Chief Moshood
Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (August 24, 1937 – July 7, 1998), often referred
to as M. K. O. Abiola, was a popular Nigerian
Yoruba
businessman, publisher, politician and aristocrat of the Yoruba Egba clan. He ran for the presidency in 1993, and is widely regarded as
the presumed winner of the inconclusive election since no official final
results were announced.
He died
in 1998, after being denied victory when the entire election results were
dubiously annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida
because of alleged evidence that they were corrupt and unfair.
EARLY
DAYS.
Moshood Kashimawo
Olawale Abiola was born into a poor family in Abeokuta, Ogun State. His
name, Kashimawo, means "Let us wait and see". Moshood
Abiola was his father's twenty-third child but the first of his father's
children to survive infancy, hence the name 'Kashimawo'. It was not until he
was 15 years old that he was properly named Moshood, by his parents.
MKO showed
entrepreneurial talents at a very young age, at the age of nine he started his
first business selling firewood. He would wake up at dawn to go to the forest
and gather firewood, which he would then cart back to town and sell before
going to school, in order to support his old father and his siblings. He later
founded a band at age fifteen where he would perform at various ceremonies in
exchange for food.
He eventually
became famous enough to start demanding payment for his performances and used
the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys
High School Abeokuta, where he excelled. He was the editor of the school
magazine The Trumpeter, Olusegun Obasanjo was deputy editor. At the age
of 19 he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons ostensibly
because of its stronger pan-Nigerian origin compared with the Obafemi
Awolowo-led Action Group.
CAREER
In 1956 Moshood
Abiola started his professional life as bank clerk with Barclays Bank plc in
Ibadan, South-West Nigeria. After two years he joined the Western Region
Finance Corporation as an executive accounts officer before leaving for
Glasgow, Scotland to pursue his higher education. From Glasgow University he
received a first class degree in accountancy.
He also received a
distinction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. On his
return to Nigeria, he worked as a senior accountant at the University of Lagos
Teaching Hospital, then went on to Pfizer, before joining the ITT Corporation,
where he later rose to the position of Vice President, Africa and Middle-East
of the entire corporation, which was headquartered in the United States.
As a result,
Moshood Abiola spent a lot of his time and made most of his money in the United
States, whilst retaining the post of chairman of the corporation's Nigerian
subsidiary. In addition to his duties throughout the Middle-East and Africa,
Moshood Abiola invested heavily in Nigeria and West Africa. He set up Abiola
Farms, Abiola bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder bakeries, Concord
Press, Concord Airlines, Summit oil international ltd, Africa Ocean lines,
Habib Bank, Decca W.A. ltd, and Abiola football club.
In addition to
these, he also managed to perform his duties as Chairman of the G15 business
council, President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Patron of the Kwame Nkrumah
Foundation, Patron of the WEB Du Bois foundation, trustee of the Martin Luther
King foundation and director of the International Press Institute.
PHILANTHROPHY
Moshood Abiola
sprang to national and international prominence as a result of his
philanthropic activities. The Congressional Black Caucus of the United States
of America issued the following tribute to Moshood Abiola:
Because of this
man, there is both cause for hope and certainty that the agony and protests of
those who suffer injustice shall give way to peace and human dignity. The
children of the world shall know the great work of this extraordinary leader
and his fervent mission to right wrong, to do justice, and to serve mankind.
The enemies which imperil the future of generations to come: poverty,
ignorance, disease, hunger, and racism have each seen effects of the valiant
work of Chief Abiola. Through him and others like him, never again will freedom
rest in the domain of the few. We, the members of the Congressional Black
Caucus salute him this day as a hero in the global pursuit to preserve the
history and the legacy of the African diaspora.
From 1972 until his
death Moshood Abiola had been conferred with 197 traditional titles by 68
different communities in Nigeria, in response to the fact that his financial
assistance resulted in the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques
and churches, 41 libraries, 21 water projects in 24 states of Nigeria, and was
grand patron to 149 societies or associations in Nigeria.
In this way Abiola
reached out and won admiration across the multifarious ethnic and religious
divides in Nigeria. In addition to his work in Nigeria, Moshood Abiola was a
dedicated supporter of the Southern African Liberation movements from the 1970s
and he sponsored the campaign to win reparations for slavery and colonialism in
Africa and the diaspora. Chief Abiola, personally rallied every African head of
state, and every head of state in the black diaspora to ensure that Africans
would speak with one voice on the issues
INVOLVMENT
IN POLITICS
Abiola's
involvement in politics started early on in life when he joined the NCNC at age
19. In 1979, the military government kept its word and handed over power to the
civilian. As Abiola was already involved in politics, he joined the ruling
national party of Nigeria in 1980 and was elected the chairman of his party.
Re-election was
done in 1983 and everything looked promising since the re-elected president was
from Abiola’s party and based on the true transition to power in 1979; Abiola
was eligible to go for the post of presidential candidate after the tenure of
the re-elected president. However, his hope to become the president was shortly
dashed away for the first time in 1983 when a military coup d'état swept away
the re-elected president of his party and ended civilian rule in the country.
After a decade of
military rule, General Ibrahim Babangida came under pressure to return
democratic rule to Nigeria. After an aborted initial primary, Abiola stood for
the presidential nomination of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and beat
Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to secure the
presidential nomination of the SDP ahead of the June 12th 1993 presidential
elections. Abiola had managed to work his way out of poverty through hard work
and symbolised the aspirations of many downtrodden Nigerians.
His commitment to
the plight of ordinary Nigerians included establishing Abiola bookshops to
provide affordable, locally produced textbooks in the 1980s when imported
textbooks became out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians as the naira was
devalued. He also made available daily necessities such as rice and soap at
affordable prices in the market.
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS
For the
12 June 1993 presidential elections, Abiola's running mate was Baba Gana
Kingibe. He overwhelmingly defeated his rival, Bashir Tofa
of the National Republican Convention.
The
election was declared Nigeria's freest and fairest presidential election by
national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his Northern
opponent's home state. Abiola won at the national capital, Abuja, the military
polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states.
The
reason why the election was so historic, was because men of Northern descent
had largely dominated Nigeria's political landscape since independence. The
fact that Moshood Abiola (a Southern Muslim) was able to secure a national
mandate freely and fairly remains unprecedented in Nigeria's history.
However,
the election was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida,
a political crisis that ensued which led to General Sani Abacha seizing power
later that year. During preparations for the 2011 Nigerian Presidential
elections there were calls from several quarters to remember MKO Abiola
The
famed Nigerian Pastor Tunde Bakare is said to have predicted the annulment to
Abiola and warned him against contesting.
IMPRISONMENT
In 1994
Moshood Abiola declared himself the lawful president of Nigeria in the Epetedo
area of Lagos island, an area mainly populated by (Yoruba) Lagos Indigenes. He
had recently returned from a trip to win the support of the international
community for his mandate.
After
declaring himself president he was declared wanted and was accused of treason
and arrested on the orders of military President General Sani Abacha, who sent
200 police vehicles to bring him into custody. MKO Abiola has been referred to
as Nigeria's greatest statesman.
Moshood
Abiola was detained for four years, largely in solitary confinement with a Bible, Qur'an,
and fourteen guards as companions. During that time, Pope John Paul II,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and human rights
activists from all over the world lobbied the Nigerian government for his
release.
The
sole condition attached to the release of Chief Abiola was that he renounce his
mandate, something that he refused to do, although the military government
offered to compensate him and refund his extensive election expenses. For this
reason Chief Abiola became extremely troubled when Kofi Annan and Emeka Anyaoku
reported to the world that he had agreed to renounce his mandate after they met
with him to tell him that the world would not recognize a five year old
election.
DEATH
Abiola died under
suspicious circumstances shortly after the death of General Abacha. Moshood
Abiola died on the day that he was due to be released, on July 7, 1998. While
the official autopsy state that Abiola died of natural causes, Abacha's Chief
Security Officer, al-Mustapha has alleged that Moshood Abiola was in fact
beaten to death. al-Mustapha, who was detained by the Nigerian government, but
later released, claims to have video and audiotapes showing how Abiola was
beaten to death.
The final autopsy
report, which was produced by a group of international coroners has never been
publicly released. Irrespective of the exact circumstances of his death, it is
clear that Chief Abiola received insufficient medical attention for his
existing health conditions.
As recounted at the
time in a BBC interview with special envoy Thomas R. Pickering, an American
delegation, which included Susan Rice, visited Abiola and during their meeting
with him, Abiola fell ill, with what was presumed to be a heart attack which
caused his death
LEGACY
AND HONOURS
Moshood Abiola was
twice voted international businessman of the year and received
numerous honorary doctorates from universities all over the world. In 1987 he
was bestowed with the golden key to the city of Washington D.C. and he was
bestowed with awards from the NAACP and the King center in the USA, as well as
the International Committee on Education for Teaching in Paris, amongst many
others.
In Nigeria, the
Oloye Abiola was made the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. It is the highest
chieftaincy title available to commoners amongst the Yoruba, and has only been
conferred by the tribe 14 times in its history.
This in effect
rendered Abiola the ceremonial War Viceroy of all of his tribespeople.
According to the folklore of the tribe as recounted by the Yoruba elders, the
Aare Ona Kakanfo is expected to die a warrior in the defense of his nation in
order to prove himself in the eyes of both the divine and the mortal as having
been worthy of his title .
