“MKO” Documentary on Abiola’s Death Premieres in Lagos, Tinubu Hosts

A new documentary titled “MKO,” which chronicles the June 12 crisis and Chief MKO Abiola’s final years, premiered on October 1 at the National Theatre in Lagos. President Bola Tinubu served as host.

The film is the work of Nigerian-American filmmaker Ose Oyamendan.

It examines the death of Nigeria’s president-elect while in custody, during a meeting with top US diplomats, describing it as one of the most explosive and unanswered political mysteries in the country’s history.

The documentary features former military leaders Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the June 12 election, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, whose administration oversaw Nigeria’s return to civilian rule.

It also features former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, Abiola’s running mate.

Other participants include former American diplomats Walter Carrington and Thomas Pickering, who led the meeting during which Abiola died, former Canadian High Commissioner Gerald Ohlsen, members of Abiola’s family, foreign journalists, and Theodore Zadok, who served as Abiola’s security guard during his detention.

Oyamendan Says Film Draws On Archival Footage

Oyamendan said the film draws on an extensive collection of archival footage and testimonies from people closely connected to the events it chronicles.

He said the period marked a crucial point in Nigeria’s history, when many leaders chose to side with the military.

“Tinubu risked his life, livelihood and his family’s safety by standing with the people’s mandate. This is a story of that struggle that has brought us to where we are today,” Oyamendan said.

Managing Director of Nile Entertainment, which handles the film’s distribution, Moses Babatope, said the project holds personal significance for him. He said his father worked at Concord Newspaper, one of the institutions founded by Abiola.

“MKO Abiola’s story is one of the most defining periods in our nation’s democratic journey, and this history must be documented and made accessible, particularly to a younger generation,” Babatope said.

He described the documentary as a brilliantly captured record of a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s history and encouraged audiences to watch it in cinemas from October 2.

The film had earlier debuted at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival on June 12.