The Federal Government has declared Monday, June 13, a public holiday in commemoration of Nigeria’s Democracy Day.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, announced this in a statement on Thursday.
The minister urges Nigerians to reflect on the long journey the country has made towards the enthronement of civil democratic order, before Independence in 1960 till date and the sacrifices of the patriots.
The statement reads: “As we mark another Democracy Day in the history of our dear country, let us reflect on the efforts of our founding fathers and ensure that Nigeria remains one united, secured, peaceful and an indivisible entity, noting that no development can take place in an acrimonious environment.
“With the challenges we face in Nigeria today, I see an opportunity for us not to break up or break down, but to break open; open up to ourselves in truth so that we may appreciate each other, understand each other, honour each other and live together in peace and prosperity.”
The former governor of Osun State further enjoined Nigerians to keep faith with democracy, stating that “although it might not have brought the best of expectations, keeping to it is better than alternatives which have proved ruinous and disastrous to the nation.”
Persecondnews reports that Democracy Day which was previously observed on May 29 as the day the military handed over power to an elected civilian government in 1999, but the Buhari administration changed it to June 12.
The Gen. Ibrahim Babangida military junta had annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election won by the late Bashorun MKO Abiola, adjudged as the freest and fairest poll in the annals of the country.
