Son of Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the 1993 presidential election, Alhaji Jamiu Abiola has floated a foundation named after his mother, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola to work for peace and unity of Nigeria in the face of agitations for secession.
Jamiu Abiola said it would mean that his parents, Alhaja Kudirat and Chief MKO Abiola died in vain if Nigeria or its democracy collapsed.
He spoke in Zaria, Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria, on Saturday while launching the Kudirat Abiola Sabon Gari Peace Foundation in memory of his Zaria-born mother, who was assassinated on the 4th June 1996.
Alhaji Jamiu Abiola who is the Chairman of the Foundation said, it was founded to work against the forces trying to bring Nigeria down, adding that the creation of Nigeria by God was not a mistake and the country has gone too far as a united nation than to break up.
According to him, “I chose to float this foundation now, 25 years after my mother’s demise because of where we are now as a country. Where we are now as a country is very dangerous. We have a democracy but we have fake news and so many things working towards destroying the country.
“We have to establish forces on our own to work for the country. We should get more forces positively than negative forces. So, this is the time, because if things go wrong and democracy does not work, it means my father and my mother died for nothing. And there is no way I can let that happen.
“So, this time around, we are going to assist the government to look for solutions to the problems because we don’t want to benefit from the government, we want the government to benefit from us. So, we are encouraging people to join our course so that we can recover quickly.
“This government has good intention they want to do well, but they need us to participate. So, we are drawing the line to say we either move forward or backward, and I am sure Nigerians want to move forward.
“What we want to be doing next is that we have a technical committee made up of professors, they would be looking at four issues that will change the negative situation in the country. We are going to be working from the grassroots from community leaders, traditional and religious leaders and up like that. We are going to consult and find our solutions, we are not going to wait for anybody, we are going to come up with solutions to our own problems, that is what we are doing.
“We have foreign partners with whom we are working on a peace curriculum that we are going to send to schools so that people can learn about the importance of peace and coexistence. So, we are going to make sure there is peace in Nigeria and people know the value of peace and unity.
“God that brought us together as a united country did not make mistake and we have even gone too far as a nation to break up. If there are challenges, we should address our challenges and move on, that is better for us than to disintegrate,” Abiola said.
