Gani
Fawehinmi
Early life
Fawehinmi,
popularly called Gani, was born on 22 April 1938, the son of Saheed and Munirat
Fawehinmi of Ondo, in Ondo State.
His
father, Chief Saheed Tugbobo Fawehinmi, the Seriki Musulumi of Ondo, was a
successful timber trader, philanthropist, civic activist and muslim chieftain of the Yoruba people. He was reported to be a follower of Ajao,
who brought Islam to Ondo Town, South Western Nigeria. Chief Saheed Tugbobo Fawehinmi died on 5
February 1963 at the age of 89 years.
Gani's
grandfather was the late Chief Lisa Alujanu Fawehinmi of Ondo, who engaged in
several successful battles for and on behalf of the Ondo people in the
nineteenth century. Hence, the appellation the 'Alujanun', which means spirit.
He died at the age of 92.
Gani
had his early education at Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Iyemaja – Ondo from
1947 to 1953 and his secondary school education at Victory College Ikare, a
Christian School from 1954 to 1958, under the leadership of the Late Rev.
Akinrele where he sat for and passed his West African School Certificate
Examination in 1958. While in college, he was popularly known as
"Nation" because of his passionate interest in national, legal and
political affairs. He was an avid reader of Daily Times and West African Pilot, the most popular
newspapers in Nigeria at that time. He then worked briefly as a law clerk in
the High Court of Lagos until 1961. Gani enrolled at the Holborn College of Law- University of London to read law in 1961. While
at University, his father died. He completed his academic degree in London with a measure of difficulty due
to lack of funds. This involved doing various menial jobs in London,
while in London, he was acquainted with books of revolutionary or radical
figures such as Fidel Castro, Winston Churchill, David Ben-Gurion, Ghandhi, Mao
Tse Tsung and Karl Marx. He returned to Nigeria in 1964 and was called to the
bar the following year. He then worked briefly at the law firm of his brother,
Saheed Fawehinmi before branching out on his own.
Law career
Fawehinmi
gained prominence when he took on the case of a factory worker, Bala Abashe who
alleged that the Secretary to the government of Benue-Plateau State, Andrew Obeya had an
affair with his wife. Abashe then sued Obeya for assault and damages for
adultery. Fawehinmi took on the case as a pro bono lawyer for Abashe while the
state government stood behind their official. Efforts were made for Fawehinmi
to drop the case, when that failed, Obeya was forced to resign. However,
Fawehinmi was detained for nine months. The publicity of the case improved the
exposure of his law practice.[1]
From
1971 to 1973, he was the national publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar
Association.
However, in 1981, Fawehinmi was queried by a disciplinary committee and told to
explain himself within fourteen days why he was touting himself through
advertisements in a weekly publication contrary to the ethics of the bar. In
the case, Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) v. Chief Gani
Fawehinmi (1985) the Supreme Court upheld the Appeal Court judgement rendering
the LPDC’s proceedings against Chief Fawehinmi ineffective on the basis that
the constitution of the LPDC with the Attorney-General as Chairman made him
accuser, prosecutor and judge at the same time which breached the principles of
natural justice and therefore Chief Fawehinmi’s right to fair hearing. The
judgement led to an amendment of the Legal Practitioners’ Act 1975.[2] Fawehinmi later ran afoul of an NBA
directive. In 1984, when the new Buhari administration enacted the Recovery of Pulic Property
decree, the NBA under the presidency of Bola Ajibola directed its members not to represent any of
client in a military tribunal. Fawehinmi flouted the directive because he
believed the accused should be made to disgorge any money stolen as a result
his name was placed in NBA's dishonour roll.
On
11 June 1993 Fawehinmi was awarded the biennial Bruno Kreisky Prize. This prize, named in
honour of Bruno Kreisky, is awarded to
international figures who advance human rights causes. In 1998, he received the International
Bar Association's
'Bernard Simmons Award' in recognition of his human-rights and pro-democracy
work. In 1994 he and some other notable Nigerians formed the National
Conscience Party of Nigeria which exists till today and he stood for a
presidential election in 2003 under the umbrella of the National Conscience
Party.
Gani
Fawehinmi was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate
of Nigeria (SAN),
the highest legal title in Nigeria, in September 2001.
Critic of Military dictatorship and
Corruption
With
his boundless energy he tenaciously and uncompromisingly pursued and crusaded
his beliefs, principles and ideals for the untrammelled rule of law, undiluted
democracy, all embracing and expansive social justice, protection of fundamental human rights and
respect for the hopes and aspirations of the masses who are victims of
misgovernment of the affairs of the Nation.
Dele Giwa
In
1986, while Chief Gani Fawehinmi was Dele Giwa's Lawyer, the latter was killed in a bomb
blast under suspicious circumstances.
As
a result of his activities chief Gani Fawehinmi had been arrested, detained and
charged to court several times. His international passport was seized on many
occasions and his residence and Chambers were searched several times. He was
beaten up time after time and was deported from one part of the country to
another to prevent him from being able to effectively reach out to the masses
among whom he was popular. His books were confiscated by the Federal Military Government and
his library at Surulere, a suburb of Lagos, were set ablaze. His law
Chambers at Anthony Village, Lagos State, were invaded by persons suspected to be
agents of the government. The guards were shot, two of them seriously wounded.
In
the process of his crusades for the rule of law, the hopes and aspirations of
the poor and the oppressed, he fought many battles against military
dictatorship as a result of which he had been arrested several times by the
military governments and their numerous security agents. He was dumped in many police
cells and detained in several prisons between 1969 and 1996.
His
supporters have called him "the scourge of irresponsible governments, a
sphygmomanometer with which the blood pressure of dictators is gauged, the
veritable conscience of the nation and the champion of the interests and causes
of the masses". Many Nigerians also took to calling him the people's
president.[3]
Death
Gani,
as he was fondly called, died in the early hours of 5 September 2009 after a
prolonged battle with lung cancer. He was 71 years old. Later he was buried on
15 September 2009 in his home town of Ondo, Nigeria. Gani Fawehinmi died as a
disappointed man, because of the state of his country at the time of his death,
he refused the highest honour accorded him by his country on his death bed.[4]
Rejection of National Award
In
2008 Mr Gani Fawehinmi rejected one of the highest national honours that can be
bestowed on a citizen by the Nigerian government – Order
of the Federal Republic (OFR) – in protest of the many years of misrule
since Nigeria's independence.[5]
References
· · Agbamuche-Mbu, May. "Legal Practitioners Act and the Disciplining of
Lawyers".
Thisday. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
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