o single individual has personified the Nigerian story as Gani Fawehinmi has done. His personal travails have mirrored the nation's struggles. He has suffered more arrests, more depredations and threats to life, than any other Nigerian. His activism went beyond mere rhetoric and his greatest acts of courage occurred, not in the glare of cameras or in public squares packed with adoring spectators, but in the solemn chambers of courtrooms across the land, in the deprived settings of Nigeria's cruel prisons, and in the small unheralded ceremonies where he liberally dispensed his wealth to indigent Nigerians. No cause was too small for this giant to lend his voice to, and none was too great or too daunting for him to tackle. He could be in the courts one day fighting in the behalf of students who were barely past their pubescent years, and in the next day advocating for justice in cases as celebrated and as controversial as that of Dele Giwa or Ken Saro Wiwa. There were very many sides to the man. In addition to his distinguished work as a public advocate, he published the most authoritative law report in Nigeria, and ran one of the most respected law chambers in the country.
For those of us who were part of the students' movement, our daring was in part due to our idealism and faith in the ultimate triumph of the Nigerian nation and its peoples as well as our conviction that our cause would be vindicated by history. But perhaps the most important factor that emboldened us, was our confidence that even when arrested, even when set up by the government and its agencies, even when rusticated and expelled from school for our revolutionary actions and positions - we would eventually prevail, because there would at least be one voice that would be raised in our defense. We knew that if all other voices fell silent, we would still have in our corner, the consistent, unquenchable and indefatigable voice of our greatest advocate - the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) - Gani Fawehinmi. And in his voice, shrill as it was, we heard the voice of a hundred million fellow citizens, urging us on, cheering us on, and encouraging us to remain steadfast as we towed the path of struggle.
What many people might not know was that Gani was as much a thorn in the side of the progressives as he was to dictators and tyrants. I recall that as a young student activist, I would always hear older activists complain about what they called "Gani's problem." By this, they were referring to his refusal to join any of the popular platforms of struggle like the CLO, CD or CDHR. Gani was a one man riot squad. He was not one to tow the popular position, or to blindly fall in line behind positions that were being pushed, even if they were labeled progressive. It was the unyielding consistency of his convictions and his absolute belief in transparency and justice that made him take then Governor Bola Tinubu to court for perjury - even when other progressives had fallen into complicit silence on the issue. The same progressive community that had pilloried and harassed Salisu Buhari for having false credentials, were now strangely silent when the focus was now on one of theirs - Bola Tinubu. To Gani, a lie was a lie - regardless of whether it was a progressive, a reactionary, a tyrant, an oligarch, a military dictator, or a tribal jingoist who told it. In what must have been one of the most painful experiences of his life, a hired mob assaulted him at the premises of the Lagos High Court, where he was pursuing the case to compel the Inspector General of Police to investigate Bola Tinubu for forgery.
If Gani had an ideology - then one can describe its defining essence as a total adherence to the rule of law. For him, the law was the ultimate weapon for achieving social justice, and the courts were the battle grounds in which the struggle was waged. He believed passionately that in order for Nigeria to become a just and humane society, the law was the only way to ensure that social justice was assured for all citizens. He fought the system through the existing laws - constrained as they were. But he was no naive legal purist. He understood clearly that in order to change society, activists must not only work through the courts, but also strive to get engaged in the process of creating laws.
Unlike others who have turned criticism into a vocation - Gani demonstrated over and over again that he was no mere critic. He did not only rail against visionless government, he also consistently offered himself up as an alternative. Through his political activities on the platform of the National Conscience Party, he sought, albeit unsuccessfully, to get engaged in the process of governance. He was a presidential candidate in both the 1999 and 2003 elections. Gani was no fool. He clearly understood that the odds were stacked in the favor of the plunderers of the common weal. He was aware that elections were likely to be rigged, but he never allowed those excuses to stand in the way of active engagement. Despite the electoral losses that he suffered, Gani never for once vacillated in his belief that the only way that our nation would move forward was for men of principles and ideas to fight for their vision of Nigeria through the courts and through the electoral process. Daunting as the task was, Gani soldiered on.
In addition to his extreme sense of civic duty - Gani was also a remarkable social citizen. His philanthropy was unrivalled in its breadth and consistency. For close to three decades, Gani provided scholarships to indigent students. Although he would fight in the courts of law and public opinion for a more equitable nation, he also understood that there are some things that responsible citizens need not wait for the government to do. He deployed his wealth to making life better for the common man.
Gani was an agent of transformative change. He believed in the power of individuals to change their society. He was convinced that by engaging the system, we could shape the nation. He understood that sometimes, change is cataclysmic, occurring swiftly and emphatically. At other times, it is slow, like the gradual etching of landscapes by the wind. He was convinced that Nigeria was worth dying for, and for the last 40 years, he placed his life on the line daily, fighting for the emergence of a nation that its citizens could be proud of. While Nigeria is far from where it should be, in some regards it is a better nation today, because of the selfless and tireless efforts of Gani Fawehinmi.
Although Gani was a persistent and relentless critic of government and its agencies, he also gave credit where it was due. He was one of the first people to openly commend the work that Ribadu was doing at the EFCC, even while condemning some of the excesses of the commission. Gani was ever the consummate nationalist. Not once did he express doubts about the viability of the Nigerian state. He was painfully aware of the imperfections of the Nigerian nation and was loud in calling attention to the inequities that characterize the Nigerian polity.
We will miss Gani, but like all truly great men before him, he has succeeded in inspiring and grooming a new generation of activists and lawyers, who will take up the struggle from where he left off. The roll call of Nigeria's most prominent civil and human rights advocates or progressive activists & politicians is comprised of people who were themselves either the direct beneficiaries of Gani's legal advocacy in the courts, lawyers who were mentored by him, or persons who were inspired into progressive activism by Gani's example of selfless and dogged commitment to the cause of Nigeria and its people.
The only way that we can be worthy of the cause for which he fought is to lift the banner that he held and to keep it forever aloft. Gani will live on, if we lend our voices, our hearts, our health and our convictions to the pursuit of justice for all, and for the struggle to create a better nation. Gani was not just a great advocate of the causes of the common man; he was a great leader and the truest of patriots. The Gani family has lost a father and a husband. The Nigerian nation has lost its truest and strongest voice.
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