Family members of the late chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12 1993 elections, have revealed the plight they face.
Without a shadow of any doubt, the demise of late Chief MKO Abiola has left a big vacuum in the family which is yet to be filled.
According to Vanguard, getting to the Abiola family house in Ita-Oje in Abeokuta North local government, it was obvious that the extended family members who reside in the one-storey building have been neglected.
Except those who either did not know the status of the family before the demise of the late breadwinner or read about it, the family could be counted as a poor family now.
When Vanguard made attempts to interview some members of Abiola family to feel their pulse on the demise of their bread winner some years back, many of them expressed worry on the consequence of their action.
When pushed further, they disclosed that they had been warned against talking to the media on any issue except they got clearance from the new head of the family.
According to some of them, the head of the family who they said lives in Lagos has been queried by the government for making unpleasant remarks to the press. However, few of them spoke on their experience since the demise of late MKO Abiola.
Speaking with Vanguard exclusively, Mr. Saburi Abiola, who claimed to be the youngest brother to late MKO Abiola said his late brother was a caring man.
He said he was like a father to him while alive.
“We looked up to him in our family. He was such an enigma; you can qualify him with all sort of good adjectives, this is not to say that he was a saint, of course, there is no saint anywhere, but, I believe his strength outweighed his weakness.
“If Abiola were to be alive today, he would have been 80 years by now. His death has left a vacuum in the family, community, state, and Nigeria as a whole. If he had succeeded with all his plans, I knew things would have been okay than this. His impact would have been felt all over Africa and even in the world. His death is very painful, but we have to submit to the will of God, may God bless his soul.”
A grand child of the family, Samsudeen Abiola lamented that the help he and others usually received from MKO Abiola had stopped for long. He said, though, when he was in detention, one of his wives, late Kudirat Abiola used to help them, but, her death too left a serious vacuum in the family. When asked how they were coping with the death of Abiola since, Samsudeen said, the members have resolved to look unto God for help.
“All our properties have been hijacked from us. Though we believe there is nothing God cannot do. Properties like companies, and others which I can’t even remember.
“Ogun State Government has been doing a lot, during festivals the state government gives us money and other things.”.
Also in his remarks, a family friend who claimed to have benefited immensely from Abiola, Mr. Tajudeen Popoola, said the death of Abiola pained him.
We are from the same compound; I was still in service at Niger State when he died. He said he and others had resolved to rely on God because help was no more coming like it used to be when Abiola was alive.
He said they were struggling to feed themselves and their families because the late breadwinner who carried the responsibilities has gone.
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