Headline

Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola: 21 Years After

Published

4 years ago

July 7, 2019

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

If and when bookmakers decide to write a comprehensive book on the person of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, popularly as MKO, the book will make the best read, considering the fact that the man who is reputed to have won the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election, amassed so much personality in his 60 brief years.

On July 7, 1998, five years after his electoral victory, and four years after he was arrested and incarcerated by the General Abacha Sani junta, Chief Abiola died in prison, bringing to a partial end of the demand for the actualisation of the June 12 mandate. Many people believe that he was murdered. He had declared himself the lawful in 1994 at the Epetedo area of Lagos State, drawing the angst of the military government.

Born on August 24, 1937, Abiola was a splendid businessman, who touched the lives of almost everyone he came across. Not only was he a businessman, he was also an accomplished GCFR publisher, politician and aristocrat of the Yoruba Egba clan, coupled with the prestigious of the Aare Ona Kankafo of the Yoruba land.

Abiola, from day one, has been a survivor. He was the first of his father’s children to survive infancy in as much as he was born after 22 of his father’s children.

He attended African Central School, Abeokuta for his primary education. As a young boy, he assisted his father in the cocoa trade.

At the age of nine he started his first business selling firewood gathered in the forest at dawn before school, to support his father and siblings. In search of the greener pastures, Abiola founded a band at the age of fifteen and would perform at various ceremonies in exchange for food. Abiola was eventually able to require payment for his performances, and used the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta. He was very hardworking.

At the age of 19 he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons ostensibly because of its stronger pan-Nigerian origin compared with the Obafemi Awolowo-led Action Group.

In 1960, he obtained a government scholarship to study at University of Glasgow where he later earned a degree in accountancy and qualified as a chartered accountant. He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

MKO Abiola, whose sense of reaching out to the general Nigerian public, contested for the presidency in 1993, an office he believed will help him distribute equitable wealth. Unfortunately, the election results were annulled by the then military president, Ibrahim Babangida because of allegations that they were corrupt and unfair.

A prolific investor in both Nigeria, Africa and the Middle East, sub-region, he set up Abiola Farms, Abiola Bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder Bakeries, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Summit Oil International Ltd, Africa Ocean Lines, Habib Bank, Decca W.A. Ltd, and Abiola football club. He was also Chairman of the G15 business council, President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Patron of the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, Patron of the WEB Du Bois foundation, trustee of the Martin Luther King Foundation, and director of the International Press Institute. The list is endless. The beauty of all his investments is that he used the proceeds to see to the wellbeing of the ordinary people.

Many years after the agitation for the recognition of Abiola as the authentic winner of the June 12 election, President Muhammadu Buhari on June 6, 2018 awarded Abiola the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR, posthumously and changed Nigeria’s democracy day to June 12.

Abiola’s friendship and humane disposition cut across all religion, tribe, geographical zones and even societal strata, and these explain the support he got in the June 1993 presidential election. By the time of his death, he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy.

As Nigeria celebrated the first democracy day on June 12, 2019, Buhari renamed the Abuja National Stadium in his honour. It would be recalled that in 2012, the government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had renamed the University of Lagos after him. This was however, rejected by the generality of the Nigerian public, and the idea was dropped.

In recognition of Abiola’s exploits in the field of politics, business, sports and many other fields of human endeavours, various institutions have be named after such as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic in Ogun State, MKO Stadium among others.

Moshood Abiola married many wives and fathered many children. In fact, he took care of everyone of them handsomely. Some of his well known wives were Simibiat Atinuke Shoaga, who he married in 1960; Kudirat Olayinka Adeyemi (1973), who was brutally murdered in 1996 after publicly declaring support for the June 12 cause; Adebisi Olawunmi Oshin (1974), Doyinsola (Doyin) Abiola Aboaba in 1981, Modupe Onitiri-Abiola and Remi Abiola.

Two great things have happened to Abiola since his death on July 7, 1998. They include the posthumous award of GCFR, which is only reserved for presidents and the recognition of June 12 as the authentic Democracy Day for Nigeria. One, and the ultimate, is left, and that is recognising him as a former president with all benefits and entitlements.

Whether that will ever happen, the watchword is ‘kashimawo’ – let’s wait and see.

Headline

Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG, Labour Meeting Ends in Deadlock

Published

3 days ago

June 1, 2023

Eric

Talks between the Federal Government and organised labour over the removal of fuel subsidy ended in a deadlock on Wednesday as they failed to reach a consensus following the hike in petrol pump prices to over N700 from N195 per litre by oil marketers.

The hours-long meeting which was held at the Presidential Villa was to, among other things, prevent a labour crisis following the recent increase in the petrol pump price occasioned by the discontinuance of petroleum subsidy.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited said it had adjusted the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit to reflect the market realities. The agency, however, failed to state the new prices of petrol.

However, several retails outlets sold the product between 600 and N800 in Lagos, Abuja , Ogun and some other states.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, pointed out that the hike in the cost of PMS would trigger galloping inflation in the country, stressing that some outlets in the South-East were currently dispensing the product at N1,200/l.

Ukadike stated, “Once NNPCL retail stations have adjusted their pumps to reflect the new price, there is nothing you can do about it; that is the new price. As I speak with you, all of them are now selling at the new prices. The situation is so bad, that somewhere in Ebonyi State our members informed us that it is now N1,200/litre.

“We thought the President would remove the subsidy through a seamless means because the source of this petrol is the NNPCL. They are the ones subsidising petroleum products, they are the people who use their revenue to subsidise this product.’’

The IPMAN spokesperson expressed worry over the rate of increase in inflation and hardship that would come as a result of the latest hike in petrol price.

“This hike in petrol price will definitely lead to galloping inflation and will worsen the hardship already being faced by the Nigerian masses. It is not something to cheer about. It came as a surprise and in the coming days, we will see the very harsh ripple effects,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Ukadike has called on the Federal Government and the NNPCL to give other marketers the opportunity to start importing petrol in order to create competition in the sector.

“The NNPCL is importing and has not given people the opportunity to join them in importing so as to see whether private sector operators can import the product cheaper or not. So there is no competition. In a deregulated regime, there must be competition, everyone with capacity should be allowed to import,” the IPMAN official stated.

When asked whether other marketers could resume imports since the government had finally deregulated petrol prices, Ukadike replied, “Marketers can import, but let me tell you some of the factors militating against this. The first is that there won’t be availability of dollars.

“You will source your dollar from the parallel market and if you are not careful in doing this, and you go into the importation of petroleum products, you might not ‘come out of it alive’ at the end of the day.

“So what we are saying is that those advantages that NNPCL has, should be shared with other major importers of petroleum products. If it is through crude buy-back, they should let us know so that independent players such as IPMAN members can come together and be able to use it in the buy-back model.’’

He added, “For independent marketers, the most important thing is that there should be availability of petroleum products, and the government should open up the space for importers and investors to come in.”

NNPCL, the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for several years running, confirmed the hike in petrol price in a statement and a new pricing template released to marketers nationwide.

But the move has sparked a groundswell of anger across the nation with the Nigeria Labour Congress demanding an immediate reversal of the decision.

The union also said it would hold an emergency meeting on Friday on the fuel price increase which had triggered hoarding and scarcity across the country with attendant rise in transport fares, goods and services.

The fuel price hike by the oil firm is coming 72 hours after President Bola Tinubu declared in his inaugural address on Monday that the subsidy regime had ended.

To pacify the growing anger over the situation, the FG hastily summoned some labour leaders to a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday evening.

The meeting had in attendance the NLC President, Joe Ajaero and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Festus Osifo, former NLC President and immediate past governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, and others, however, ended in a deadlock as the labour and government teams failed to reach a consensus.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Joe Ajaero, said “As far as labour is concerned, we didn’t have a consensus in this meeting.”

He faulted the NNPCL over an official release published hours earlier reviewing the petrol pump price in its filling stations nationwide.

He said the move puts the labour unions in a difficult position on the negational table.

“That’s the principle of negotiation. You don’t put the partner, ask them to negotiate under gunpoint. The prayer of the NLC is that we go back to the status quo, negotiate, think of alternatives and all the effects and how to manage the effects this action is going to have on the people. If it is an action that must take off.

“The subsidy provision has been made up to the end of June. And before then, conscious people, labour management, and the government should be able to think of what will happen at the end of June. You don’t start it before the time,” Ajaero said.

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Founder, DAAR Communications, Raymond Dokpesi is Dead

Published

6 days ago

May 29, 2023

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The Founder of DAAR Communications, owners of the foremost radio and television stations in Nigeria, Raypower and African Independent Television (AIT), High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, is dead.

Reliable sources said the High Chief died while exercising on a treadmill on Monday afternoon.

The source said Dopkesi suffered a stroke some weeks ago.

Details soon…

Headline

I Stand on Rule of Law, with Our Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, PDP, Says Dele Momodu

Published

6 days ago

May 29, 2023

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Frontline journalist and Director of Strategic Communications of the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Council in the just concluded Presidential election, Chief Dele Momodu, had said that he remains a loyal member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and will always stand on the side of rule of law, and with the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Momodu made the revelations in a statement he signed himself, noting that the last election, which brought Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to power, was savagely manipulated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He praised the steps Atiku, and the presidential candidate of the Labour candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, have taken in seeking legal redress.

The statement in details:

I STAND ON RULE OF LAW

My position on the state of our country NIGERIA is simple and straightforward. I’m a loyal member of PDP who owes absolute allegiance to Nigeria and its Rule of Law. My political party PDP and others passionately hold the view that the last Presidential election was savagely manipulated by the ruling party APC and the cases are already in courts. Nothing will make me abandon my party on the altar of convenience and profit. Win or lose, I will continue to stand on this principle without any malice or prejudice against those who think otherwise. Democracy is a game of choice and I’m resolutely standing by our candidate, the former Vice President ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR (GCON) who has taken the honorable and peaceful step of going to court to seek redress. This is the only way we can deepen our hard earned Democracy. Sacrifice is not always convenient but painful.

I salute and respect The Wazirin Adamawa and others like my dear friend and Brother, former Governor Peter Obi, the Labor Party Presidential candidate, for promoting the best tenets of Democracy in Nigeria and I’m willing to encourage them rather than discourage their onerous quests…

CHIEF DELE MOMODU