WHO OWNS THE MEMORY OF JUNE 12? – VALIDVIEWNETWORK

As Nigeria marked another Democracy Day, attention naturally focused on the official narratives offered by political leaders about the struggle that birthed the democratic freedoms Nigerians enjoy today. Yet beyond the ceremonies, speeches and commemorations lies a more important question: Who owns the memory of June 12?

The answer should be simple. No one does.

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June 12 belongs neither to Lagos nor Ibadan or any of protest centres acrossthe country. It belongs neither to politicians nor activists alone. It belongs neither to those who occupied the front pages of newspapers nor those whose names never appeared in print. It belongs to Nigeria.

That is why every attempt, deliberate or inadvertent, to narrow the story of June 12 into the exploits of a few individuals or a handful of locations does a disservice to history and to the generations yet unborn.

No serious student of Nigeria’s democratic journey can deny the central role played by Lagos. It was the headquarters of resistance. It hosted some of the most visible protests. It housed important media organizations, labour unions and political networks that challenged military rule. Its place in history is secure and deserved.

But Lagos was not the struggle.

The struggle stretched beyond the streets of Ikeja, Yaba and Ojota. It extended into the classrooms of the University of Ibadan, the campuses of Ahmadu Bello University and Obafemi Awolowo University, the labour halls of Kaduna, the activist circles of Abeokuta, the newspaper houses of Ibadan and the countless communities where ordinary Nigerians chose courage over silence.

The battle against military dictatorship was not won in a single city. It was won across multiple theatres of resistance.

While some funded the struggle from exile, others faced soldiers on the streets. While some addressed international conferences, others operated underground publications under constant threat of arrest. While some became the public faces of resistance, others paid with their jobs, liberty, health and, in many cases, their lives.

History owes all of them a debt.

The danger confronting Nigeria today is not military revisionism. Military rule has been defeated. The greater danger is democratic amnesia – the gradual simplification of a complex national struggle into a convenient and selective narrative.

History becomes distorted not only when falsehoods are introduced. It can also become distorted when important truths are repeatedly omitted.

That is why the conversation occasioned by this year’s Democracy Day should move beyond complaints about who was mentioned and who was not. The more important task is the construction of a complete democratic archive.

Nigeria needs a comprehensive national record of the June 12 struggle. The names of the celebrated heroes must be preserved. So too must the names of the forgotten activists, journalists, students, labour leaders, academics, market women and ordinary citizens who carried the burden of resistance in their various communities.

A democracy that remembers only its famous heroes risks forgetting how victories are truly won.

Indeed, the greatness of June 12 lies precisely in the fact that it transcended personalities. It united people across regions, professions, religions and ethnic identities around a common cause. That collective sacrifice ultimately forced open the democratic space Nigerians occupy today.

To reduce such a movement into a story of a few prominent actors is to diminish the contributions of thousands whose courage sustained the struggle through its darkest moments.

The challenge before the nation, therefore, is not merely to celebrate Democracy Day every June. It is to ensure that future generations inherit a truthful account of how democracy was won.

For memory matters.

Nations that selectively remember their past often misunderstand their present and misjudge their future.

June 12 was not the triumph of a city. It was not the triumph of a political tendency. It was not the triumph of a few celebrated names.

It was the triumph of collective resistance.

And that memory belongs to all Nigerians.