Nigeria would have been better off with MKO Abiola as president – Son

Jamiu Abiola, son of democracy hero Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, believes Nigeria would have been economically better off if his father had become president in 1993.

“Nigeria would have been better because, at that time, it was a very special time in global times; that 1993 period was a time when the world itself was having an international economic boom,” he said during Channels Television’s June 12 Special Forum.

Abiola expressed optimism that his father’s presidency would have enabled Nigeria to tap into the global economic boom of the 1990s.

“So, we could have tapped into that. But what did we get in return? We got a Kleptomaniac as head of state,” he lamented, referencing the military regime that seized power after the annulment of the June 12 election.

Preserving Legacy
Jamiu Abiola wrote a book, “The President Who Never Ruled,” to preserve his father’s legacy and ensure his name is not erased from Nigeria’s history.

“I came to realise that my father’s name was becoming like a memory that was becoming distant and people were hellbent on rewriting the history of Nigeria without him,” he explained.

The Abiola family paid a heavy price for their fight for democracy.

MKO Abiola’s wife, Kudirat, a pro-democracy campaigner, was assassinated in 1996. Jamiu described her killing as a “terrible experience.”

President Bola Tinubu posthumously awarded MKO Abiola the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) and Kudirat Abiola the title Commander of the Federal Republic.

Jamiu appreciated the gesture, saying, “May God bless him for honouring my mother today.”