(Throwback) June 12 Election - All The Television Drama And Fireworks (Videos).

"You are so ignorant about these things, let me enlighten you" - Chief M.K.O. Abiola.

Election seasons around the world are usually filled with drama and verbal fireworks between the opposing parties and candidates. The drama includes clever statements by the candidates and their supporters, insults, dramatic visual campaigns and television adverts.

For example, in 2011, former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola said that the problem with his opponents was not their age, but the age of their ideas (J.K. Randle was much older than him). In 1995, former British Prime Minister, John Major, told his opponents to “Put up or shut up”. In 1992 Bill Clinton entered the venue of an election campaign rally holding a sign that read, “It’s the economy, stupid!" (George Bush had been talking about foreign affairs while Americans suffered the effect of an economic recession). Dan Quayle likened himself to Jack Kennedy during the 1988 US vice presidential debate and his opponent, Lloyd Bentson replied, "I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."

The 1993 presidential election season in Nigeria was no different.

The NTA had many live political programmes in the run up to the June 12 elections. They had a vice presidential debate between Alhaji Babagana Kingibe and Chief Sylvester Ugoh on Saturday, June 5th, 1993 and a presidential debate between Chief M.K.O Abiola and Alhaji Bashir Tofa on Sunday, June 6th. They also had a live update programme on election day (June 12) and it featured the directors general of the two campaign organisations.

Chief M.K.O Abiola appeared to be a formidable opponent for any candidate. He was a very charismatic speaker and he was quite knowledgeable about Nigerian affairs because he was deeply involved in virtually every area of Nigerian society (politics, the economy, entertainment, sports, etc).

He was a chartered accountant (he had a first class degree in accountancy from Glasgow University) and he was involved in banking (Habib Bank), publishing and the media (Concord Press and Concord Newspaper), telecommunications (RCN), crude oil production (Summit Oil), aviation (Concord Airlines), entertainment (he was a musician [he played the saxophone], owned a record company [Decca] and was a patron of PMAN), sports (he owned Abiola Babes, Concord FC and Kakanfo Queens football clubs, was made the Pillar of Sports in Africa by the African Sports Journalists union and sponsored numerous sports competitions), shipping (OT Africa Lines), manufacturing (Berec Batteries), food processing (Wonder Bakeries), farming (Abiola Farms), trading (Abiola Bookshops), education (Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School), etc. and he was knowledgeable in all these sectors. He had also served as the president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

His speeches were always entertaining and captivating. He usually spiced up his speeches with proverbs that were both humorous and thought provoking.

However, Chief Abiola had a flaw. He sometimes stammered and you know what they say about stammerers? Yes, Chief Abiola had a short temper.

The NRC knew this and they decided to exploit this flaw as much as they could.

Format of the debate

The NTA invited politicians from both parties to the debate and the SDP politicians sat on the left while the NRC politicians sat on the right (President Babangida had said that SDP’s ideology was a little to the left, while NRC’s idology was a little to the right). Both candidates made statements at the beginning of the debate and then the moderator asked the candidates questions. Then the politicians were allowed to ask the candidates questions.

Chief Tom Ikimi asked most of the questions on behalf of the NRC. It quickly became clear to me that Chief Tom Ikimi was at the debate to provoke Chief Abiola. He interrupted him, repeated his questions, reemphasized his points and boasted about the NRC. At times he was almost badgering Chief Abiola and I could see that Chief Abiola was beginning to get irritated by Chief Ikimi’s antics.

He finally succeeded in provoking Chief Abiola at his fourth or fifth attempt


Chief Ikimi said that it’s well known that Chief Abiola is involved in various businesses. He said that Chief Abiola found oil and therefore he is a prospector. He said that the issue in Nigeria is the pump price of oil. He said that the question he is asking is, “Will you increase the price or not”. He said that he wants a direct answer, “Yes or no”. He said he wants a direct answer how Chief Abiola will protect the oil in Nigeria and ensure that neighbouring countries are not smuggling it and how he will ensure that there is oil for transportation, so that the ordinary man, “That the NRC is bothered about, can have cheap transportation”.


Chief Abiola said that the problem in the sector is that nobody has actually ascertained the cost of producing petrol and that he would ensure that the costing is done transparently and publicly.


Chief Ikimi tried to interrupt him and Chief Abiola said, “Well you are not an accountant, so I’m not surprised”.

Chief Abiola said that he would ensure that the costing is done transparently and publicly and then he would ask Nigerians if they want the NNPC to sell below cost price and die or if they want a sustainable price.

Chief Ikimi interrupted Chief Abiola again and said, “But you are a producer”, Chief Abiola said, “Listen, I am no more a producer”, Chief Ikimi tried to interrupt again and Chief Abiola said, “You are so ignorant about these things, let me enlighten you”.

At this point, 25 years ago, I collapsed with laughter. I actually didn’t hear what was said next.

Chief Abiola said, “I invested a lot of money, found oil. . .” and Chief Ikimi interrupted him again by saying, “You found oil” then Chief Abiola said, “Try and behave like a civilised man”.

Much later on, towards the end of the debate, Chief Abiola apologised to Chief Ikimi for calling him an uncivilised man

Watch the exchange at the 9.19 minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT51AB3Igqw

Vice Presidential Debate

There were no fireworks during the vice presidential debate. Alhaji Babagana Kingibe is a very experienced and unflappable diplomat and he easily and calmly answered all the questions that he was asked. Dr Sylvester Ugoh is a very experienced Harvard trained economist, who also served as the governor of the Bank of Biafra and he also easily answered all the questions that he was asked.

Election day programme

The NTA had an election day programme in which they monitored the election as it took place across the country. They brought the directors general of the two campaigns to their studios and got them to react to NTA's reports from across the country as they came in. The director general of the Tofa Campaign (I've forgotten his name) complained that Chief Abiola had violated the electoral law which states that there should be no campaigns on election day and party symbols should not be displayed at polling centres. He said that Chief Abiola wore an agbada that had a white horse on it, to the polling centre (the NRC's symbol was a green eagle while the SDP's symbol was a white horse).

The director general of Chief Abiola’s campaign organisation, Jonathan Zwingina, said that his "good friend" the Tofa campaign DG did not know what he was talking about because if you look closely you would observe that that is a unicorn, not a horse.

I fell out of my chair and almost died of laughter.

You can also watch the entire debate below. You'll see how much younger these politicians (Walter Ofonagoro, Ibrahim Mantu, Tom Ikimi, etc) looked.

Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPiFHzSi5X4


Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey8e_KToAxQ


Part 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT51AB3Igqw


Part 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1OrAJRluEY

Most people talk about the first advert below nowadays, but the second advert was more popular in 1993. I used to hear little children singing it as they went to school. That song was like the anthem of the campaign.

Na Wa For This Life O!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpjAVFa_F5g


On The March Again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j6vVSZ7wiE

Nice post but can't put food on my table

The 1993 election campaign was based on issues like the price of petrol, food security, employment, SAP, etc, rather than on ethnicity or religion.

Both parties had their manifestos, but Chief Abiola's campaign organisation, "Hope '93" published a booklet titled,

"Hope '93 - How To Make Nigeria A Better Place For All".

The booklet touched on every aspect of Nigerian life including, food security, unemployment, sports, security, entertainment, etc and explained what Chief Abiola would do in each of these sectors if he was elected president. I had that booklet until 2006 when I misplaced it while moving house (the loss was very painful).

In response the Tofa campaign organisation published,

"My Vision For A Greater Nigeria" by Bashir Tofa.


There were fireworks during the campaign, but they were based on these issues.

For example, in one of their earlier exchanges during the debate, Chief Ikimi asked Chief Abiola if he would continue to implement SAP.

The Structural Adjustment Policy (SAP) is probably the most unpopular Nigerian government policy ever. Chief Ikimi asked this question because he hoped to put Chief Abiola between the people and the Military Government.

If he criticised SAP, then he would annoy the Military Government, but if he praised SAP, then he would annoy the people.

Chief Abiola said that he would implement the manifesto of the SDP.

Chief Ikimi pressed and badgered Chief Abiola on this issue and Chief Abiola said that the NRC can implement SAP (instead of the NRC manifesto) if it wanted to, but he would implement the manifesto of his party, the SDP, rather than a military manifesto.

This is lovely.

When Yoruba muslims have not carry religion for their head like gala

If u were not in this world then, assemble here pls

Nostalgic!

Truly the "On the march again" campaign song was really an anthem among my peers then.

I still remember the scenery of the debates despite not understanding much of what was said then.

It seems both SDP and NRC were quite ideological as it ought to be, as opposed to the political parties we have had in the 4th republic.

Abiola really did his homework about Nigeria before conceptualizing his hope 93 campaign and agenda.

In Lagos, I remember the violence between the Sarumi and Agbalajobi supporters, that eventually allowed the NRC to exploit the situation that resulted in an NRC and Sir Michael Otedola victory as Governor.

Throwback:
Nostalgic!

Truly the "On the march again" campaign song was really an anthem among my peers then.

I still remember the scenery of the debates despite not understanding much of what was said then.

It seems both SDP and NRC were quite ideological as it ought to be, as opposed to the political parties we have had in the 4th republic.

Abiola really did his homework about Nigeria before conceptualizing his hope 93 campaign and agenda.

In Lagos, I remember the violence between the Sarumi and Agbalajobi supporters, that eventually allowed the NRC to exploit the situation that resulted in an NRC and Sir Michael Otedola victory as Governor.

That last paragraph (Yomi Edu vs Agbalajobi vs Sarumi) happened in 1991, during the governorship election.

naptu2:


That last paragraph (Yomi Edu vs Agbalajobi vs Sarumi) happened in 1991, during the governorship election.

Yes the governors were already elected as at 1991.

The political violence of their supporters left blood stains all over my compound, as they were gathered in a neighbouring compound for a ward meeting that ended in violence and disarray, that saw a lot of thugs jumping fences to make their escape through adjacent plots.

What I know is that Nigeria should split. Oodua/Yorubaland Republic for West. Biafra Republic for East. Arewa Republic for North

I just had to comment on this thread. Thanks to naptu2 we can learn a great deal of history of Nigeria from his threads. I hope to digress a little and say here that, while the 'Not too young to run' bill is important,

1. The most important thing now is to return to the open ballot system.
2. Turn the primary election system from the indirect selection to direct selection.
3. Abstain from Secret ballot.

Those who rig elections do so because we allow them to control the processes. And from my last post on a different thread, we know that these people are related to and fall under the category of those who benefited from the annulment of June 12.

Now if Nigerians instead of delegates were to vote on the day of primary elections; and all parties hold their primaries on the same day(to stop defection by politicians, and the votes are compiled immediately via the use of technology and the card reader, the election results will be compiled real time and there would be no ballot boxes to snatch. Furthermore we should adopt video technology in every polling booth by one of the electoral officers to record the events and upload all events immediately to the INEC central video database.

renewa29:
I just had to comment on this thread. Thanks to naptu2 we can learn a great deal of history of Nigeria from his threads. I hope to digress a little and say here that, while the 'Not too young to run' bill is important,

1. The most important thing now is to return to the open ballot system.
2. Turn the primary election system from the indirect selection to direct selection.
3. Abstain from Secret ballot.

Those who rig elections do so because we allow them to control the processes. And from my last post on a different thread, we know that these people are related to and fall under the category of those who benefited from the annulment of June 12.

Now if Nigerians instead of delegates were to vote on the day of primary elections; and all parties hold their primaries on the same day(to stop defection by politicians, and the votes are compiled immediately via the use of technology and the card reader, the election results will be compiled real time and there would be no ballot boxes to snatch. Furthermore we should adopt video technology in every polling booth by one of the electoral officers to record the events and upload all events immediately to the INEC central video database.

I was a great supporter of the open ballot system in 1991 and I couldn't understand why many human rights activists were against it, until I saw the problem first hand.


Human rights activists complained that the open ballot system exposed voters to intimidation and some of them even claimed that it was a deliberate ploy by the military government to control who the people voted for.

There was a certain prominent politician that I knew. He contested an election in 1991. The voting system was the open ballot system. The politician's security guard voted for his opponent. Everybody could see who he voted for because they used the open ballot system. The politician sacked the security guard that same day.


So, politicians, thugs, security agents, employers, etc can easily intimidate people because they can see who you voted for.

That's why NEC modified the system and created the open-secret ballot system, where you thumb print the ballot paper in secret and then you cast your vote in the open and this was the system that was used in the 1993 election and is still being used today.

Hope 93, USA 94!

renewa29. That talk of CCTV is doable but not actionable. Just like e-voting. Nigeria can easily do things like these but there's no willpower by the ruling class. The same corruption makes them doubt if someone will not tamper with e-voting or award contracts for fake CCTVs or simply make it not work. This thread is making me remember quite a lot. Recently, NSPMC guys were crying for them to be properly paid after serving the country but you ask yourself, why can Nigeria not produce ballot papers? The answer is obvious.

naptu2:



I was a great supporter of the open ballot system in 1991 and I couldn't understand why many human rights activists were against it, until I saw the problem first hand.


Human rights activists complained that the open ballot system exposed voters to intimidation and some of them even claimed that it was a deliberate ploy by the military government to control who the people voted for.

There was a certain prominent politician that I knew. He contested an election in 1991. The voting system was the open ballot system. The politician's security guard voted for his opponent. Everybody could see who he voted for because they used the open ballot system. The politician sacked the security guard that same day.


So, politicians, thugs, security agents, employers, etc can easily intimidate people because they can see who you voted for.

That's why NEC modified the system and created the open-secret ballot system, where you thumb print the ballot paper in secret and then you cast your vote in the open and this was the system that was used in the 1993 election and is still being used today.

I understand this. But we are at the point at which we need to do away with aggressive politics, intimidation and thuggery. The use of the ballot papers expose us to more harm. If adequate security is provided at the point of voting, then we can stop intimidation. It is the reason why we need stronger institutions such as the Police force.
Do we remember that citizens' apathy for elections started after the annulment of June 12 ? My mother never voted again after that.

Mustay:
Hope 93, USA 94!

renewa29. That talk of CCTV is doable but not actionable. Just like e-voting. Nigeria can easily do things like these but there's no willpower by the ruling class. The same corruption makes them doubt if someone will not tamper with e-voting or award contracts for fake CCTVs or simply make it not work. This thread is making me remember quite a lot. Recently, NSPMC guys were crying for them to be properly paid after serving the country but you ask yourself, why can Nigeria not produce ballot papers? The answer is obvious.

Very true,which is why our agitation and activism should be directed at expunging corrupt persons from the political space.

renewa29:

I understand this. But we are at the point at which we need to do away with aggressive politics, intimidation and thuggery. The use of the ballot papers expose us to more harm. If adequate security is provided at the point of voting, then we can stop intimidation. It is the reason why we need stronger institutions such as the Police force.
Do we remember that citizens' apathy for elections started after the annulment of June 12 ? My mother never voted again after that.

The intimidation can occur in many forms and it doesn't necessarily have to occur at the polling center. An employee might be afraid to vote for an opponent of his/her boss, because he is afraid that he will be sacked. A person might be afraid to vote for the candidate of his choice because he is afraid that thugs who live in the same neighbourhood would beat him up later (even days later).

The June 12,1993 election is acclaimed as the freest and fairest election in Nigeria's history and people voted in that election using ballot boxes and ballot papers.

Professor Nwosu admitted in his book that you need a degree of secrecy and a degree of openness to have a successful voting system. I'll explain how that can be done in my next post.

Donald Trump is a Great President

everywhere all I see is June 12.

see my signature

When are we going to abiola's grave for his inauguration?

Kh

It's unfortunate that we cannot change back the hands of time... All these are medicine after death. Past is past let's face the future

Abiola defeated Atiku during SDP primary election in 1993.
25 years later. The same Atiku is still trying all his best to be the number one citizen of this country.

I jave no dat to waste joor





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