Why I didn’t pray for my father to rest in peace – MKO Abiola’s daughter, Lola

One of the children of MKO Abiola, Mrs. Lola Abiola-Edewor, has revealed why she did not pray for her father to rest in peace when he died.

Abiola was the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, and was recently accorded the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.

Abiola-Edewor, on Saturday, appreciated those at the forefront of the struggle for her father’s recognition by the President Muhammadu Buhari government.

She spoke at the MKO Abiola 20th remembrance organised by family members and
associates.

The daughter 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.”

She also acknowledged an activist, (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 the name consistently on the front burner. When other people do something, they do it so that you will come back and say thank you.”