Here Comes Another June 12 Moment – By Sam Amadi, PhD

Here Comes Another June 12 Moment – By Sam Amadi, PhD

Two moments will define Nigeria’s history, and each of them has an Abacha imprint. In the first moment, it was June 12. It was a democratic struggle to restore an annulled democratic election. Abacha will not take the nonsense about democracy. He had tribesmen and crew of intellectuals and wannabes who wanted to save themselves and not the nation.

The second moment is now. A civilian dictatorship is making its way. Abacha did not want opposition when he declared himself a candidate for imperial and perpetual presidency. He hijacked all the parties and state institutions and jailed those who resisted. Many people were killed or died in suspicious circumstances, including the winner of the election.

We are in the second Abacha moment. The first Abacha moment nearly succeeded because many Nigerian patriots turned tribalists and many intellectuals and professionals looked more for their bank accounts. City Boys are the sons of Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA).

We are back to tyranny (not yet full-blown, but growing and will manifest fully after 2027 depending on what happens with the votes).

2027 presents an opportunity for peaceful democratic transformation. The June 12 struggle failed to achieve transformation. But the January 16 election can lead to transformation if voters, INEC and Courts make the right decisions. The life of a nation is full of struggles. Struggles are the decisions we make at critical moments.

In the June 12 struggle, i was strongly on one side of those fighting for democracy. In the next struggle against tyranny (depending on what happens on January 16), the Catholic Church will be on one side of the struggle for democracy. I will surely be on the side of the Catholic Church.