THE Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, today, said the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993, election, late Aare MKO Abiola will not be happy in his grave that the democracy he lived and died for had turned out to be autocratic in nature and practice.
Speaking at the annual June 12 commemoration anniversary of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), in Lagos, Adams lamented that Nigeria’s democracy evolves in disunity, rivalry and wanton killings across the nation.
He stated that the democracy the late Aare MKO Abiola lived and died for had failed to accommodate his worthy ideals as people’s rights were being trampled upon.
He said: “This present danger has been threatening the fragile union of our great country.
“And sadly, Nigeria is sliding towards an anarchical terminal point.
“Nigeria is at war with itself because a section of the country has always betrayed the trust which is the bond that binds us together as a nation.
“A good example of this is the federal government’s ban and suspension of the Twitter platform and as far as I am concerned, it is another ploy to tamper with the citizens’ rights to freedom of speech and expression.
“And if the federal government succeeded in banning and suspending twitter, it would easily do the same for other social media platforms now that the federal government has said all social media platforms must be registered to continue operating in the country.
“We must follow the trend and rise against skewed regulations. We must stop this excessive use of federal might to truncate the ideals of democracy.”
He stressed that freedom of speech and expression is a major component of an ideal democracy, adding that Nigeria could not continue to live in deceit and self-denial.
Adams queried: “If democracy could not guarantee freedom of speech and expression, so what system of government will guarantee such component of good governance?
