Whether it was a political ‘masterstroke’, ‘political ‘tsunam’ or an act of ‘political desperation”, I am exceedingly happy that the acclaimed winner of the June 12 election, Chief MKO Abiola and the irreplaceable human rights activist, the one and only Senior Advocate of the Masses, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, have finally gotten their day in the sun. Conferring, posthumously, the highest honour in the land, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) on Abiola and Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON) on Chief Gani Fawehinmi ushered in a new lease of life into our polity.

It is amazing how little things can lead to big developments. This is the message of this column: the little thing that matters, insignificant gestures that serve as game changers. Ironically, life does not exact huge demands on us, most of what we expend energy chasing after, pale beside one little act of civility. June 12 paints a vivid picture of unity in diversity as an undeniable proof that fault lines are reinforced by the unresolved issue around the ugly page of our nation’s history. In one fell swoop, wounds harboured for decades were healed. Just as the action of one man, Adam, brought pain and death unto the human race, so also the action of the Messiah usher in the redemption of humanity. The annulment of that historic election threw the nation into chaos that metamorphosed into the perennial ethno-religious crises that have bedeviled the land till date.

June 12, 2018, marks a turning point in national history while President Muhammadu Buhari has thrust himself into the hall of fame and etched his name in gold. Period. Whatever verdict history passes on him will be eclipsed by the pivotal role in national rebirth. The apology to the Abiola family, the symbol of that movement, was in reality an apology to the whole nation bringing with it a soothing balm to emotional wounds which produced multiple results – national reconciliation and unity of faith in the entity called Nigeria. How about the icing on the cake of the epoch making event, the apology rendered by Hafsat Abiola on behalf of her father to President Buhari, it is a golden moment, indelible in the hearts and minds of Nigerians either as a friend of foe of the administration. This is the nucleus of human existence, the prescription of Etiquette for every social malady- respect and consideration for others, a win-win for everyone.

It is noteworthy that conflicts at different levels of relationship, global, social, family, organizational are traceable to some feeling of unfairness which can be resolved by one party acknowledging or taking cognizance of the grievances of the other.

You too can pull the rug off the feet of unjustness as a company recently did to a young lady who was bypassed in every promotion exercise for several years. To add insult to the injury, contemporaries had become superiors. The lady who stoically carried on her work professionally was surprised in no small measure when somebody stumbled on her file and in one fell swoop received a triple promotion which put her abreast of peers. The uniqueness of the event was that her promotion was celebrated companywide by the institution, which having acknowledged the inequity, used that occasion to regularize similar cases within the system. Predictably, the resultant surge in productivity and profit engendered a watershed in the firm. Increasingly, organizational conflicts with grave consequences emanate from office politics fraught with prejudice.

The dysfunctional family which has become the incubator for a dysfunctional society, plagued by drug abuse, monumental crime and unimaginable immorality is the end product of parenting failure.

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The redemptive agenda of teaching, training, coaching and instructing future generation can be actualized by a simple reordering of family values and filial responsibilities. A philanderer who came back to his senses took deliberate steps to reposition his family for a glorious future via a heartfelt apology to his wife. That singular act, reprogrammed the psyche of the prodigal sons and daughters to a positive turn around. The extended family as a microcosm of the larger society can also benefit from the June 12 phenomenon, when the agents of acrimony explore some reason in the corridor of sanity through acts of reconciliation. Many feuding parties locked in lingering legal battle over inheritance, wallow in want due to haughtiness.

Killing fields in communal conflicts can be transformed into theatres of harmony through common sense driven by thoughtfulness, attentiveness and empathy with aggrieved parties.

While Nigerians relished in the occasion of June 12, a historic summit unfolded in Singapore, where for the first time in history, a sitting American president would meet a North Korean leader. The two figures who had stoked the embers of hostility and heightened tension over global peace hit high spot to form an unusual bond of ‘a terrific relationship’ midwifed by mutual deference.

June 12, a remarkable day like no other, in recent times is a testament of reconciliation. Borrowing from Hafsat Abiola’s Mandela’s quote, ‘It always seems impossible, until it is done,’ I say that truly a better world with healthier relationships is achievable.

Until it is done, it remains elusive.