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Pro-June 12 Group Seeks National Dialogue, People’s Constitution

Published

1 year ago

June 9, 2024

Editor

The June 12 Pro-Democracy Movement of Nigeria says President Bola Tinubu must facilitate a process of national dialogue and consultation that will give birth to a democratic people’s constitution.

The convener of the movement, Mr Wale Okunniyi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday ahead of the commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Okunniyi spoke on how Tinubu could gladden the hearts of June 12 activists under his tenure.

According to him, if the President can show commitment to national dialogue that will lead to true federal constitution in his administration, it will go down in history and become memorable.

Okunniyi said that the President, by so doing, would be actualising the hope late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the annulled election, stood and died for.

“The critical thing that will make meaning for us with Tinubu’s administration to further entrench June 12 Hope ’93 of MKO Abiola, is for the current President to immediately facilitate a process of national dialogue and consultation that will lead to the birth of constituents assembly that can give us a people’s constitution.

“The only thing, which will make him immortalise the struggle of June 12, MKO Abiola and the National Democratic Coalition, which he (Tinubu) was a member of, is for him to do this.

“The only record that will be memorable with Tinubu’s administration with regard to the June 12 struggle and democracy is to facilitate a process for national discussion and dialogue.

“If the President can do this to give Nigeria a new people’s constitution that is generated from a democratic discussion, that can never forever be erased in history,” Okunniyi said.

According to him, the movement will mobilise June 12 activists and stakeholders for a national discussion on how democracy can work for the people in commemoration of the 31st anniversary.

He said that the present civil rule had only limited features and benefits of democracy in the practice.

“For us as leaders of the June 12 pro-democracy movement, it is our duty to organise the Nigerian people to further consolidate the present nascent democracy of Nigeria.

“This is to bring to memory the struggles and what we have done to bring about what we have now as civil rule or democratic governance.

“We are putting these in focus in this year’s June 12, we are refocusing on generating a democratic people’s constitution for Nigeria and securing the destiny and future of Nigeria,” he said.

Okunniyi said that the 2024 anniversary would be chaired by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary General, while the keynote would be given by Dr Kayode Fayemi,a former governor of Ekiti.

“Our message and focus for this year while celebrating the June 12 anniversary is how to generate and actualise a democratic people’s constitution for Nigeria that can be given to Nigerians through an elected constituent assembly.

“What we have today, that is generating crisis in Nigeria, is the Decree 24 of 1999, which is not essentially generated and produced by the Nigerian people,” he said.

He said that Nigerians must stay faithful to the struggle and the cause for a new democratic people’s constitution for the nation to move forward.

According to him, without a democratic constitution, Nigeria cannot say it has democracy, hence the reason democracy is not serving the people at the moment.

“What we have today doesn’t reflect Hope’93. MKO Abiola cannot be happy with what is happening in the nation now as democracy,” he said.

He said that at the death of MKO Abiola, NADECO demanded two things – a government of national unity and Sovereign National Conference to give birth to a people’s constitution.

He said that a diverse country like Nigeria would not progress without a national dialogue (conference), “where we come to agree to the terms of the existence of where we want to co-habit.”

The PUNCH reports that June 12 is significant in Nigeria’s history as it marks the anniversary of the 1993 presidential election, which was won by Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola but later annulled by the military government.

Abiola’s victory and the subsequent annulment led to political unrest and eventually the return of democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999.

(NAN)

Headline

US Says Strikes ‘Devastated’ Iran’s Nuclear Program

Published

14 hours ago

June 22, 2025

Editor

Unprecedented US strikes have wrecked Iran’s nuclear program, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday as Washington sought to assess what remained of the three targeted sites.

The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement.

But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.

“We devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”

Trump “seeks peace, and Iran should take that path”, Hegseth said. “This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change.”

Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that “it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”

“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he told reporters.

– Protests in Tehran –

People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed.

Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning.

“We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it’s years or beyond,” he told ABC.

“We’re not at war with Iran — we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he added. “The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night.”

In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel’s initial attacks.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had “crossed a very big red line,” asserting Iran would continue to defend itself “by all means necessary.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump’s decision to “target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”

The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was “too soon” to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site.

The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said.

– Global concern –

In response to the US attack, Iran’s armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.

Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded.

In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.

“Israel by itself would not stop… and it would take longer,” he said.

Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city’s north.

The Israeli military said it had “struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory.”

Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported that a “massive explosion was heard” Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province.

The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation.

The European Union called on all sides “to step back,” while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships.

The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”

Headline

US Struck Iran With B-2 Bombers, Submarine-launched Missiles – Top US General

Published

14 hours ago

June 22, 2025

Editor

Seven stealth bombers were used in the US attack against Iranian nuclear sites, which apparently saw little response by Iran’s military, top general Dan Caine said Sunday.

Describing the complex operation, dubbed “Midnight Hammer,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said the “main strike package comprised of 7 B-2 Spirit bombers” flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings.

“Iran’s fighters did not fly, and it appears that Iran’s surface to air missile systems did not see us throughout the mission. We retained the element of surprise,” Caine added.

Headline

UK ‘Was Informed Of US Strikes’ On Iran, Plans Evacuating Briton Out of Israel

Published

14 hours ago

June 22, 2025

Editor

Britain was notified in advance of the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, though it played no part in the military action, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds confirmed today.

“We were informed, as you might expect, by a key ally,” Reynolds told Sky News, adding, “We were not and have not been involved in these attacks.”

The strikes—launched overnight by US B2 stealth bombers and submarines—targeted Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities. President Donald Trump hailed it as “a spectacular military success,” a claim Tehran swiftly denied.

The UK government is now working to evacuate British nationals trapped in Israel, after Iran launched a wave of retaliatory missiles. Reynolds said it would take “hours, not days” to evacuate them, citing airspace closures as the main delay.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the US operation, describing Tehran’s nuclear programme as “a grave threat to international security.” He noted that the US acted to “alleviate that threat,” despite previously urging Trump to avoid military escalation.

Reynolds acknowledged public anxiety about the developments and warned of a possible rise in terrorism threats at home: “It would be naïve to say that that wouldn’t potentially increase.”

Opposition figures supported the strikes. Kemi Badenoch said the US had acted “decisively against a regime that fuels global terror.” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted: “Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. The future of Israel depends on it.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, condemned the US operation as “lawless and criminal behavior,” warning of “everlasting consequences.”