Political analyst Jide Ojo has alleged that the former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed to honor prominent Yoruba pro-democracy activists during his eight-year tenure, despite sharing ethnic ties with key figures in the struggle.
Speaking during a Channels TV interview from 1:32, Jide Ojo questioned Obasanjo’s decision to overlook notable compatriots who played crucial roles in Nigeria’s democratic movement. “How would someone have not deemed it fit to recognize someone of the caliber and status of Nobel laureate Professor Soyinka, who is going to be 91 this year?” Ojo asked, highlighting the oversight of the renowned playwright and activist.
The analyst suggested that personal animosity influenced the former president’s decisions. “We have an Egba son in former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who did not support June 12, who was not in the struggle, but was president for eight years. And because of the malice he has with his tribesmen, like Professor Wole Soyinka, like Chief Ayo Adebanjo, he never deemed it fit to recognize these people,” Ojo stated.
The political analyst praised former President Muhammadu Buhari for taking decisive action to correct historical oversights in recognizing pro-democracy heroes. “It took former President Muhammad Buhari the courage to give recognition, and posthumous recognition for that matter, to Chief Abiola as the winner of the June 12th election, and also to declare that from 2018, we are going to be celebrating our Democracy Day not on May 29th, but on June 12th,” he noted.
He commended both Buhari and current President Bola Tinubu for their efforts to honor democratic heroes. While generally supportive of President Tinubu’s recent national honors announcements, the analyst identified some notable omissions. “Perhaps someone like Bob Dee (Dele Momodu), Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who just passed, should have been on that list, because I saw Pa Fasoranti in the list, and they were both allies in the struggle,” he observed.
President Tinubu recently announced posthumous national honors for several figures who contributed to Nigeria’s democratic journey. The recognition includes pro-democracy activists who fought against military rule during the country’s transition period.
The President also conferred national honors on environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders who were executed in 1995 by General Sani Abacha’s military government. The Ogoni Nine, as they became known, died for their campaign for environmental justice in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.
