Jamiu Abiola: I’m Happy That One of the Most Loyal People That Fought For June 12 Has Become President

Jamiu Abiola, the son of the late M.K.O Abiola in an interview with Arise News on Monday expressed his admiration for President  Bola Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to the importance of June 12 and the satisfaction that June 12 now has for him.

 He described Tinubu as one of the most loyal advocates of the June 12 movement which translated to the enthronement of democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999. 

 “I commend President Tinubu because he was always fighting for June 12. The president has been coordinating from the background. 

“I’m very happy that at least now, it makes a lot of sense to me that one of the people and the most loyal person that fought for June 12 has now become president.”

He expressed his satisfaction in President Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech as the President connected late M.K.O Abiola’s historic victory with what is currently happening in Nigeria. 

Recognizing the importance of his father’s struggle, Jamiu Abiola stated that Nigeria now has a leader who not only understands the importance of the fight for democracy but also stands in the best position to make the best decisions for Nigerians. 

He said; “In the history of Nigeria, we now have a president that fought for democracy. He knows what it means to fight for democracy, so he is in a better position to do the right thing. 

“He was the one followed my dad to meet General Abacha when he took over to ask the way forward.”

Speaking on the just concluded 2023 general elections, Jamiu Abiola stated the era of social media in propagating fake news is a major challenge in Nigeria’s modern day elections. 

He however stated that despite these hurdles, the election was keenly contested and holds a certain level of fairness, as evidenced by the acceptance of the results. 

He said; “This election is different in the sense that we live in different times. We live in a time of fake news, we live in a time of social media. We didn’t have to go through that then. 

“So a lot of things that we hear we also have to be very careful what we believe and unfortunately for us, we’re not in a position to actually know how to tell truth from the falsehood but one thing I do know is that the election was keenly contested and I also know that if it wasn’t free and fair to a certain level by now, you know people would not have accepted the result. 

“Because you know if it was rigged and like people were so sure of it we will not had so much peace in this country.”

Eloho Otugo

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