Fifteen years ago,Nigeria's military cabal under the headship of General Ibrahim 'Maradona' Babangida annuled what was seen as the nation's freest and fairest election.Late Chief MKO Abiola had made a clean sweep at that years presidential poll.The then military ruler wasn't comfortable with this.Fifteen years after,Nigeria is still haunted by that diabolical decision
.It was obvious that the then maximum dictatorship was pursuing a personal vindictive agenda against the people's wish.Fifteen years after,Nigeria is yet to recover from that deadly blow. Fifteen years later,Nigeria and her Democracy is still in shambles.At events marking the 15th anniversary of the annulment of the June 1993 elections,real and pseudo Democrats will gather particularly in Lagos and Abuja to take us through the annual drama of eulogising and condemming dramatic personae of the June '93 impasse.The irony of it all is that the real heroes of the democratic struggles are far away from these events.They are either dead-yes dead and forgotten! Or too dissilusioned with the way and manner their cause was betrayed.Remember the masses,workers and students who braved hardships due to strikes called by Labour unions and political coalition groups, in protestation of the dubious annulment,and many of them ended up being felled by bullets fired by Policemen and Soldiers on the orders of both the Babangida and Abacha regimes respectively?Ah,we are too quick to forget the sacrifices of our real ''heroes past''.I remember innocent citizens whose only crime was to have questioned the annulment of their collective will, ended up callously arrested,detained,hauled into jail or gunned down. Lagos and Edo state witnessed many of such dastardly killings.With deep pains in my heart I remember youthful pro-democracy activists, colleagues and students mostly from the Edo state University,Ekpoma who were brutally cut down in their prime,in the early morning of August 14th 1994 at Opoji Junction,near Uromi,Edo state,as they embarked on protest for the revalidation of the June '93 election result.They are the real heroes of the struggle for genuine democracy in Nigeria,even though we have kept asking whether the bloodshed was worth it.Someday,we will have answers.
Oh my God! How come the world is just standing aloof, watching the old lunatic of Zimbabwe tear the soul of that country apart? How come African leaders are burying their heads in the sand like the proverbial Ostrich? The opposition has been so harrassed that they have chickened out of the run-off.And Mugabe is happier for it.Zimbabwe is on the brinks of collapse.Who will save Zimbabwe?
Libya's Gadfly, Col. Muammar Gaddafi is one outrightly frank leader who has been able to hold his own,anytime,anyday. He recently passed a very valuable message to US Presidential candidate,Barack Obama,which if taken to, will go a long way in playing a significant aspect in Obama's quest as the next occupant of the White house.It is in the form of a brotherly advice:
.It was obvious that the then maximum dictatorship was pursuing a personal vindictive agenda against the people's wish.Fifteen years after,Nigeria is yet to recover from that deadly blow. Fifteen years later,Nigeria and her Democracy is still in shambles.At events marking the 15th anniversary of the annulment of the June 1993 elections,real and pseudo Democrats will gather particularly in Lagos and Abuja to take us through the annual drama of eulogising and condemming dramatic personae of the June '93 impasse.The irony of it all is that the real heroes of the democratic struggles are far away from these events.They are either dead-yes dead and forgotten! Or too dissilusioned with the way and manner their cause was betrayed.Remember the masses,workers and students who braved hardships due to strikes called by Labour unions and political coalition groups, in protestation of the dubious annulment,and many of them ended up being felled by bullets fired by Policemen and Soldiers on the orders of both the Babangida and Abacha regimes respectively?Ah,we are too quick to forget the sacrifices of our real ''heroes past''.I remember innocent citizens whose only crime was to have questioned the annulment of their collective will, ended up callously arrested,detained,hauled into jail or gunned down. Lagos and Edo state witnessed many of such dastardly killings.With deep pains in my heart I remember youthful pro-democracy activists, colleagues and students mostly from the Edo state University,Ekpoma who were brutally cut down in their prime,in the early morning of August 14th 1994 at Opoji Junction,near Uromi,Edo state,as they embarked on protest for the revalidation of the June '93 election result.They are the real heroes of the struggle for genuine democracy in Nigeria,even though we have kept asking whether the bloodshed was worth it.Someday,we will have answers.
Some people just enjoy stirring controversies that ends up doing no one any good.Why should a man I have respected so much in the person of Hollywood award winning Director, Clint Eastwood tell fellow film director,Spike Lee to ''shut his face'' simply because Lee had made some observations about not featuring many black actors in his (Clint's) films?
