President Bola Tinubu’s decision to honour select pro-democracy activists in commemoration of June 12 has ignited controversy, following claims that several key figures in the struggle were conspicuously left out of the honours list.

The President, in his Democracy Day address, had paid tribute to some individuals who fought for the restoration of democracy using the June 12 platform, noting that their courage and sacrifice paved the way for the freedom Nigerians now enjoy.

”We could not have won the battle against dictatorship without the sacrifices of those who stood tall when it was risky to do so,” Tinubu said in his national broadcast.

He added that the recognition of these heroes was a step towards “preserving the memory and truth of our democratic journey.”

Ajasin

However, the family of the late leader of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, has decried what it described as the omission of their father’s name from the list of pro-democracy chieftains honoured by President Bola Tinubu.

Also, the Ajasin family said it was surprising that despite their patriarch’s sacrifices for the enthronement of democracy, he didn’t make the honours list.

Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, who said this in a statement, urged the President to recognize Ajasin the way his contemporaries were honoured. He noted that other heroes of the June 12 struggle also didn’t make the list.

His words: ”The recent list of honourees released by the Federal Government in commemoration of June 12 has, quite surprisingly, omitted the name of one of Nigeria’s foremost pro-democracy figures, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, CFR.

I do not know whether this conspicuous omission was deliberate or not, but be it known that Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, CFR, in his lifetime doubled as the Leader of Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), the two organisations that were the arrowheads and at the forefront of the fight against military dictatorship. It was Afenifere that provided the leadership for all the other activists and civil society organizations which included the Campaign for Democracy (CD), Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Movement for National Reformation (MNR), National Conscience Party (NCP), Concerned Professionals (CP), etc.

This omission has not only come as a surprise to our family but has also sparked concern and inquiries from friends, colleagues, and members of the public. Chief Ajasin was more than just a participant In the struggle for democracy, he was a principal architect of it. As the founding Leader of both Afenifere and NADECO, he played a central role in galvanising resistance against military dictatorship and advancing the democratic ideals we now celebrate.

However, it is unconscionable that the leader of the group (NADECO) best known for fighting the military and bringing about the much-touted democracy never got a single mention in the scheme of June 12, 2025 celebration/anniversary and honours list by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to Chief Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State, in his book Battle Lines: Adventures in Power, the 49 founding signatories of NADECO were: Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, Mallam Lawal Dambazzau, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Chief Anthony Enahoro, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd.), Chief Bola Ige, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Professor Anya O. Anya, Colonel Yohanna Madaki, Reverend Father Moses Adasu, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, Reverend Tunji Adebiyi, Chief Ade Ojo, Chief Ralph Obioha, Chief Empire Kanu, Chief Michael Anyiam, Dr. Sola Soile, Vice Admiral Akin Aduwo, Chief E. Duru, Mr. Nick Dazzang, Mr. Labaran Maku, Dr. A. A. Akingba, Mr. Babas Eko Oyekanmi, Mr. Alex Ayatolla, Mrs. Sarah Jubril, Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, Mr. O. P. Edodo, Mr. A. Barber, Otunba Olabiyi Durojaiye, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, Alhaji Mohammed Siraj Hamza, Dr. Wahab Dosunmu, Otunba Aboyade Cole, Major General Olufemi Olutoye (rtd.), Chief Sobo Sowemimo, Dr. Steve Achema, Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, Chief Olu Falae, Brigadier-General Jonah Jang, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun, Mr. Emmanuel Njiwah, Chief Vincent Nwizugbo, and Dr. Uma Eleazu.

While President Bola Tinubu himself played a prominent role in the June 12 struggle, other prominent NADECO leaders include, but were not limited to, Mr. Ayo Opadokun, Mr. Wale Osun, General Alani Akinrinade, Femi Falana, Lam Adesina, Chief Segun Adegoke, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, Clement Nwankwo, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, and Senator Kofo Bucknor, to name a few. Even though the above list is by no means exhaustive, yet most of the above names are missing from the list of heroes of June 12 that got published.

It Is on record that when NADECO was launched in 1994, Chief Ajasin was the Leader, Chief Anthony Enahoro was the Deputy Leader, and Mr. Ayo Opadokun was the General Secretary. None of these names appeared on the published list!

As NADECO’s Leader, Chief Ajasin led with vision, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment, even in the face of personal risks, harassment, and systemic suppression.

It is deeply concerning that while several founding leaders and prominent contributors to that era — including Chief Ajasin, Chief Anthony Enahoro (Deputy Leader), and Mr. Ayo Opadokun (General Secretary) were not acknowledged, the narrative of June 12 now risks becoming incomplete and distorted. This is not merely a matter of recognition; it is about preserving the truth of our collective history.

Despite the silence of honours past and present, the Ajasin family has never acted with an expectation of reward. Our late father served the cause of democracy out of deep conviction. Nevertheless, in a country starved of genuine heroes, the continued sidelining of those who paid dearly for our freedom is regrettable and unjust.

We hope this oversight will be corrected in the interest of historical accuracy and national conscience. True democracy honours its champions, especially those who stood firm when it was most dangerous to do so.”

Activists

Similarly, a group under the aegis of Quintessential Professionals urged the President to include former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Walter Carrington, in the list of pro-democracy crusaders honoured for their roles in the June 12 struggle.

The group, In a statement yesterday in Abuja by its coordinator, Stanley Dunia, recalled how Carrington actively collaborated with Nigerian pro-democracy activists for the revalidation of the June 12 presidential election, despite being on a diplomatic mission.

According to the activists, Carrington, who died in August 2020, deserved a posthumous award. They noted that while in Nigeria, the US diplomat married a Nigerian woman, Arese, a medical doctor from Edo State.

Carrington, who served as the US Ambassador to Nigeria from 1993 to 1997, was actively involved in the pro-democracy activism that eventually birthed democracy in Nigeria in 1999.

In another development, the group made a separate case for other Nigerians who were part of the struggle but whose names were omitted from the list unveiled by President Tinubu on Thursday.

Prominent among those omitted were some of Tinubu’s allies in the Afenifere and NADECO movements, who were also in the trenches during the struggle.

They include Chief Ayo Opadokun, Pa Olanihun Ajayi, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Chief Olabiyi Durojaiye, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, and Senator Jonathan Zwingina.

Others similarly omitted are Kofo Akerele-Bucknor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Reverend Adebiyi, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, Innocent Chukwuma, Mike Ozekhome, Yinka Odumakin, Joe Okei-Odumakin, among many others.

Presidency

The statement read: “The Presidency should review this list and many others deserving of honour, with a view to addressing the oversight and picking out the dead ones among them for posthumous honour.”

The group noted that the omissions have led to insinuations in certain quarters that the President might have deliberately left out names of individuals who were part of the struggle but are now critics of his administration.

But a Presidency source attributed the omissions to human error, saying that even some of the President’s close associates who are still in his team were inadvertently omitted. The source said: “It has been brought to our attention that even the man who coordinated the President’s support group, SWAGA ’23, and who was actively involved in the June 12 struggle, was also omitted. It’s human error, and another list is being compiled to address it.” (Sunday Vanguard)