Lessons from June 12

Power resides with the people. We understand this to be true in democracy. Nigeria has tried to evolve its home-grown democracy to satisfy the peculiarity of our political environment. June 12 election was the end of an experiment to develop a party system and an electoral process in a political laboratory. The principal researcher was Prof. Humphrey Nwosu and the sponsor was General Ibrahim Babangida. I expected Nwosu’s book to contain all the results and any conclusions derivable from them. The amount of intellectual and material resources that went into this experiment could not be allowed to be wasted. Those who have tinkered with our political genres need to think through this matter properly to understand deeply how things are shaping up for a greater tomorrow. Prof. Nwosu is morally bound to provide all the information and fill in the gaps so that all the lessons of June 12 may be fully understood. The Head of State that annulled the election called to an end the experiment; his goal or purpose and the reasons for suspending things in the direction they were moving are yet to be made public. Our political historians have not asked the right questions and that is why there is too much haziness around June 12. Those who fought to bequeath a united Nigeria claim they were still fighting for the survival of this country as a polity.
If June 12 was a military coup, as it seemed, that was open to political analysis, we have failed to do a thorough job. We have only called names and tried to apportion blames for the annulment, but have not considered the reasons for the action. Who was to gain by the action; the masses, the nation or some unseen self-centered group in or outside the military establishment? We are searching for good answers. If the cabal who played the game of power can not realize the folly of any justification, let history glorify them if the truth in decades’ time will be a balm. The wild goose chase should stop and be replaced by visionary effort for Nigeria.