A former Governor of Lagos State and former Minister of Works, Raji Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has stated that Nigeria democracy was midwifed by military dictatorship.
He described Nigeria’s democracy handiwork of military dictatorship, and therefore, not from the free will of the Nigerian people.
The former Lagos State Governor made this disclosure on Wednesday while featuring at The Platform Nigeria, a programme by the Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation. The programme was part of events to mark the 2024 Democracy Day.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Democracy and Free Market’, the former Minister stated that the current privatization of most businesses in the country was heralded by the military. This, he said was done through Decree No., 25 of 1988. Which was later amended in 1999, known as the Privatization and Commercialization Decree.
Though he could not Fashola give further details of his stance on the June 12. He said Nigerians did not participate in the election that gave rise to the emergence of the country’s first democratic president.
He said, “I will start my speech by talking about June 12. June 12 was like any other day, until 1993 because of the way people voted, and what happened. And that was an election that transcended all of our default lines and areas of division.
“Suddenly, it became an election that people wanted to give everything to save. Lives were lost. Even the elites of Nigeria decided that it was an election that we were to pay any price for. And many did pay the price.
“The hope that that election promised was heralded by symbols. Late Abiola was the elixir that kept the quest and the agitation for the actualization of June 12 alive.
“Clearly, the reason we are converging here today did not evolve from free will. It emerged from a dictatorial arena. Our democratic experience was midwife by dictatorship. Not by something we participated in by our own free will. Dictatorial actions led to the emergence of what we converge to celebrate 25 years later.
“But there is a coincidence. It is that as we talk of democracy and the idea of a free market, Nigeria’s free market was also started by the military.
“That might surprise some of us. And I make the point that there is a decree called decree no 25 of 1988. It was later amended in 1999 known as the privatization and commercialization decree. That is the place that our journey to a free market started from,” Fashola said.
source: Channels TV
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