A civil liberty advocate and National Chairman Ondo State Eminent Persons Group (OSEG), Banji Alabi, has called on the Federal Government to establish two distinct halls for notable players and patriots who played unforgettable and leading roles in what has now become the June 12 Institution.
The human rights lawyer, who made the call in a statement by OSEG to mark the June 12 Democracy Day, appealed to the Federal Government to establish first a Hall of Fame where the names of patriots, dead or alive, who sacrificed for the emergence of June 12 and those who struggled for its actualisation, shall be immortalised.
The group also urged the Federal Government to summon the political will to establish a Hall of Shame for known and unknown villains that individually or collectively actively engaged in sabotaging the historic day and event.
It particularly appealed to President Bola Tinubu to employ the power of Executive Order to confer a national honour by immortalising the late National Chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphry Nwosu, who was buried recently.
The group said that the establishment of the two opposite halls would help to put in a historical, undiluted and unchangeable perspective where the concerned individuals, groups and institutions stood when passing the history to generations to come.
Besides, Alabi opined that setting up the halls could serve as an instructive message that would educate future generations on the evils of working against the will of the people and further challenge them to toe the path of patriotism.
The civil liberty campaigner also challenged Nigerians, particularly civil society organisations, to begin to move from the yearly symbolic celebration of June 12 to concretise it by creating some permanent institutions around it.
To this end, Alabi called for the establishment of the June 12 Democratic Institute, as well as the Foundation for the advancement of the ideals and legacies of the national event, popularisation and inculcation of the manifestoes that made Nigerian electorate to put aside their differences and voted for a common agenda.
The OSEG chieftain further suggested the establishment of June 12 endowment funds for the care of victims of June 12, especially those who suffered and are living with injuries resulting from the brutalities of state agents deployed to enforce the annulment, as well as the establishment of June 12 National Antiquities to serve as a museum for relics, including cars of heroes, heroines and other martyrs involved in the struggle.
