Sunday, 13th June 2021: The President of Women Arise, a human rights group, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, said Nigeria must consider restructuring to save it from failure.

“A nation cannot be failing consistently and still be hoping to prosper. These failures must be arrested because it is a series of failures like these that culminate in state failure,” Okei-Odumakin said in a statement to mark Democracy Day on Saturday.

Okei-Odumakin honoured Nigerians who fought for democracy in the country but said Nigeria’s current situation showed that a lot still needed to be done.

She said, “We have committed June 12, 1993 to memory, never forgetting and never trivialising it. June 12, 1993 has engaged us in dynamic patterns across generations.

“When, hopefully, the next election cycle comes in 2023, it would be 30 years of June 12! We again salute the martyrs, heroes and heroines of that moment: Chief MKO Abiola, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, and many more who paid with their lives!

“Those who stayed to fight, those who ran to fight another day: We salute you all! But our current situation shows we have a lot to do still as there are troubling questions begging for answers.”

She added, “A nation cannot be failing consistently and still be hoping to prosper. These failures must be arrested because it is a series of failures like these that culminate in state failure.

“In conclusion, we must emphasise that protests are a key feature of democracy and must not be stifled. Protests are an extension of the right to expression.”