra Leone as the 21st Chairman of Council.

According to a statement signed by Demianus G. Ojijeogu, the Head, Public Affairs, WAEC Headquarters, Accra, Ghana, Yormah was elected during the just concluded 72nd Annual Council Meeting of the body, held in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He succeeds Prof. Ato Essuman from the Republic of Ghana.

The highpoint of the week-long Council meeting was the recognition and honoring of three Ghanaian candidates with the WAEC International Excellence Award for their outstanding performance in the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2023. They were Master Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi, (1st Prize), Master Dzandu Selorm, (2nd Prize), and Master Asenso-Gyambibi Daniel (3rd Prize). The three candidates were selected from 2,327,342 who sat the examination in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

In the same vein, the Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa, 2023 also went to Master Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi. In addition, two candidates from the Republic of Sierra Leone were honoured with the National Distinction, while one candidate received the National Merit Award. They were Miss. Mammah E. A. Raymonda, (1st Prize), Master Bangura Joshua, (2nd Prize), and Master Fillie Sahr Edward (Merit Award).

While the 71st edition of the Council meeting was hosted by Gambia, the next edition, which will be the 73rd in the series, will be hosted by Liberia.

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Kidnapped Edo PDP Chairman Regains Freedom

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The kidnapped chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, has been released.

Dr. Aziegbemi, who was set free by his abductors in the early hours of Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Report has it that he got to his Benin City residence at about 3am to the waiting arms of family and close friends.

“I am back home with my family. I am fine. I am just trying to rest and will talk to you later,” he was quoted as saying.

Dr. Aziegbemi, a former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Esan North-East/Esan South-East federal constituency of Edo State, was kidnapped on Friday, March 15, 2024 when his abductors who rode in two Toyota Corolla cars, trailed him after he left a meeting.

The gunmen overtook Aziegbemi’s sports utility vehicle (SUV) at a speed break as it slowed down along Osaro Street, off Country Home Road, close to his house at about 11pm on Friday night before seizing him.

It is not clear yet if a ransom was paid for his release as the abductors had reportedly demanded a sum of N50 million before setting him free.

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