it was 1992, electioneering campaigns were rife, party candidate were travelling from state to state, lots of political horse trading between various ethnic blocks, yes it was 1992.
however , at behest of a military junta headed by no other,than the maradonic IBB, a militocratic political limitation was imputed into the political process. yes the junta at that time was scared of unknown political slugs, emerging from the blues and usurping powers from the shadows , as was the case of the just concluded Gambian election, where a little known Adams barrow unseated a dreaded dictator in the person of sheik prof doctor alhaji junkun jammeh.
so what did the junta do? they declared a two horse race. only two parties were permitted to contest, the SDP and NRC
alhaji Tofa carried the flag of the NRC, he represented the interest of the Hausa Fulani who at that time were actually unwilling to submit power. then party two was the Almighty SDP whose candidate was the enigmatic philanthropist chief Mko abiola.
Nigerians went to the pools and voted in mammoth numbers, and as the results started trickling in by evening, it was indisputably clear that the military junta most hated candidate was winning with an insurmountable majority.
back then in our historical past, the supreme military council SMC, which is currently referred to as Federal executive council FEC, was 97% Hausa Fulani Muslims dominated. infact Hausa language was the official language in most federal govt meetings and military gatherings. .
the then military junta then swung into action immediately, fraudulently obtained a gestapo court injunction from a very corrupt federal judge, and immediately straightforwardly went ahead and annulled the entire election in its entirety ...
while watching jammeh in that live telecast annulling the same election he openly boasted was very free and "rig proof", my mind flashed back to that black Tuesday in 1992, when a supposedly educated but chauvinistic bigot, in the body of IBB, destroyed our common sense and drove us into an irretrievable confusion, the multiplier effect of which we experience and feel even to this day.
yes that Despot, annulled an internationally adjudged free and fair election, but infact we must ask ourselves this question, "WAS MKO A PROUD AND GREEDY FOOL"?

Adams Barrow read the hand writing on the wall, laid low. made international alliances , escaped to a sister nation, took an oath from the acting president of the Gambian bar association, in the Gambian embassy in Senegal and proclaimed himself ruler from a safe haven. I see that as exclusively wise move ..

but our mko abiola placed his reaction and anger in front of his common sense. I understand the logic they throw , that he was close to most of the generals at the time, because he bankrolled their coups and helped them launder billions of dollars. now it got into his head, he started seeing those generals as boys, conquerable boys .
mko saw the handwriting on the wall but chose to remain in Nigeria, even when advised to the contrary,he chided foreign emissaries and rejected their advice, he thumped the ruling junta and threatened them, he declared himself president right before the eyes of his powerful and united northern enemies, he threatened to run a parallel government.
these are the sins and foolish methods our mko abiola applied to regain his legitimate mandate, stolen by a dark and coded junta, and it led him straight to the grave.
.

I can see you yeye writers have nothing more to talk about

nice write up. I so much enjoyed the way you choose your word. MKO made a grave mistake by choosing to stay and fight.

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MKO cannot say he doesn't dine with the corrupt SMC and its generals, that's why he couldn't disassociate and conquer. But that's friendship taken too far.
That's why he kept screaming "betrayal of a trusted friend" against Babangida.