5th September, 2012
Three years after his demise, Nigerians today remembered human rights activist and foremost lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, saying if he had been around, the rot in the Nigerian system will have been abated.
Activists and his friends lamented that nobody had been able to step into the shoes of Fawehinmi at this critical period in the nation’s history.
Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, National President, Campaign For Democracy, lamented that three years after Fawehinmi’s death, there is still an eternal void in the democratic struggle.
“It has been three years that Nigeria lost its most priceless and principled defender of human rights and democratic values -Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi.
“The Campaign for Democracy remembers with fond memories this illustrious son of Nigeria who put everything he had on the line to defend fundamental liberties to the chagrin of irresponsible rulers.
His stubborn defence of principles and intolerance of opportunism brought him a lot of afflictions from the troublers of Nigeria but he was not deterred in pursuing all that was noble.
His many scars were the testimony of the saying that the tree of freedom is watered by the blood of martyrs,” said Okei-Odumakin.
“Although Gani died without realising the Nigeria of his dream, there is no gain saying the fact that things could have been worse without his fights.
“The greatest tribute that can be paid his memory is for many more Nigerians to rise in his shade to fill the void his departure has left in the struggle for a better Nigeria. Your life remains a lesson that a good name earned doing what is right has more value than all the oil wells in the Niger Delta,” she added.
According to activist, Bamidele Aturu, Fawehinmi lives on in the mind of those who believes in democracy and social justice.
“He was a leading light. We remember and will continue to remember him,” he stated.
Another activist, Comrade Debo Adeniran said Fawehinmi could never be forgotten in the history of the nation, saying that he would forever remain in the minds of Nigerians because of his stance against anti-people policies.
“The place of Gani is irreplaceable. Nobody has been seen to stand in his shoes,” he said, while eulogising the late legal luminary.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga