A tribute to chief Gani Fawehinmi By Bayo Oluwasanmi

It’s been three years that
Gani Fawehinmi was
snatched from us. His
departure literally put on
hold the political and social
activisms in Nigeria. Gani was
immersed as it were in the
battle for the soul of Nigeria.
With his last breath, he
fought the ancient evils that
were foisted on us by the
ruling gangsters.
In the face of unrivalled
excesses and brutalities of
deranged military dictators
and civilian oppressors, Gani
remained constant,
consistent, and courageous in
his criticisms of a ruling class
run amok.
With the Old Testament
righteousness, he fought the
creators of wicked schemes
to total surrender. Gani was
a potent combination of
character and strategy.
Knowing the fragility and
brevity of life, Gani worked
round the clock believing in
Jackie Robinson’s philosophy
that “a life is not important
except in the impact it has on
others.” Gani made an
impact on us the way atomic
bomb does: He imploded
before he exploded!
Gani used the law as a
natural weapon of mass
defense (WMD) to right
wrongs, to bring immediate
joy and relief to the
aggrieved, to rekindle stale
dreams of the hopeless and
the voiceless, and most
importantly; as messages of
good cheer to all oppressed
peoples in the world.
His mind was never at rest,
and his pen is connected to
his mind by the best
conductive narrative magnet
I’ve ever seen. Gani seemed
to be saying “some men see
things as they are and ask
“why?” but he “dreams things
that never were and ask “why
not?”
With his persistent unyielding
prosecutorial skill, our
fledging democracy has been
made stronger and stringent.
Gani’s wildness and subtlety
of thinking and the intensity
of his interest in others and
his sympathy for the
dilemma of the oppressed
make him public defender
extraordinary.
He was both a practitioner
and defender of the law. He
practiced law the way a
surgeon operates: because it
is a livelihood, because he
has a great urge to do it,
because many interesting
challenges are set up, and
because he believes it may
do some good.
As a gutsy fighter, Gani
believed and appropriately I
might add that the law is a
shield as well as a sword. He
developed a reputation for
ruthlessness with enemies of
the poor and fierce defense
of both constitutional rights
and civil liberties.
Thoughtful and tough,
passionate and strategic,
outgoing and introspective,
Gani was always worried and
troubled about the
defenseless, the forgotten,
the unemployed, the
downtrodden, and the
marginalized. He was always
willing to wade in where and
whenever justice is on trial.
If Gani erred, he did so on
the side of generosity. He
was a giver, not a taker. He
served others to help them
grow and thrive. He solved
problems that could prevent
others from reaching their
potential. He saved causes
that benefit mankind.
Gani’s incredible capacity for
generosity, kindness, and
philanthropy is rooted in the
indelible words of John
Wesley: “Do all the good you
can, by all means you can, in
all the ways you can, in all
the places you can, at all
times you can, to all the
people you can, as long as
you ever can.”
Confident, bold, and
undeterred, Gani’s verbal wit
and prosecutorial assault
anointed him the progressive
of the progressives.
Fighting injustice, inequality,
oppression, and
discrimination; Gani’s
signature is all over the
place. In all the battles,
Gani’s operative premise is
solidly rested on Oliver
Goldsmith’s words that “you
can preach better sermon
with your life than with your
lips.”
Gani, to paraphrase the
Middle Eastern saying, when
you were born you cried, we
rejoiced. You lived your life in
way that when you left us we
cried, and you rejoiced.

Goodnight!

#CONSENSUS 2015