When will IBB come clean on June 12 ?
By Igboeli Arinze  Last two weeks or thereabout marked 28 years since Nigerians voted in that historic election of 1993, last weeks Wednesday being the 23rd of June, 2021 will also make it another 28 years since that election was annulled by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda. So on one hand we have a historic feat achieved by millions of Nigerians who defied ethnicity and religion to cast their votes for a man they felt was fit enough to be President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the other hand we see how one man with a hardscrabble heritage, for whatsoever reason or set of reasons with one stroke of his pen, annulled the wishes of millions of Nigerians and set the nation backwards by several decades. Years have gone now, but for the struggles for democracy by Nigerians and the early attempts by elected Governors from the SouthWest in 1999 to accord June 12 its real place in history , the recent recognition of June 12 by President Muhammadu Buhari as the nations democracy day as well as his recognition of the fact that Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was as good as an elected President, June 12 may have slipped into selective oblivion as a day like every other day, its sacred symbolism lost upon coming generations who may now never agree that once upon a time, Nigerians voted a president and his running mate from the same religion, that a Bashir Tofa , who was the other candidate would lose his home state of Kano to Abiola as well as Anambra State, both feats seemed to be impossible before then. That election was exactly a watershed in Nigerias history but like all things wrong with this country, it was unfairly annulled and the man who made the promise to return Nigeria unto democracys shores returned Nigeria to the turbulent waters even after sighting such shores, notwithstanding the fact that Nigerians like sea sick passengers were already weary of such a tenuous voyage. With one stroke of the pen, wielded in mischief perhaps, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida wrote his name into the annals of infamy; it mattered not that he had run one of the friendliest of military regimes in the history of military rule, it mattered not that he had courted the academia, the political class , big business , the media and even foreign nations with his ideas, policies , style of leadership and programmes. He had simply danced to surugede music without understanding that such a dance was one for the spirits. Read Also: IBB and the ghost of June 12  Till today, no major reason or reasons may have been given for the annulment of the June 12 elections. Now, acts carried out by statesmen are most times better understood when those personalities behind such acts tell it all, they not only help generations in understanding reasons for such actions but they also give account of other personalities whos actions or inactions may have fueled such. We are tired of rehashing the Silouns and Omoruyis, we are tired of the mysteries surrounding such an annulment. He should mention them. IBB whether he likes it or not owes Nigerians such an explanation, he owes those who lost loved ones, their means of livelihood and the many who were harassed by the regime that followed, a contraption made possible by IBBs shambolic handling of June 12! The arguments that with the recognition of June 12 by President Muhammadu Buhari, June 12 has been given a befitting closure is in error, Nigerians deserve to know why things went awry and why her best experiment yet with democracy hit the rocks. Yes it may have partially healed the wounds but what about the lessons for generations unborn, me thinks that until IBB writes on these things, Nigerians may continue to grovel in the dark . Now this may suit his Evil Genius facade but it will bear him no good as a statesman to keep such knowledge to himself and the grave!