By joshua 
June 12: We Can’t Afford to Be Politically Correct to the Detriment of Our Children and Future
By Christopher Sunday
The significance of June 12 in our nation’s history is not merely in the ballot that was cast, but in the hope that was crushed. It is a date etched into our national memory with both pride and pain—a moment when Nigeria came closest to unity, only to be pulled back by the greedy hands of power. Today, as we commemorate the legacy of Chief MKO Abiola, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: our silence in the face of leadership recklessness is not maturity—it is complicity.
To be politically correct in times like these is to betray our children. To keep quiet so as not to offend power is to sign away the moral inheritance of generations unborn. Nigeria is not dying because her people cannot speak; she is collapsing because those who should speak choose diplomacy over truth, subtlety over substance, and decorum over justice. But how long can a people pretend while the roof over their heads caves in?
Today, we are governed by an elite class who preach sacrifice but practice extravagance. A government that claimed to have inherited a broken, dilapidated Nigeria now spends as though we struck oil in every village. Billions of naira are tossed around for convoys, jets, fleet replacements, unneeded renovations, and endless foreign trips. The office of the First Lady, not even recognised by the constitution, reportedly enjoys perks reserved for sovereigns. All this, while the common man can’t afford bread or painkillers.
June 12 was not about comfort. It was about resistance. It was about saying “no” to a system that prioritised the privileged over the people. Chief MKO Abiola died not because he was politically correct, but because he chose to defend the truth, even when it became dangerous. Are we now so concerned with appearances that we let deception wear the robe of statesmanship?
We must not ignore the duplicity of state governors who continue to squander monthly allocations while their states sink deeper into debt, insecurity, and infrastructural decay. Local government systems are crippled, education is priced beyond the poor, and hospitals are haunted by ghosts of abandoned projects. Yet, the only thing growing in Nigeria today is the cost of governance.
Let’s be clear: our lawmakers, executives, and administrators now consume over 70% of the national wealth—living as emperors while ordinary Nigerians toil in silence. These elected officials are not only unaccountable; they are largely ideologically bankrupt, more interested in defending privileges than protecting the people. Is this what democracy was meant to deliver?
June 12 calls us not just to reflect, but to resist. Not violently, but courageously—with words, ideas, votes, and collective resolve. We must stop decorating tyranny with etiquette. We must stop calling indulgence “strategy” and cowardice “diplomacy.”
This is not a time for poetry or pretence. If we want a future where our children won’t become refugees of their own country, we must challenge every lie wrapped in patriotism. We must speak, not for likes or approval, but for posterity.
Let the spirit of June 12 live—not as a convenient holiday for elite speeches, but as a burning reminder that the cost of political correctness is often paid by those who never had a seat at the table.
We can no longer afford that price.