Democracy Day or Partisan Parade? A President’s Missed Moment for Unity and Justice

By Bolaji Akinyemi 

June 12 is not just another date in Nigeria’s calendar of ceremonial speeches. It is the bloodstained altar upon which democratic hope was offered and repeatedly betrayed. It is the name we gave to our collective yearning for a system that listens to all, not just the ruling class. It is a symbol of resistance, not repression. But under Tinubu, it risks becoming a day to silence dissent rather than reflect on sacrifice….

Let us be clear: it is not that political competition is forbidden. Democracy thrives on contest. But June 12 is a sacred space in our political calendar. On this day, the President is not the leader of the All Progressives Congress. He is the father of a democratic nation, the steward of a united republic. To take delight in the weakness of the opposition on such a day is to mock the very spirit of democratic pluralism. It’s like erasing what he stood for when he was the Governor of Lagos State. It was an attempt to bury his leadership ingenuity of APC, which the elements in the present coalition are trying to learn from and relive!

How could the Symbol of democratic evolution of Nigeria, chose to dance on the graves of those who died so that we may all speak, organize, and contest freely.

Where then lies hope for a united Nigeria when its President uses the nation’s highest democratic pulpit to declare partisan joy at opposition disarray on a national platform, where unity should be the goal?

Click the link below to read the full story:

https://www.bolajioakinyemi.com/democracy-day-or-partisan-parade-a-presidents-missed-moment-for-unity-and-justice/