Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has called on Nigerians to attach more importance to the celebration of June 12, saying it is more valuable than even the Democracy Day in the country. Soyinka said: “We need to remind ourselves what June 12, 1993 represents. It is neither mere date, nor sentiment. It is simply – Human Spirit. What a futile undertaking it is then, when some individuals attempt to deny or crush it. Yet it was the power of this very Spirit that brought such out of relegation or obscurity, even from the jaws of death, and bestowed upon them relevance and prominence.” Speaking more on the essence of the day, the Nobel prize winner added, “What June 12 possesses is exactly what May 29, or any other day, lacks. The former was a spirit of unified purpose, the latter simply an egotistical appropriation of the gift of the former. June 12 embodies unity of purpose, equity and justice, the manifestation of the sovereign will of a people. It remains forever a watershed of Nigerian history, no matter what the future holds.” “I urge you to try a simple experiment: narrate the story of May 29 to a child and watch his or her reaction. On that day – that child would concede – an individual was installed as a compromise president following a compromise election. So, what’s new? “Now move on to unfold the tapestry of June 12. Run your finger along its traceries of citizen resolve, upheavals, of individual and group heroisms, of sacrifices and martyrdoms, the timeless narrative of human resilience. Watch the difference in that child’s responses. Yet, even the beneficiaries of that day persist in their futile effort to kill the date and supplant it with another.”
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:57:40 +0000
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