Uzokwe's Searchlight

When the news of the lung cancer diagnosis of Nigeria's foremost civil rights activist broke about a year ago, it was clear that the situation was grim. Lung cancer ... was deadly. Gani's situation was even exacerbated by the fact that it was not caught early. I recall that the late Chief Fawehinmi lamented the fact that he had been having certain symptoms but every time he went to the hospital, in Nigeria, they either told him it was pneumonia or just cold.

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Sunday, September 13, 2009



Alfred Obiora Uzokwe

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GANI FAWEHINMI: ONLY IF THEY LISTENED


hen the news of the lung cancer diagnosis of Nigeria's foremost civil rights activist broke about a year ago, it was clear that the situation was grim. Lung cancer, which was the same disease that ended the life of the famed news anchor in the United States- Peter Jennings, was deadly. Gani's situation was even exacerbated by the fact that it was not caught early. I recall that the late Chief Fawehinmi lamented the fact that he had been having certain symptoms but every time he went to the hospital in Nigeria, they either told him it was pneumonia or just cold. It took going to London for Gani's condition to finally be diagnosed. It was then too late.


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Inspite of the grim diagnosis at the time, this writer, like many other Nigerians, had hoped that by some miracle, the life of the man some call Nigeria's conscience, a man who had given so much to the nation un-coerced and selflessly, would be spared. It was the hope of many that he would live longer to complete the crusade he had started or at least motivate enough Nigerians to step into his large shoes and continue where he stopped. It was therefore a shock when news finally came that Gani Fawehinmi had succumbed to the aggressive ailment. I took sometime to ponder the situation, wondering what would become of a nation that had become adrift since the ascension of Umar Yaradua to office. I wondered what would happen now that Nigeria's lone voice in the wilderness had been silenced for ever. Things had fallen apart and the center had become wobbly.

As encomiums poured in for Gani from Nigerians across all political and social spectrum , I was struck by some of the people that had the temerity to show their faces in the public talking about the man, albeit in praise. These were the same people that figuratively cried for his head on a platter for years because of his belief and utterances. Rather than go bury their heads in shame for failing to listen to this man when they should have, rather than tuck their selfish heads in sand like ostriches for persecuting this man and failing to heed his admonitions, they had the temerity to hypocritically rush to the man's house or release messages extolling him to high heavens. Even though a Latin phrase says that one should not speak ill of the dead, I was not prepared for the level of hypocrisy that some of these Nigerians have exhibited since the announcement of Gani's passing. Some were tripping over themselves to visit his house while the newspapers were crowded with sycophantic elegies for the man they hated his guts in life. Chief Fawehinmi called a spade a spade. He called out errant politicians and military goons that hijacked Nigerian government, her resources and her people for their personal gains. He never blinked in the face of threats of arrests from these political and military harlots that merely wanted Nigeria's resources in their pockets. For these, they abhorred him. How then could they have thought that Nigeria had forgotten, so fast, the roles they played and suddenly start seeing them as democracy-loving, Gani-agreeing people?

In 1986, during the corrupt reign of Retired General Ibrahim Babangida, Dele Giwa, the prominent and vocal Newswatch magazine editor was brutally murdered in his home via a letter bomb. Because it was basically the first incident of its kind in the nation, Nigeria was thrown into confusion. Citizens panicked and withdrew into their shells; no one knew who would be the next victim. Many were afraid to speak their minds because General Ibrahim Babangida's regime was furtively muscling freedom of speech for fear of having the activities of his corrupt and indolent regime exposed. Nigerians felt that the regime in power had the motive and means to have perpetrated the dastardly act, after all, Dele Giwa pulled no punches in bringing to fore their shenanigans. They therefore wanted the regime to be held accountable. Inspite of their beliefs, though, Nigerians did not have enough nerve to speak up against the government of the day. They spoke in hushed tones in beer parlors, homes and other "safe" hideouts. Instead of joining the masses in their timid stance, Gani Fawehinmi damned all consequences and reacted. Not only did he react but he also took up the dangerous responsibility of representing Newswatch magazine as their attorney. He spoke openly about the case, pointed accusing fingers where they belonged and never shied away from stating his position about the case. Even though the murderers of Dele Giwa went scot free, because of Gani Fawehinmi's outspokenness, several other Nigerians became emboldened to talk about the case. Because of all that, some of the military men that had some explaining to do about the whole saga have become outcasts in Nigeria's political landscape. Inspite of their influence and money, inspite of their mansions that dot the landscape, inspite of their private jets, inspite of their drop-of-the-hat trips to France and Monaco, they may never hold any political offices in the nation again. Every time they tried, Nigerians point to the Dele Giwa saga and they turn tail and run, thanks partially to Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

I was surprised when I read Babangida's reaction to Gani Fawehinmi's death. Considering that he was one of the military men that persecuted and never listened to Gani, I expected Babangida to be bold and forthright enough to say, "I hated this man's guts when he was alive". Did he do that? Of course not. In his usual maradonic style, he sidestepped his true feelings and said that Gani kept all governments in power on their toes. Wonders shall never fail! It is possible that if Sani Abacha were alive, he would be wailing and mourning the passing of Fawehinmi too. I have even read statements by those men who would have liked to see this great man silenced before now, talking about immortalizing him. Their hypocrisy is dizzying! They would do or say whatever is politically expedient at this time of national mourning. It shows that inspite of this man's many incarcerations and manhandling by the governments in power, they knew deep down that he was fighting a just cause, they knew he was doing the right thing. They knew that he was not just a radical wing nut ready to say no to every thing but had legitimate reasons why he opposed them. The question that then begs for answer is why they failed to heed his admonitions.

Gani Fawehinmi may be gone but he gave Nigeria his best. For that, he was arrested several times and incarcerated more than 30 times. Between 1994 and today, he was placed in jails under deplorable conditions as much as 5 times even though he never committed any crime. He complained many times about the conditions of the jails he was placed in, the food, the air, the environment and the likes but because of their sadistic tendencies towards him, the government paid no heed. As I write, some Nigerians have begun to ask for investigation into how the lung cancer that eventually led to his death started. They attribute it to the environmental condition he faced in some of the jails, inhaling polluted air. Even though this is a difficult case to prove because of its circumstantial nature, it is worth pursuing. If not for anything, it may in future discourage Nigerian lords masquerading as leaders to stop mistreating innocent people.

One of the questions to ask, as Nigerians bid final farewell to Chief Gani Fawehinmi, is how much effect his crusade may have had on Nigeria. .From this writer's perspective, the biggest effect it had was keeping governments in power on their toes. However, the leaders were not deterred from corruption and selfishness because their nefarious activities have continued to move the nation backwards. Clearly, the "leaders" did not listen to Chief Fawehinmi.

For many years and in many instances, Gani Fawehinmi called for universal but qualitative education for all Nigerians. He reasoned that universal and qualitative education would pull the nation out of economic doldrums and poverty. It was his considered opinion that the masses would be empowered and the issue of social stratification along educational and economic lines would be blurred enough to create a virile nation. The powers that be ignored his noble call, neglected our schools but instead diverted Nigeria's funds into their private accounts overseas. Today, Nigeria has a collapsed educational system. We now have university science graduates without any practical or laboratory experience in their fields of study because of the absence of equipped and modern laboratories. When you engage the young men and women in discussions related to their fields of study, the chasm that the lack of laboratory experience has created shows. You run into graduate engineers in civil engineering that never saw the four walls of laboratories to test soil, concrete, asphalt, steel to understand the basic characteristics of the materials they would need to work with for life. You meet some of the medical graduates and get surprised at their method of disease diagnosis. They regurgitate textbook materials that had been used more than 30 years ago but when the discussion comes back to advancement in medical technology and the emergence of new diseases like AIDS and the likes, they lack. Not because they are not intelligent men and women, but because they were put through university institutions that did not have modern equipment to teach them what they needed to know to face a modern and ever changing world. It is unconscionable that Nigeria's leaders from the time after Gowon to this day slowly bastardized education. As I think of how backward our educational system has become, with some affluent Nigerians sending their children to Ghana, South Africa and other nations for good education, I cannot help but wonder what would have been had Nigerian leaders listened to and heeded the admonitions of Gani. They would have spent a big chunk of Nigeria's oil money on updating and rebuilding schools, from elementary to tertiary, providing modern laboratories that would keep students in tune with modern advancement in all works of life. If only they listened to him, our teachers would not be owed months of salary arrears. How can a teacher that is owed for months put forth his or her best?

Gani Fawehinmi called for poverty alleviation and jobs for all. In their greedy attempts to enrich themselves, the leaders ignored him. Now we have a country full of people that cannot feed themselves. Many university graduates roam the streets in search of non-existent jobs. I personally know a series of young men and women with university degrees that have been looking for employment for years but cannot find it. They have done their part by staying in school and acquiring university education but there are no jobs to go to. When a 29-year old university graduate has no job and still has to depend on his or her parents for financial support, it should be anathema and Gani pointed that out all the way but no one listened.

The effect of joblessness can be felt all over the nation today. Nigeria is now a nation gripped in fear. People are afraid to go to the banks to withdraw their hard-earned money because of the possibility of being waylaid and dispossessed of the money or even killed. Bank robbery is so rampant now that banks in some parts of the nation have shut down their services for weeks. Prominent people and their relatives are afraid to freely move about in the nation for fear of being kidnapped for ransom. In Anambra state, a prominent actor was recently kidnapped but later released. When he regained his freedom, he said that his captors were all well educated and spoke good English but complained that the reason why they were in the illicit business was because of joblessness. While nothing justifies armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom, if the government had listened to Gani Fawehinmi and provided good and sustainable jobs for our teeming masses, may be, just may be Nigeria would have been a better nation today with respect to security. The amount of money used by Babangida to build his hill top mansion in Minna, the amount Obasanjo used to build his hill top mansion in Otta, the money that our Governors have stolen and siphoned off to overseas accounts, would have been enough to provide jobs for many Nigerians and help stem the tide of crime.

Gani Fawehinmi fought fiercely for transparency in government. He noticed, just like most well-meaning Nigerians, that corruption had permeated all facets of the government. He called for the ouster of corrupt public officials and decried the activities of military men who seized power to line their pockets. Again, he was persecuted for his opinions and activism and jailed. They did not listen to him. Even Nigerians, the masses he was trying to help, did not provide enough support by way of vocally stating that enough was enough. Today, we see the consequences of corruption in official places. Government treasury has been looted to the tune of billions by individuals. We have billionaires that never worked for one day except get involved in politics. The money they stole could have been used to make Nigeria a better country. There are many projects that are not moving forward for want of funds or so they say. We have some of the worst roads that is not only causing the premature death of citizens but slowing down commerce. In the rainy season, such as now, it is difficult to go from one point to the other in a nation where oil flows like water. Electricity supply is just about 10% of the demand. The result is that industries do not thrive. If they listened to the man who was light years ahead of the so called leaders of Nigeria, the situation would have been different.

Chief Fawehinmi campaigned against constant military intervention, a cyclical gimmick that the khaki boys used to take turns to enrich themselves. They did not quite listen but in the end, he and other patriots prevailed. The only problem is that it is almost late now. The army boys succeeded in looting Nigeria into poverty. In the time of Gowon, Nigeria was a rich nation with the wherewithal to be a great nation. That opportunity was lost because of continued intervention of the military through coups and counter coups with just one thing in mind- to loot Nigeria's treasury. That has thrown Nigeria, a nation with oil riches, into one of the poorest with a population it cannot sustain.

Gani campaigned for individual rights and liberties. He deplored the idea of harassment of citizens for unsubstantiated reasons. He spoke in favor of freedom of speech and association. Again, at several points, he was persecuted for his beliefs and outspokenness. Today, even the president that seems benign in his look, has at some point or the other, given his tacit approval to muscling opposition. A United-States based blogger was seized at the point of entry to Nigeria and detained against his will all because of his writings. Truthful journalists are still harassed albeit furtively. It makes Nigeria a perpetual third world country and hampers development.

Finally, when all failed, Gani tried his hands in politics. He founded the National Conscience Party in 2003, hoping to engender change from within. Nigerians were too timid to flock to him to lead them. In a nation where money was the main qualification that put politicians in power, he was sidelined because he could not match the onslaught of other politicians feeding fat on Nigeria's treasury. The opportunity that Nigerians would have had to see him in action was lost. In the end, the people he was fighting for failed to rally around him to help make a difference. We are still suffering the consequences. We had a tyrannical leader in the name of Obasanjo, who failed in most of what he said he was going to do. Although he tried to rein in corruption, but because he only went after his enemies, his cause was lost. As if he had not done Nigeria enough bad, he hand-picked the most inept and slow-moving man ever to rule a nation and handed Nigeria's presidency to. We are suffering the consequences

Only if they listened to Gani, Nigeria would have been a land of milk and honey with provision for all and sundry. Only if they listened to the civil rights crusader, the image of Nigeria as one of the most corrupt on the face of the earth would not have been. Only if they listened.

Inspite of all these, Gani's legacy will endure. May his soul rest in peace and may God help us all.

HERE I STAND