I prayed MKO wouldn’t rest because he was cheated — Daughter

Mrs. Lola Abiola -Edewor , one of the children of the winner of the June 12 , 1993 presidential election , Chief Moshood Abiola , on Saturday , appreciated those at the forefront of the struggle for her father’ s recognition by the Federal Government .
Twenty - five years of pro -democracy agitations culminated in President Muhammadu Buhari ’ s recognition of Abiola with the national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic and the declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day.
Abiola -Edewor , who spoke at the MKO Abiola 20 th remembrance organised by family members and associates , said the recognition showed that her father’ s death was not in vain .
She said, “ The day my father died , I did not pray that he should rest in peace. I said he could not rest because he was cheated . I said he could not rest until they did right by him . On the day the Federal Government honoured him , I knelt down and said, ‘Daddy , you can rest now because they have done that which is right by you . ’
“ Short of helping us wake him up , this is the next best thing . We thank everyone who God placed it upon their hearts to honour my dad.
“ I thank God that they did not let his death be in vain . At least , when our children hear of June 12 , they will know that their great - grandfather did something great in Nigeria .
“ For all the people who also died in the course of this struggle , including his late wife, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola , I pray that their souls would continue to rest in peace. We thank the Nigerian masses for the consistency and love that they have shown this man ; our patriarch , our father and the head of our family . ”
Abiola -Edewor also acknowledged an activist , Mr. ( Wale) Okunniyi , who , according to her , has consistently championed the cause of June 12 .
She added , “ If you remember , but for Winnie Mandela , the name ( Nelson ) Mandela would have been forgotten all the time he was in jail . She kept it going . It takes people like that to keep it on the front burner , saying , ‘We will not keep quiet until we get to the promised land. ’
“ We cannot stop thanking Chief Dele Momodu . All the photos that I had not seen before , I don ’t know where he gets them from . He kept that name consistently on the front burner . When other people do something , they do it so that you will come back and say thank you .
“ But when you do something for someone that is no longer alive , you know the person cannot come back to say thank you . We thank you in a very special way for keeping the memory of our father fresh and green” .