Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN at times like this

“Men and women of rare qualities are few and hard to come by. And when they depart, the sense of loss is made the more profound and the more difficult to manage” – Nelson Mandela Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN died of the scourge cancer of the lungs in the early hours of Saturday, 5th of […]

“Men and women of rare qualities are few and hard to come by. And when they depart, the sense of loss is made the more profound and the more difficult to manage”
– Nelson Mandela

Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN died of the scourge cancer of the lungs in the early hours of Saturday, 5th of September 2000 in a Lagos hospital marking the eternal exit of one of the remaining Africa’s progressive advocates and patriots. That was after fighting the dangerous disease gallantly in a London hospital for two years. How time flies? Yours comradely was at the 5th Gani Annual Memorial Concert as part of the memorial activities under the broad theme Gani’s VISION; The Call for Genuine Change.
I bear witness that the spirit of the late Chief is very well alive. As I once reflected, that many were called and indeed many did enlist in the resistance against underdevelopment, bad governance and oppression in Africa. But very few actually had the staying power spanning almost three and half decades of resistance, persecution and perseverance as the icon of Nigeria’s bar; the late Gani. Few indeed paraded a remarkable mix of those identified qualities, namely steadfastness, courage, principled stand for justice, kindness, charity and passion for the voiceless and the oppressed. He shared uncommon qualities of departed and living soldiers of justice and opponents of tyranny namely; late Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Samora Machel, Murtala Muhammed, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Fela Anikulapo, Professor Claude Ake, Beko Ransom Kuti, Guyana Walter Rodney, Frantz Fanon, Amilcal Cabral, late Dr Bala Usman, Michael Imoudu, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Alao Aka Bashorun, Dr Mahmud, Dr Lasisis Osunde among others. Chief Gani was in the class of selfless global citizens like Mahatma Ghandi, Idira Ghandi, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Mother Teresa who opted for discomfort in defence of humanity.
Chief Gani Fawehimi left score of legacies including enterprise and hard work. However the most notable is the passion for the rule of law with enormous sacrifices including torture and detentions Kaduna Prison, (1969) to Nigerian Prison, Bauchi 1996. For Gani the methods and strategies might vary, but the objective is the same: get justice for the oppressed. Nobody in Nigeria’s history has made effective use of instrumentality of the law to push for respect for human rights and good governance as Gani did as an activist non-state actor.
He was often dubbed “fiery lawyer” by the media. The media perception and Characterization conceals a methodical hard working systematic and consistent mindset who had won landmark cases which had amended our constitution more than the national assembly could.
I recall that General Muhammadu Buhari, then a presidential hopeful in his tribute to the late Gani tasked Nigerians to dig into the archive and bring to the fore the litigations of this great Nigeria’s progressive litigant. Chief Gani’s dogged fight and litigation against INEC reaffirmed the constitutional right to freedom of association which led to the registration of more political parties thus freeing Nigerians from the political regimentation of INEC. In defence of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) (without charges!), he got damning judgment which reaffirmed the workers’ right to strike when OBJ administration was bent on criminalizing strikes in the wake of the mass protest against his  serial policy dictatorship of endless fuel price increases. What would have been the reaction of the late Chief to the commendable strong refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari against removal of fuel subsidy (read; fuel price increase? I bet that Gani would have hailed PMB to the high heaven for resisting dubious policy dictatorship and yet ensuring uninterrupted fuel supply at official price nationwide. Chief Gani had actually written a book exposing the fallacy and fraud called fuel subsidy. At time like this Gani who dared to challenge the IMF inspired policy of Naira devaluation under IBB regime would have been excited seeing PMB courageously resisting the pressures of the discredited rating agencies like JP Morgan calling for further Naira devaluation. Gani would have also hailed the CBN’s current capital controls under the leadership of Governor Godwin I. Emefiele with a view of strengthening the Naira not weakening it further.
Gani spared no one when it came to his commitment to see his convictions through. In 1984 he dared the NBA and appeared before a military tribunal to defend some corrupt public officials. NBA establishment disowned Gani, but it could not fault his arguments that defence of human rights is not divisible. Indeed that battle further underscores the significant position of Gani in the Bar; it did not diminish him in the least as the enemies had designed. At times like this what would have been Gani’s reaction to the legal anarchy currently unfolding over the travails of the Senate president,  Bukola Saraki? A private sector man, Gani canvassed to the last for bigger kinder and just government. He audaciously demanded that the state should uplift the weak rather than privilege the few. Gani’s “undue radicalism” triumphed over conservative rotten theft and corruption regimes of the recent times. What would be the reactions of Gani to scandalous crude oil theft in millions of barrels? What would be his reactions to reported bags or sacks of stolen monies that are the norms today? Gani epitomized citizenship and patriotism. Very few could be counted on side of selflessness like Gani. He once rejected the national award of the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) which the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Administration wanted to confer on him.
President Barrack Obama of USA advised in Ghana that “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions”. If strongmen are defined as Idi Amin, Mobutu Sesseku and scores of Nigeria’s wasteful dealers (not leaders!) yes Africa does not need “strongmen”. However if strongmen are seen as the Ganis, Mandelas, late Murtala Muhammed, Nkrumah, Aminu Kano, Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then Africa desperately needs more compassionate, courageous strongmen that must build sustainable institutions.