Comrade Muhammed Sani Zorro was a former member of the House of Representatives and former president, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ. Zorro, who worked in the defunct Concord Group of Newspapers owned by the late Moshood Abiola, moved a motion for the conferment of Nigeria’s highest national honour on the late winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election in 2017 on the floor of the House of Representatives. He spoke to AKANI ALAKA on the motion and subsequent declaration of June 12, as Nigeria’s Democracy Day a year later.
You moved a motion in 2017 about the need to honour the late Chief MKO Abiola over the June 12 issue. A year later, the President declared that June 12 will now be Nigeria’s Democracy Day. How do you feel?
I feel gratified that coincidentally, the spirit behind my motion, which also benefitted from concurrence of the Senate, was shared by the executive branch of government. And whether it is a matter of coincidence or the executive branch considers it a reasonable proposal that was in sync with its own agenda, in 2018, Nigerians received very well the news that June 12 was now going to be public holiday. I also went further to ask that the late MKO Abiola be conferred with the highest national honour of GCFR. I argued in the motion that it was not true that the GCFR was reserved for Presidents and Heads of State only because sometime – I think in 1980 – the late President Shehu Shagari conferred it on Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the opposition UPN then. So, part of these arguments was considered and the motion succeeded. So, in 2018, the Federal Government agreed to confer GCFR on Chief MKO Abiola posthumously and then, in 2019, the Public Holiday Act was amended and it now substituted May 29 with June 12, as public holiday. Luckily, May 29 was never backed by law, which meant it could be easily reviewed without resort to legislation. So, we were all happy. I believe that June 12 was more significant in the democratic evolution of Nigeria, but also the two considerations – the conferment of GCFR on late Chief MKO Abiola as well as the declaration would go a long way in addressing the legitimate grievances of parties that have continued to fuel the issue of June 12. And since it was a political problem that we had, political solution has been devised to solve it.
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I can say categorically that I discussed fairly well with some of the family members of Chief MKO Abiola before my motion. I actually took them into confidence and they agreed that if their father’s efforts would be recognised, certainly, they would no longer have any grudges with government of Nigeria – whichever government.
How would you describe the late MKO Abiola?
Chief Abiola’s contributions to Nigeria, as an accomplished Nigerian were not only in the sphere of politics. He it was that champions the cause of sports more than any other person not only in Nigeria but across the continent. He was declared the Pillar of Sports in Africa by African Writers Association. In the sphere of business, when he was straddling the country, the African continent and all over like a colossus, we didn’t know those who are now said to possess the Midas Touch. Abiola was the only businessman that we knew. And as an employer of labour through his companies, including the Concord Group, under which I worked, ITT, RCN, Abiola Farms and so on, he was an equal opportunity employer. Apart from that, he also built churches and mosques to bridge the gap between the two contending faiths in Nigeria. And there was nowhere he had no friends, even among Muslim or Christian Clerics, traditional rulers and all those who were stakeholders in the country as it were. And that was why it was the best opportunity we had of somebody who could unite the country in real sense and realise the potentials and resourcefulness of Nigeria as a country. And if his victory in the presidential election had been allowed to stand, Abiola’s contribution as the head of government would have been a major foundation upon which subsequent leaders would have built and probably, we wouldn’t have harvested the myriad of problems and crises that we have. But God knows the best.
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What do you think about suggestions that Abiola should be declared a president posthumously?
No, I don’t think that is possible or feasible. And I’m not sure it will serve any historical purpose even if government were to consider that suggestion. I am not sure I have come across a similar scenario anywhere else in the world. And if it had not happened in any part of the world before, it may be a little difficult trying to do it in Nigeria because there will be all sorts of groups that will challenge that kind of declaration or move by government. At any rate, I think government calculates before taking decisions that they always settle for policies and moves that will earn them mileage.
Of course, there are governments who took hard decisions because they believe at the end, it will be to the benefits of their people. In that context, I am not sure if this government will want to go further than what it has done. Otherwise, if that will heal permanently the wounds of June 12, I am indifferent. But I think these two actions have gone a long way in bridging the gap in agitation for recognition of this man as a colossus.
