Happy 70th birthday to the people’s lawyer

The surfeit of vacuous tributes by doting acolytes of thieving politicians on their benefactors that frequently appear on the pages of our newspapers have naturally devalued tributes to Nigerians generally and turned off many people. Yet, in spite of this penchant for false representation and mindless flattery of otherwise very ordinary people, one must not lose the opportunity to eulogise a truly great and patriotic Nigerian, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, as he clocks 70.

Gani has cast such a shadow on the legal, social, and political landscape of our nation that even the pet form, Gani, of his first name, Ganiyu, is sufficient to identify him uniquely in peoples’ consciousness. There are Ganiyus in Nigeria, many of whom have also shortened their names to Gani, but mention the name Gani in any conversation with Nigerians, what crosses their minds automatically is Gani Fawehinmi. I doubt if there is any other Nigerian who enjoys that level of first name recognition. Like many Nigerians, Gani grew up in hardship, but unlike the rest of them, he used his poor background as a springboard to commit himself to the cause of engendering a new society, free from hunger, poverty and injustice. And his chosen means of fighting for the cause was the law, and to that end, he directed his entire legal practice.

I have had a personal relationship with Gani since the early seventies when we were close neighbours on Sabiu Ajose Crescent, Surulere and were both involved in founding The Black Renaissance Movement, a movement that spearheaded the raising of national awareness, especially among government officials and the youth, on the plight of the blacks in South Africa, its linkage with the plight of blacks globally and the role Nigeria should play in restoring pride and dignity to the black man. Gani was passionately committed to the movement which included many young, progressive minded academics on the university campuses and prominent Nigerians like the late Aminu Kano, Benjamin Adekunle and Chief Anthony Enahoro.

In spite of his strong will and steely exterior, Gani has a heart of butter. His empathy with pupils from poor homes led him to initiate an annual scholarship scheme for secondary school students in 1971, the publication of Peoples’ Right to Free Education (At All Levels) in 1974, and the formation of the Free Education Association in 1975, an association of which I was a co-founder. At his prompting, and as a member of the association, I also launched a similar scholarship scheme for secondary school students of Abeokuta origin in 1976, offering full secondary school scholarships to five students, to cover the entire duration of their course.

Gani is a man who hates to see others suffer persecution or injustice, especially in the hands of government and he was always willing to suffer extremes of deprivation in bringing succor to such victims, through litigation. In the process, he himself suffered greatly. Between 1969 and 1996, he suffered innumerable detentions in police cells and federal prisons, his passport was seized more than ten times and his house and offices searched more than sixteen times, all in the pursuit of justice for others. He placed his legal skills at the disposal of students of higher institutions against government’s high handedness, handling such famous cases as the police killing of U.I’s Kunle Adepeju in 1971, the 1978 “ALI MUST GO” crisis triggered by Obasanjo and other crises at Universities of Benin, Ife, Maiduguri and Nsukka. As with students, so also with Labour, and all the cases were handled at no cost to the students or Labour, but at great cost to him.

Just as he used his legal practice to defend the oppressed and oppose governmental mis-rule, he also used it to challenge the excesses of government and promote democracy and good governance. He took up Babangida’s government in the Dele Giwa murder case, fighting for the right to privately prosecute Col. Halilu Akilu and Lt. Col. A.K Togun, when government was unwilling to prosecute them. One area in which he crossed swords with government on several occasions was that of constitutional accountability in the use of public funds. He legally challenged Babangida to account for Nigeria’s Gulf War Oil earnings, questioned the use of public funds by IBB’s wife for activities not known to the constitution and also brought actions against various heads of state at different times for various acts of illegality, unconstitutionalism and lack of accountability. The nation owes to his doggedness, the liberation of the political space in winning the right to float political parties without any extra-constitutional impediments, thus deepening democracy.

His legal fights against governments in the unconstitutional and corrupt use of public funds reflect his general aversion to corruption. He has been a life-long, uncompromising fighter against corruption, even ready to break ranks with the NBA any time the body appears to be going soft on the crime. When the Buhari - Idiagbon regime went after corrupt officials in 1984, he disagreed with the NBA’s decision to boycott the tribunals. I am one of those who benefited from that principled decision, for he represented me at one of those tribunals before which a spurious charge of conversion of N122, 500 to my personal use was leveled against me. But for him, even with all the evidence of my innocence in my possession, I may have ended up in jail.

In the same manner, Gani has had cause to disagree with his legal colleagues as regards the commitment which Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu brought into his job as the chairman of the EFCC. While many lawyers sought to make hefty financial gains by postulating strange concepts of due process in defence of treasury looting politicians, Gani staunchly stood by Ribadu and the people. I have often wished for a truly anti-corruption regime that would somehow have the good sense to make Gani either its Attorney General, or its chief anti-corruption prosecutor.

Gani’s passion for the masses brought him into active politics and he launched his own political party, the National Conscience Party in 1994. Unfortunately, he did not reckon with the influence of hunger and poverty in the land, and the degree of dehumanization to which succeeding military regimes have subjected the masses, making them easy prey to the monetization of politics. Nigeria would have been a much better society, were she blessed with just a dozen Gani Fawehinmis. A honest, principled, courageous, humane, committed and dogged fighter for the welfare of the citizenry, good governance, justice and democracy. A friend and benefactor of the poor, the oppressed, the underprivileged in society and all those feeling the weight of oppression by insensitive and uncaring governments.

In his 43 years of legal practice thus far, embracing public interest litigation and publishing, especially of law reports, he has carved a niche for himself. He has lived a self-sacrificial life, devoted to the pursuit of the common good and a demonstrated readiness to lay down his life in the pursuit of that goal. For every Naira he made in his legal practice, he gave away at least fifty kobo in the form of free legal services. The people have recognized his struggles by awarding him the most prestigious honour of The Senior Advocate of the Masses, long before the establishment was finally embarrassed into awarding him the honour of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

He has also received many honours, national and international, the latest of which is the endowment by TELL magazine and the Nigerian Media Merit Award of the Gani Fawehinmi prize for Human Rights Reporting. If our national honours were being awarded by visionary and patriotic leaders, it is people like Gani Fawehinmi who deserve the highest honour, the GCFR, not our despotic and roguish former rulers. I wish Gani Fawehinmi a quick recovery from his illness. Nigeria still needs his services. By the grace of God, he will return to Nigeria hale and hearty to continue his patriotic pursuits, even if at a reduced tempo. Many happy returns to the peoples’ lawyer.