SIGNIFICANCE OF JUNE 12 IN FOCUS AS NIGERIA MARKS DEMOCRACY DAY

In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari made a pronouncement designating June 12 as Democracy Day in Nigeria.

That was against the status quo of May 29, which had remained since the return of democracy in 1999, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was elected and sworn-in as the first democratically elected President.

His preference to recognize the day as Democracy Day, might have been informed by the position of many, especially the South-West Region, that June 12, which marked the annulment of the globally adjudged freest and fairest election in Nigeria, should be the ideal day for celebrating democracy in the country.

Bearing their mind on the development, those interviewed in Anambra State submitted that President Buhari had simply upheld the truth.

One of them is Comrade Obi Ochije, who argued that June 12 remained historical due to the number of people who lost their lives in the struggle for the restoration of the mandate of Chief MKO Abiola, all of whom he referred to as the heroes of democracy.

The question that comes to mind however is -how much had been done to institutionalize democracy in Nigeria?

The respondents suggested amendment of relevant laws to ensure that change of Government at all levels takes place on June 12, which had been designated as the Democracy Day.

They believed that democracy would get better in Nigeria, but noted that close attention must be paid to the electoral system.

ALFRED AJAYI

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