History Time || M.K.O. Abiola Memorial Stadium [WE-118]

As a child, I looked forward to public holidays because there were no schools in session. And as a kid who loved staying indoors and playing video games, or watching cartoons, or playing pretend wrestling with my younger brother, it was a very "useful" day for me.

Where I am from, there are many public holidays that allowed me to stay back home and not be in school while I was growing up and not so much now. But today, I'll tell you about one.

I still do not understand why this particular holiday had an ambiguous setting when I was a kid. The school would be open, but there would be no lessons. The school only became an open space for anything, mostly revolving around fun. You could choose to stay at home or choose to come to school to have fun. I sure always preferred the former, but it depended on my parents' decision then.

June 12 is basically Democracy Day in Nigeria. But it wasn't really so before 2018, when the current president, RT Gen Muhammadu Buhari, changed it from the 29th of May. He deemed it befitting it be shifted, considering the kind of day June 12 was for the country.

Nigeria had its best election on June 12, 1993; it was truly free and fair. It was the time when we switched from the dictature leadership to the democratic leadership and it has been so ever since.

The candidate who won the election was Moshood Kashimawo Olawale(M.K.O) Abiola. However, due to claims of fraud and corruption, the previous military president, Ibrahim Babangida, nullified the election results.

M.K.O Abiola had so much influence in his campaign for the 1993 election that it cut across so many geo-political zones, therefore allowing him to beat his rival. And with this being a difficult time for them and the election, the election still remains the freeest and fairest election till date.

The following year, in 1994, M.K.O. Abiola announced himself rightfully as president in a mainly populated area in Lagos. This unfortunately led him to be arrested for treason, ordered by the elected president, Sani Abacha. His second wife was also assassinated for publicly declaring support for her husband.

On the day that he was scheduled to be released, Moshood Abiola passed away suddenly, not long after the passing of General Abacha. Abiola passed away after becoming ill while meeting with a group of American diplomats at a government hotel in Abuja. Abiola had been given tea by the diplomats just before he passed away, and they were thereafter accused of poisoning him in Nigera, according to later writings.

M.K.O. Abiola’s legacy is now celebrated both in Nigeria and internationally. Following his death, June 12 was declared a public holiday. And to commemorate his legacy, the M.K.O. Abiola stadium was named in his honor.

The stadium happens to be situated in the town that I currently reside in, Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state. I took the liberty of traveling to the stadium where I reside to take it.