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Chief Gani Fawehinmi, One of a Kind!

Brampton, Ontario, Canada
yemiadegbite@nigeriahorizon.com
May 19, 2008

Chief Gani Fawehinmi, The Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) has spent a very good and productive part of his life fighting against bad government, corruption in high places, moral bankruptcy among the ruling class, he fought gallantly against the fighting machines of many dictatorial, absolute and directionless military adventurers and has always stood and still standing for social justice, in our overtly overwhelmed and disenchanted populace, now our Dear Gani is fighting for his life!

I Have known Chief Gani Fawehinmi since 1988 during my student days at Obafemi Awolowo university at Ife, Gani stood out among his contemporaries, he demonstrated his keen and transparent interest in the poor and down trodden masses of Nigeria, he fought fiercely unbehalf of Nigerian students, he spent his personal and hard earned money on poor people, he awarded scholarships to many indigent Nigerian students while the people in the corridor of power care less about the less privilege ones, Gani took it upon himself to plead their case and fight their cause.

Gani won my heart and that of many other Nigerians because of his fearlessness, indomitable spirit, and unassuming personality, devotion to fairness and justice as well as his unparalleled patriotism. When he believes in a cause, he pursues it with all his spirit, even at his own peril, he is not deterred!

I saw this first hand during my close interaction with him in 1988 when “we as the 17,001 strong” students of OAU, Ile- Ife, (the one being Chief Gani Fawehinmi) decided to award him the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) as well as to confer on him the highest honour of our students’ union, that is the “Life Membership” of OAU students’ union on August 27th 1988. I have the honour to be the president of OAU students’ union at that time, together with the Central Executive Council we contacted Gani and he gladly accepted the honour and in his own words, he “valued it more than any award from this corrupt government”, that comment made our day. We went ahead to plan for the big day! The military cabal of Babangida vowed not to allow the ceremony to take place, just because the date we chose coincided with the anniversary date that Babangida hijacked power from his cousins, they saw that as an affront, they warned Professor Wande Abimbola, the VC at that time that, the ceremony must not hold, Wande called and pleaded that we postpone the ceremony or at least change the date. We also insisted that no Jupiter can stop it! And that it will hold on that very day and date. We made it clear that, only Gani himself can stop the show. The maneuver and the controversy went on for few weeks. The pressure was on us to stop it, so also Gani was pressurerized to reject the offer. We had series of meetings with Gani; he also visited Ife incognito many times to iron out many things concerning the details. During one of his visits, Chief Gani looked me in the face and asked me if I still have the will to continue amidst all pressures on and around the members of the union and particularly on me as the leader. I told him that we remain resolute more than ever before, then Gani stood up and shook my hand and said, “Only death can stop me!” the courage he demonstrated that day still resonates and remains with me to this day.

Gani, the extremist (as branded by the military government of the day) with a reason made up his mind to accept the honour, even in the face of potential harm to his person. With armored tanks in front of the university gate, manned by stern looking soldiers, Chief Gani came in on foot through the back door! (road 7) I will never forget that day, we have lost hope that he would show up on campus, and all of a sudden he emerged from nowhere! The ecstatic crowd went wild. The sports centre venue of the event witnessed a mammoth crowd that has never been seen before in the history of the university, and everything went very smoothly without any incident.

Since then, I have been close to Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the indefatigueable leader of our generation. We have lost many leaders of Gani’s stock in Nigeria to corruption and induction by the unscrupulous leaders; Gani stood and still stand out, the uncorrupted, the incorruptible and the unblemished fighter of our time, the true leader and vanguard of down trodden masses. He continues to fight for both living and the dead, he is still fighting to unravel Dele Giwa’s killer. I was also there when he launched the National Conscience Party of Nigeria, even during the much dreaded regime of Abacha, the high handedness of the Abacha junta did not scare him, he endured brutal repression in the hand of military cabals, he risked his life to save the lives of others, we went around Lagos together to collect signatures calling for the release of late Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni seven all of whom Abacha murdered in cold blood!, now our Dear Gani is fighting the fight of his life. I pray that, just like he had triumphed over his many adversaries, both military and civilians alike, he would likewise have the last laugh against and over the ever dreaded cancer of the lungs.

I join my faith with that of millions of Nigerians to wish him well and to pray that our God who is able to do anything, even more than our expectations will in His infinite mercies bring Chief Gani Fawehimi back from the brink of death and out of this mysterious ailment.

By the same token, I also pitch my tent with that of many Nigerians who are calling the federal government to investigate and make public its findings concerning Gani’s ailment and it’s misdiagnosis by many Nigerian doctors. Gani’s predicament is directly related to the high level corruption and share robbery going on in the country. That is why the hospitals cannot be equipped, that is why the doctors lack the modern equipment to make accurate medical diagnosis, that is why professionals are living the country in droves, that is why our schools are sub-standard, that is why the country is a shadow if herself and that is why Chief Gani Fawehinmi becomes a high profile victim of the incorrigible government we have in the country.

Our corrupt leaders are the deadlier cancer of the skin that we all have to fight to a standstill. They have the ill-gotten money that they have stolen and stacked away in their off-shore accounts; they also have unrestricted access to the nation’s vault to take care of themselves in Germany and other European countries and cannot be bothered by the plight of many ordinary Nigerians.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi, continue with the battle for your life, God and the good people of Nigeria are with you in this your traverse, you would never be forsaken.
Have a speedy and marvelous recovery!

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