Yesterday mark exactly 18 years that former presidential candidate and
astute businessman, M.K.O Abiola died. His daughter, Hafsat
Abiola-Costello, wrote;
Today, the 7th of July marks the 18th anniversary of the day my father,
MKO Abiola, ended his mortal journey. As I celebrate him today, I would
like to share what I continue to carry forward from the privileged years
of being raised as his daughter in his household.
First and foremost is that my father’s religion was love.
He was a true philanthropist because he loved people.
All people. He was happiest when he was able to help others.Second, he didn’t play small. The older I get, the more I realize that
this is a major feat. It is much easier to play small, to focus on your
narrow concerns and interests, ignoring the larger concerns and needs.
It is easy to be overwhelmed with what is already in front of us. Yet I
learned from watching my father that the more we take on, the greater
our capacity becomes. Small will only ever remain small, and
large-heartedness opens the way to greatness.Third, he was ever humble. As a father, he was incredibly permissive
except on the issue of humility and politeness. They were related. He
required that his daughters knelt down to greet elders, that his sons
prostrated, signalling humility and politeness as required by the Yoruba
culture of which we are members. Condescension towards poorer people
could only earn his anger, and so we learned the importance of being
polite towards everyone.Fourth, he seems to be constitutionally unable to bear a grudge. Time
and again, my mum would have quarrelled with someone that did something
that hurt her husband only to find the same husband cracking jokes and
laughing with the perpetrator. After a while, we learned that it wasn’t
worth it to bear a grudge because someone had wronged MKO when MKO
himself forgot the incident with the rising of the sun on a new day.Fifth, while he could not be trusted to sustain fights with people, he
could be counted on to fight for causes. He fought for the poor and as
such invested in student scholarships and endowments in universities and
polytechnics and much more. He was a pan-Africanist and as such a
supporter of the ANC and for reparations for Africans and black people
around the world. In the end, it was in the struggle to ensure that the
democratic mandate given to him by the people of Nigeria would be
honoured that he paid the supreme price.As I reflect on his incredible life, I can’t help but see how it
continues to offer important lessons on how to approach life. We cannot
ignore the desperate needs around us. To do so only creates the ground
that breeds violent extremism. Instead, we must make ourselves available
to the vulnerable. We must look beyond personalities and identities,
which may be affected by prejudice, and identify the fundamental causes
of the challenges that we confront. Prejudice towards individuals and
groups can be countered by pragmatism as we work together to solve these
challenges. Ultimately, it is by our actions to solve our common
problems, not by the fact of our positions, that we determine our
legacy.Continue to rest in peace, dear daddy. And thank you for your clear
example.**
Hafsat is the founder of Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND).
