Moshood Abiola

Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola ( ; 24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998), was a Nigerian business magnate, publisher and politician. He was the honorary supreme military commander of the Oyo Empire and an aristocrat of the Egba clan. Abiola ran for the presidency in 1993, for which the election results were annulled by then military president Ibrahim Babangida. He would later die in detention after making an attempt to assert himself as the elected president. Abiola was awarded the National honour Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), an honour awarded to only Nigerian heads of state, posthumously on 6 June 2018, by President Muhammadu Buhari, and Nigeria's democracy day was changed from 29 May to 12 June in his honour. Abiola was a personal friend of Ibrahim Babangida and is believed to have supported Babangida's coming to power. Abiola's support in the June 1993 presidential election cut across all geo-political zones and religious divisions. He was among a few politicians to accomplish such influence during his time. By the time of his death, he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy.