Former federal lawmaker Shehu Sani has claimed that a mistake made by some activists in 1999 is still affecting Nigeria’s democracy today.
Sani stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Sunday in Abuja.
He recalled that after the struggle for a return to civilian rule from the military in 1999, one of the pro-democracy activists at the time, Bola Tinubu, opted to join politics.
According to him, while Tinubu entered politics, others, including Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana, Olisa Agbakoba, Mike Ozekhome, and himself, continued the struggle and refused to participate in politics.
The activist explained that the Fawehinmi school of thought believed in continuing to fight for social justice and human rights through activism rather than engaging in politics.
“On the other hand, Tinubu, a pro-democracy activist, emphasised the importance of political engagement and governance through the establishment of political structures,” Sani said.
“The mistake some of us activists made in 1999 is still affecting democracy to this day. When it was time for the transition to civil rule, we refused to stop activism.
“At the time, 98 per cent of activists followed Gani, and by the time we realised that the path would not take us far, we decided to contest elections in 2003. Even Gani, Femi Falana, Olisa Agbakoba, and Mike Ozekhome contested and performed woefully. By then, Tinubu had already moved on from activism to becoming a state governor, and today, he is the president.
“We took the wrong path as activists, I must admit. Olisa Agbakoba and Gani Fawehinmi contested for the presidency but did not succeed. Mike Ozekhome contested for governor in Edo but was unsuccessful; Femi Falana also contested for governor in Ekiti but could not make it.”