Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti, says Nigeria is yet to attain full democracy status.
Speaking during a Channels Television programme to mark
Democracy Day on Thursday, Fayemi said the country must go beyond conducting
elections.
“What we mustn’t do is to conflate elections with
democracy,” he said.
“What we got was to re-establish the right to vote our
leaders into office in 1999.
“What we are yet to get is real democracy in my view. We got
civilian rule, we are proudly on the journey — we now have a semi-democracy,
but we don’t have full democracy.
“The effort that the previous president and now President
Bola Ahmed Tinubu has put into it, we all must build on that.”
Fayemi, who also served as minister of mines and steel
development in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, reflected on his role in
the fight against military rule during the Sani Abacha regime.
He recalled how he and other pro-democracy activists ran
Radio Kudirat, a clandestine broadcast platform set up to challenge the
dictatorship.
“It’s not that we were not afraid or we were aimlessly
bold,” he said.
“We just didn’t fully think of the enormity of the threat it
constituted beyond wanting to do the right thing.
“I mean, I carried the transmitters of Radio Kudirat on an
Air France flight that was destined for Cotonou in the Benin Republic and made
a detour to Lagos in the heat of the crisis.
“I could have been picked up on that flight, I would have
been history by now as many found themselves to be.
“During the Oputa Panel Commission, some of the characters
that were mandated to eliminate leaders of the struggle came up with their
stories.”
‘I WASN’T HAPPY’
Fayemi said many persons who died in the struggle were not
reckless but brave.
“So, we shouldn’t make light of what happened,” he said.
“I don’t by any stretch of imagination want to create the
impression that we were invincible in what we did.
“I think some of us are just fortunate that we are still
alive. Those who lost their lives were not stupid in what they did, they were
following their convictions.”
He commended Tinubu for recognising some of the democracy
activists with national honours but said more should have been done.
Fayemi urged the government to also honour those who
operated Radio Kudirat and others who made sacrifices for Nigeria’s democracy.
“I wasn’t particularly happy and I must say this upfront.
Those who were the drivers of that project… yes, I led that project, but none
of them was recognised today by the president,” Fayemi said.
“Yes, I was the face of Radio Kudirat, I was responsible for
its management but there were so many people who risked their lives.”
On Thursday, Tinubu conferred national honours on 66
individuals who played defining roles in Nigeria’s struggle for democracy.
Among the most prominent were Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Humphrey
Nwosu, and Kudirat Abiola, posthumously recognised for their critical roles in
the June 12 struggle.
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