MUCH as I hate to get personal, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I and other members of my family were rather surprised that the name of our father was not among those honoured by President Tinubu as he doled out National honours to June 12 heroes. Besides, I have been inundated with calls from friends and well-wishers wondering why my late father’s name, Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, was omitted from the list. As is characteristic of the Ajasin family, our deeds are mostly altruistic, since there is usually no craving for any reward, notwithstanding our privations. Consequently, our deeds and performances very often go unnoticed/unrecognized.

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 celebration/anniversary! 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 NADECO, the two organizations that were the arrowheads and in 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… At the risk of being immodest, my father, our family and, indeed, the Owo community were subjected to all sorts of risks from the marauding  goons of the Abacha regime. Even where no awards or rewards are dispensed to these heroes of democracy, they certainly deserve to be recognised and mentioned in a country that has a dearth of heroes.  

—Chief Tokunbo Ajasin (For the Family)