As Nigerians mark the silver jubilee anniversary of June 12, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday said he is morally bound to preserve and cement the nation’s democracy as Nigerians way of life.

The President said this in his 18-minute broadcast to the nation on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of unbroken democracy in Nigeria and Democracy Day.

President Tinubu who went down memory lane on the struggle for the actualisation of democracy in the country said: “On this day, 31 years ago, we entered our rites of passage to becoming a true and enduring democratic society. Going through this passage was hard and dangerous. During the fateful six years that followed, we fought and struggled for our natural rights as human beings put on this earth by the divine hand of our Creator.

“We lost great heroes and heroines along the way. In this struggle, the winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, the most significant symbol of our democratic struggle, his wife, Kudirat, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and Pa Alfred Rewane, among others sacrificed their very lives.

“They bravely surrendered their futures, so that our nation might have a better one”, he said regretting that Chief Anthony Enahoro, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Commodore Dan Suleiman, Chief Arthur Nwankwo, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Chief Frank Kokori, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Ganiyu Dawodu, Chief Ayo Fasanmi, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief Olabiyi Durojaiye, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, Chima Ubani, and others transited to the higher realm while the sacrifices of General Alani Akinrinade, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Professor Wole Soyinka, Chief Ralph Obioha, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, among many others, should never be forgotten.

” For at least six years, they bore the pains and difficulties of life in exile. The sacrifices they made, and the precious gift brought about by their selfless devotion can never be repaid. Neither shall it be forgotten”, the President said.

President Tinubu also paid glowing tribute to the contributions of journalists and media houses in the fight to enthrone democracy in the country. His words: “We could not have won the battle against military dictatorship without the irrepressible Nigerian journalists who mounted the barricades along with the pro-democracy activists. We celebrate them today, along with their media establishments such as The Punch, Guardian, National Concord, Tribune, The News/Tempo, and TELL Magazines. Military authorities proscribed these media establishments and jailed their journalists for standing for free speech and civil liberties”.

Despite concerns raised by professional bodies and Civil Society Organisations especially the International Press Centre over the recent clampdown on the rights of journalists in the country and what observers and critics describe as the shrinking of the civic space with the rampant harassment and detention of journalists and activists, the President said his administration is committed to protecting the rights and liberties of Nigerians.

“As president of this nation, I am morally and constitutionally bound to preserve this precious form of governance,” the Nigerian leader said of democracy. “I vow to do my utmost best to protect your rights, freedoms, and liberties as citizens of Nigeria”, he said adding that his administration did not clamp down on workers’ unions who virtually shut down the country for two days during a nationwide strike.

The president said instead, his government invited the union leaders “to break bread” and discuss the reasons for the strike to resolve the controversy stressing that his government was committed to ensuring democratic ideals such as the freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest.

The organised labour, The Nigeria Labour Congress( NLC) the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliates organised a strike over their demand for a new minimum wage and a reduction in electricity tariffs.

The strike led to the shutdown of electricity, airports, hospitals, schools and other services.

The strike was suspended after two days to allow more negotiations between the unions and the government.

Although government and the organised labour are yet to agree on a new minimum wage, President Tinubu in the broadcast said he would soon send a National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly for passage.

According to him, the proposed minimum wage may not last up to five years, hinting that it could be reviewed again within the next five years.

“We have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organised labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less,” President Tinubu said.

“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interactions with the constituent parts of our political economy,” he stressed.

The proposed minimum wage may, however, have to wait until 2 July before presentation because the National Assembly is currently on holiday.

There were, however, calls for sanctions against some of the labour leaders after the shutdown of the national electricity grid during the strike.

Both the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, condemned the shutting down of the national grid, describing it as treason.

Mr. Lemmy Ughegbe, a Child and Gender Rights Advocate said the President’s address was an empty platitude. “It was a compilation of history, just rhetoric without any takeaway. At a time when Nigerian workers were unable to breathe because of economic hardship, the government has yet to comply with Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution as amended that prescribed minimum living wage for workers.

“The same government has offered N62,000 as minimum wage which is just a 100 per cent increase, whereas we know that the cost of living has skyrocketed to over 300 per cent. So N62,000 was not the intention of the crafters of the constitution “, he said.

Abuja-based Human Rights Lawyer, Mr. Maxwell Opera said he did not listen to the broadcast stressing:” I don’t listen to such . It is a waste of time “.

Comrade Adeola Soetan, Executive Director, of Citizenship Civic Awareness Centre aka Democracy Vanguard said he stopped listening to broadcasts by the nation’s Presidents some seven years ago because what they always say in the broadcast is different from the reality in the country.

Unlike the Democracy Day speeches of his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, the broadcast was uninspiring, flat and boring.

The President did not say anything concrete about the heroes and heroines of democracy, the journalists and media houses that fought for the actualisation of democracy and were silent on what the new minimum wage is. The suspense may backfire because it would give the labour leaders who are currently attending the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva ample time to – strategise and mobilize workers should the government fail to meet their expectations.