President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned Nigerians not to take the nation’s democracy for granted because they may not appreciate the freedom and rights it guarantees until they lose it.
The president gave the warning on Monday in a national broadcast made on the occasion of Nigeria’s 2023 Democracy Day.
His words: “The point is that we must never take this democracy for granted. We must forever jealously guard and protect it like a precious jewel. For, a people can never truly appreciate the freedoms and rights democracy guarantees them until they lose it.”
He said the choice of Nigerians to elect a civilian leader to transit from the military rule was the seed that germinated into the longest democratic institution that the country had been enjoying.
He said ensuring a transition from military rule to democracy was not a tea party as many paid dearly for it.
‘’For the endless future that our beloved country shall exist and wax stronger and stronger, generations of Nigerians will always remind themselves that the democracy that is steadily growing to become the defining essence of our polity was not gifted to us on a silver platter.
Said he: “We can easily recall the sacrifice and martyrdom of Chief MKO Abiola, the custodian of the sacred mandate that was so cruelly annulled.
‘’He sacrificed his life in unyielding, patriotic defense of the ideals of democracy as symbolized in his choice, by his fellow countrymen and women, as their duly-elected President.
‘’There was an easier choice for him. It was to forgo the justice of his cause and opt for the path of ease and capitulation in the face of the tyranny of power. To his eternal credit and immortal glory, Abiola said no.
‘’He demonstrated the time-tested eternal truth that there are certain ideals and principles that are far more valuable than life itself.’’
The president stressed the need for Nigerians to be grateful to those who sacrificed their lives to ensure the birth of democracy in the country.
‘’Everyday, on this day, down the ages we will recall the several other heroes of democracy such as Kudirat Abiola, wife of Chief Abiola, who was brutally murdered while in the trenches fighting on the side of the people.
‘’We remember Pa Alfred Rewane, one of the heroes of our independence struggle and Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who were silenced by the military junta while in pursuit of democracy. They gave their yesterday for the liberty that is ours today,” he said.
