Monitored by TAIWO FAROTIMI
Here are excerpts from the moving response of Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of the late Basorun M.K.O. Abiola, during Tuesday’s national honours ceremony in Abuja:
“It is difficult to try to stand in the shoes of a giant, (in the shoes) of one of the greatest human beings that the world ever had. But that is the responsibility that I bear today. And indeed even for M. K. O Abiola, it was difficult to imagine how he would speak to Nigeria in his inauguration speech.
“My mum told me how he would stand in front of a mirror. He was preparing the speech. Because the results were coming in (and) he thought he was going to be able to deliver it. And you know he used to stammer, so he would start, “Fe… Fellow Nigerians …” And he never really got past “Fellow Nigerians “. He would say a few words, and he would say, “No, No, not like that “. And he would start again. And he kept struggling to think of what to say to the people of Nigeria.
“Because all M. K. O. ever wanted to say to the Nigerian people, and M. K. O. ever did say to the people of Nigeria is: “I love you, the people of Nigeria. I believe in you, the people of Nigeria!”
“He was Yoruba, but he loved Hausa people, (he loved the) Kanuri people , he loved (the) Efik people, (he loved the) Igbo people. He loved all, everywhere. You just needed to be Nigerian and M. K. O was your man. If he could help, he would do. There were so many things he already did to show… and that was why the people of Nigeria rewarded him with the mandate of June 12, 1993.
“But we know that he was never able to deliver that speech. But in many ways, the event that transpired later revealed to Nigeria the eloquence of his heart, the fidelity of his commitment and even his own abiding wish that if there were any way that his own actions would compromise the people of Nigeria, M. K. O would prefer to die.
“He preferred to leave the earth rather than compromise on you, on your integrity as a people, on your sovereignty as a nation. Which was why even the day before he died, when he was still imprisoned, he asked the question, “How do you shave a people in their absence?” He knew that so long as he refused to allow his own head to be shaved as a symbolic message to you, the people of Nigeria, that you will be safe.
“And when he died, we accepted his body. And I have watched in Nigeria as year after year, after year, after year, till now, the 25th year, you, the people, have suffered, and he was not recognised at all.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, Nelson Mandela it was who said: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” Who would ever believe, given the relationship that you had with Chief M. K. O. Abiola, that you would be the instrument God would use to honour this man? And to bring reconciliation and healing to the country?
“Who would ever believe, given the relationship that you had with Chief M. K. O. Abiola, that you would be the instrument God would use to honour this man?”
“You apologised to Nigeria and my family and it touched my heart! You know that I lost also my mother in this struggle, so that apology meant so much. Let me use this opportunity, on behalf of Chief M. K. O. Abiola, because I know what he would have done… Let me use this opportunity to apologise to you, to apologise to your family, for anything that he might have done to harm you and to harm your family.
“Let me also say at this juncture that Chief M. K. O. Abiola was so committed to us saying “Farewell to poverty in Nigeria”. And today, we have more people in poverty in Nigeria than we had in 1993. I read the statement that he made when he said that you prepare now to wage a battle for the defence of the people of Nigeria against those who think of themselves as landlords of Nigeria. Let me say to you that, by recognising June 12, you awaken so many heroes of Nigeria’s struggle, and heroines, who have shown- because they stood firm on June 12- that money cannot buy them.
“…Let us fight and bring about the conclusion of M.K.O’s struggle that the Nigerian people should be the ones in full control of this country. It’s not for a few landlords, whoever they may be.”
“If there is any match that we need to match, they will match. If there is any protest that we need to be present there, they would protest.
“ have called up your own new army for the defence of this country. And President Muhammadu Buhari, this fight will not take you, God willing, as it has taken M.K.O., but let us fight and bring about the conclusion of M.K.O’s struggle that the Nigerian people should be the ones in full control of this country. It’s not for a few landlords, whoever they may be. It’s for the two hundred million people of Nigeria.
“I thank you.”