By Olu Fasan

THE 1990s were a turbulent and dire period for Nigeria. With the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the catastrophic events that followed, the 1990s were the darkest moments in Nigeria’s history, after the 1966 coups and the ensuing civil war. But while Nigerians at home personally lived through this terrible period and experienced first-hand the horrible events as they unfolded, those of us living abroad were only vicariously involved – anxious about Nigeria but utterly starved of accurate news.

This, remember, was a time when the Internet hadn’t been born or wasn’t fully operational; when there was no Twitter and, therefore, no minute-by-minute relaying of news; and when there were no online or digital newspapers to provide detailed news and analysis. The print editions of Nigerian newspapers were hardly available in London.

During this period, I was a magazine publisher in London. I published two magazines, Marketfinder International – a business magazine aimed at linking businesspeople and traders in Africa and Europe – and African Expatriate, which carried news about, and profiled, African professionals, corporate executives and diplomats in Britain. I was, therefore, journalistically, an active watcher of the June 12 saga, capturing the events from a British/European perspective.

This piece is a little attempt, within the limits of a newspaper column, to recount the events as I experienced them in London. It is a short insight into the British/European aspect of the June 12 saga! Of course, we must start with the annulment itself. On June 24, 1993, General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the June 12 presidential election, believed to have been won by Chief Moshood Abiola, for reasons that, as the renowned jurist Akinola Aguda put it, were “flippant and ridiculous to the extreme”.

The annulment understandably sent shock waves across the world. The British government strongly condemned it but came short of calling for its reversal. As Baroness Lynda Chalker, Britain’s Overseas Development Minister, told the House of Lords: “We have been very careful not to be prescriptive in our approach. We have not offered to devise or broker political solutions to Nigeria’s problems”, adding that “Nigeria must decide its own future”.

In July 1993, Gordon Wilson (now late), then President of the UK chapter of the Nigerian-British Chambers of Commerce, undertook a 12-day visit to Nigeria and met General Babangida. On his return to London, Wilson told members of the chambers: “I stressed to him the British Government’s disappointment over the annulled presidential election of June 12 and he (Babangida) said: ‘Well, yes, so would they.

Very sad about it but we had special reasons at the last minutes for taking the actions which were imperative’. He would not be specific. I did not expect him to.” However, Wilson said that as Babangida ushered him to his car, he told him: “Sir, I believe this would be the last time that I should meet you in your position as Head of State”, and he said: ‘Yes, Gord, you’re correct.’”

Of course, General Babangida “stepped aside” on August 26, 1993. He created a face-saving contraption called “Interim National Government” and named Chief Ernest Shonekan, then Chairman of the Transitional Council and Head of Government, as head of the interim government.

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Chief Shonekan, an anglophile former chairman and chief executive of UAC (Nigeria) Plc, was very popular in Britain, and his appointment as head of the Transitional Council was well-received because many believed he would use his business acumen to reform the economy. When Shonekan visited London in March 1993, I attended the reception hosted for him by the High Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji (now Sardauna of Sokoto), where he was feted by dignitaries from government, business and the diplomatic community.

But once Shonekan was appointed as head of the interim government, he became a hate figure, especially as he resisted pressure to revisit the annulled election but instead insisted on holding another presidential election on February 19, 1994. To add insult to injury, he said he could allow Abiola to contest again! Of course, General Sani Abacha seized power from Shonekan on November 17, 1993 and restored military rule. With Abacha in charge and running a Gestapo-style regime, many of the political activists fled to London. Earlier, on August 4, Abiola himself arrived in London, and was welcomed in a large rally led by Chief Abraham Adesanya, the NADECO leader.

After visiting the US, Abiola returned to Nigeria on September 24 but was arrested by Abacha’s regime in 1994 and charged with treason after declaring himself president! Nigerian activists were frustrated and deeply disappointed with the UK government for refusing to impose stringent sanctions, including oil embargo and trade sanctions, on Nigeria.

But when I interviewed Baroness Chalker at the House of Lords in June 1995, she told me that imposing sanctions on Nigeria, apart from withdrawal of military assistance, would “harm the interests or the livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians”, adding: “In talking to Wole Soyinka the other day, he made it absolutely clear to me that we should go on helping the people of Nigeria.” Of course, it was wrong to expect Britain to help Nigeria solve its self-inflicted problems.

In 1995, General Oladipo Diya, Abacha’s deputy, said in an interview. “June 12 was a reality. Abiola actually won the election. But General Babangida should be held responsible. He didn’t consult anybody”, adding: “If Babangida’s son had contested that election, he would have annulled it because he didn’t want to go.” But is that the whole truth?

Sadly, 27 years on, Nigerians are not wiser about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that led to the annulment. Elsewhere, a judicial inquiry would have revealed why the election was annulled and the roles played by different people in it.  Truth is, declaring ‘June 12’ as “Democracy Day” without exposing the inside stories of annulment is a self-indulgent action that adds nothing to Nigeria’s collective history. ‘June 12’ and its lessons must be documented for posterity!

VANGUARD