Dele Momodu, publisher of Ovation Magazine, wants Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s former military head of state, to publicly apologise to the country for annulling the June 12, 1993, election, which has been described by many as Nigeria’s freest and fairest general election yet.
Momodu told The Punch newspaper in an interview published on Saturday that Nigeria is yet to recover from the chaos it was thrown into by the cancellation of the election and the subsequent death, in prison, of M.K.O Abiola, who is believed to have won the exercise.
He however noted that the he was certain that the decision to cancel the June 12 election could not have been made by the then head of state alone, adding that “Nigeria is mafia nation and there are less than 10 people who control that cabal”.
Momodu said: “I always say it to those who are close to Babangida that if I were him, one thing I would do is to apologise to Nigerians. It is not too much.
“I believe that he should apologise and Nigerians would move on because that is the best election we ever held.
“I don’t believe he did it alone, I am sure it was a grand conspiracy because Nigeria is a mafia nation and there are less than 10 people who control that cabal.”
The renowned publisher, who started his journalism career at The Concord newspaper, owned by Abiola, further said that the decision to annul the 1993 election was totally inexplicable and incomprehensible.
“There may be things they know that I do not know and I give them that benefit of doubt but I have tried to search for an answer and I still cannot understand why that election was annulled,” he said.
“It is something I cannot comprehend, how anybody would build such a beautiful election and kill it with his own hands.”
Momodu however stressed that though he was persecuted as an Abiola loyalist, thrown into jail and later forced into exile, he does not bear any grudge against Babangida.
“No, I do not have any grudge against him. I am a good Christian and my Bible teaches me to forgive my enemies 70 times seven times. I practise that foolishly and I have nothing against anybody. I leave everyone to God. Vengeance is not mine.
“If I see Babangida today, I greet him and we talk. We have met several times and we talk. Abiola did not hold it against anybody. That is one thing I learnt from him. He did not keep malice neither was he petty.
“You cannot be a believer and not learn how to forgive even if you do not forget because I can never forget that some people put me in prison. I cannot forget that some people put Abiola where he was but it is not up to me to judge anybody. There may be things they know that I do not know and I give them that benefit of doubt but I have tried to search for an answer and I still cannot understand why that election was annulled.”