Buhari shows uncommon courage on June 12, says Mohammed
News & Trends •
the minister reiterated that president buhari never made the declaration out of expediency but because that was the right thing to do1 the minister of information and culture alhaji lai mohammed on friday said president muhammadu buhari demonstrated uncommon courage by declaring june 12 as democracy day1 the news agency of nigeria nanreports that the minister was accompanied on the visit by senior officials of government media organisations1 the minister added that the president has shown that he is a democrat and a listening leader with the declaration to immortalise late mko abiola the presumed winner of the june 121993 election1 he also said buhari has strengthened his human rights credentials by conferring the gcon award on late human rights activist chief gani fawehinmi san1 president buhari has actually demonstrated uncommon courage and shown that he is a listening president by the decision to make june 12 democracy day as against may 291 simply put the president has immortalised mko abiola and that is no mean feat. all lovers of democracy must stand with the president on the decision1 by hearkening to the yearnings of nigerians president buhari has shown he is indeed a consummate democrat1 with the decision he has shown he is a better democrat and more courageous leader than those who despite the significance of june 12 opted to celebrate may 29 for many years he said1 the minister faulted the claims by critics especially the peoples democratic party pdp that the president was playing politics with the declaration1 the minister questioned the moral authority of the pdp to make the claim as they refused to honour abiola throughout their 16 years in power1 mohammed said successive presidents merely danced on abiolas grave for 16 years as they bluntly refused to listen to the voices of nigerians1 he said the pdp did not recognise the date because members of the party lacked the sincerity and courage to do so1 the minister said this while speaking with newsmen after a condolence visit to the office of punch newspapers over the death of its chairman mr gbadebowale aboderin1 we are fortified and glad that both the families of abiola and fawehinmi have lauded the president for the declaration he added1 mohammed also described the death of the late punch chairman as a painful loss adding that aboderins demise was shocking1 the minister described aboderin as an enterprising young man who did a lot to lift the media industry as well as impact on many with his philanthropic activities1 he said the federal government shared in the loss of punch newspapers1 it is quite sad when the life of a young man like aboderin is cut short1 he was a wonderful person a dynamic and enterprising young man who did a lot to take punch to a new level both as a business and as a newspaper he said1 mohammed disclosed that president buhari was personally touched by aboderins demise hence his condolence statement1 reacting the managing director of punch newspapers mr ademola osinubi thanked the minister for the visit1 he said the newspaper was grateful as the minister made the visit out of his tight schedule1 the managing director also thanked the president for his condolences saying the organisation was moved by his concern1 nan reports that mr austeen elewodalu a director of news at voice of nigeria mr ibrahim mamanga the head of lagos operations for nan mr pius ojeh deputy director marketing nigeria television authority were in the ministers delegation1 also in the delegation was adeyinka amosun executive director of lagos operations for federal radio corporation of nigeria1