June 12 and the national question

I am not an all-time fan of President Muhammadu Buhari, but I know he means well for Nigeria.
Between good intention and style of leadership, there can be a fundamental difference in expected results.
Emotions have run on June 12 for a quarter of a century and whether we like it or not, it remains a phenomenon to the unanswered national question in Nigeria.
I have read comments that attempted to take the shine away from President Buhari for his recent proclamation on June 12.
Most dissenting views accuse the President of playing politics with it to gain political capital for his re-election in 2019.
Whatever his motive is, I consider it to be politics at its best and Buhari won my heart momentarily (but not my loyalty) with his courage to heal part of the wounds that the June 12, 1993 debacle has caused our national psyche.
Honouring Abiola posthumously and admitting the injustice done to him and Nigerians was a low hanging fruit for any government to harvest for political gains, but those who ruled this country before Buhari frittered away the opportunity.
The President has scored a crucial goal, no doubt.
He has clearly outsmarted his predecessors and it is too late for them to play catch-up.
President Buhari did apologise to the Abiola family and Nigerians.
Hafsat Abiola-Costello, on behalf of the family, also offered a counterapology to the President.
She said that was exactly what her father would have done if he were alive.
What many people probably didn’t understand was that Hafsat was apologising to Buhari for being a victim of his father’s wealth when he (Abiola) sponsored the coup d’etat that overthrew his military government in 1985 and brought Gen.
Ibrahim Babangida to power.
Although Nigerians knew that Abiola had his own flaws, they chose to entrust him with their collective destiny.
President Buhari has surely scored a vital political point and I see him returning for a second term in office in 2019.
The June 12 joker will obviously harvest some votes for him, but he should be wary of the South-west.
The Yoruba are very sophisticated.
They are not easily swayed by reasons that appear too simple.
Giving honour to Abiola and accepting that he won the 1993 election was just the right thing to do anyway.
So, expecting too many votes from the Yoruba in return might turn out to be a gamble.
The Yoruba, like many other ethnic groups in the country, are very displeased with the handling of the security situation that is gradually penetrating Yorubaland, even if the leadership of the All Progressives Congress is not saying it for political reasons.
The Federal Government’s handling of the war against corruption will fetch better results if it is aimed at strengthening public institutions and discouraging stealing among government officials.
When President Buhari returns to office in 2019, he should remember that the basic national questions confronting the Nigerian nation are still far from being answered.
Since Buhari’s first term evaded most of the questions, maybe his second coming will remember some of the strong campaign weapons the APC employed to seize power, the spoils of which they have not been able to manage to the ultimate benefit of the Nigerian people.
Abiola may be the symbol of June 12, but then June 12 is not about an individual.
It is about a national rebirth that was truncated.
June 12, 1993 answered Nigeria’s national question, but Babangida changed the marking scheme.
Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was once described as “the best president Nigeria never had”, but Abiola will go down in history as the best elected president that was not allowed to govern Nigeria.
A new Nigeria is possible.
Akin