The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, has said June 12 is a threshold moment that demands Nigerian democrats to do soul-searching on how better the country has fared.
Atiku, in a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Paul Ibe, said it was not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day “when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and wantonly disregards court orders” on issues that border on fundamental human rights.
Atiku, a former Vice President also said it was not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have the freedom to find a better life when Nigeria is now the global headquarters of poverty.
“It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when a disproportionate number of citizens are not sure of where their next meal will come from and when the sanctity of their lives is not guaranteed. It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when freedom of the press, and of speech, fundamentals of democracy is being assailed.
“As a compatriot who stood shoulder to shoulder with the icon of the June 12 struggle, Chief MKO Abiola of blessed memory, I know first-hand that the choice of HOPE as his campaign slogan wasn’t merely a populist tokenism.
“He didn’t mean to deceive Nigerians with a hope he could not deliver upon. And, today, the minimum requirement for any June 12 convert is to demand of them wherever they may be – either in government or in private lives – to deliver on the promises they made to the people.
“It is therefore not acceptable that an administration which had an opportunity of four years to deliver the promise of change to Nigerians, not only reneged on that promise, but propelled the country into a near-comatose state will lay claims to being a true friend of the June 12 struggle.
“To be a lover of June 12 is to believe in the common good of the people. June 12 is about the political leadership having the focus to retool the Nigerian economy. It is about having the skills to create wealth and jobs for the teeming mass of unemployed. It is not about the inclination for shared pains; it is about shared prosperity.
“As we celebrate yet another episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire for hope is more preponderant today much as it was twenty-six years ago. So, for all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the HOPE alive,” he said.
