Ah Gani! Nnukwu Ife Melu Nigeria – Joe Igbokwe

Nnukwu Ife Melu Nigeria! Ah! Nnukwu Ife Melu Nigeria
(Tragedy has struck Nigeria). Nigeria has suffered a terrible and devastating setback with the exit of Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

I am a living witness to Gani’s many battles, his many struggles, his many wars, his many interventions, his many engagements, his many victories. I saw it all and a I know that Gani was a bulldozer, a moving machine, a giant, a massive moving train, an icon, a huge power house, an armada, an extraordinary mortal with an infinite capacity for details, and a hurricane for that matter.

When King Hezekiah was told that his days are numbered on earth and that he should be prepared to die, Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: "Remember, Lord that I have served you faithfully and loyally and that l have always tried to do what you wanted me to do". The Bible says Hezekiah began to cry bitterly. God gave him additional 15 years to live. I am sure when Gani was diagnosed of lung cancer; he would have asked Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate, the most gracious, to grant him more years to conclude his fight with Nigeria’s hopeless and clueless leaders.

Gani did not pray alone, millions of Nigerians, the masses, his associates, his massive followers including this writer prayed that he survives this scourge. We prayed hard because the struggle to free Nigeria from ruthless and useless leaders remains an unfinished business. We prayed without season for Gani to survive because he has become the scourge of dictators and political predators in Nigeria. We sought God’s face because Nigeria without Gani is like Paris without Eiffel Tower. We prayed for Gani to survive because no Nigerian living or dead can match Gani in action and deeds when it comes to the issue of defending ordinary Nigerians.

We prayed for Gani to survive so that the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) will continue to do what he knows best - talking law, acting law, speaking law, singing law, dreaming law and preaching law. But God has a reason to allow Gani to go to rest. We cannot question God’s decision. Chief Gani Fawehinmi was the finest soul that walked the political landscape called Nigeria. He was the most detailed Nigerian ever lived. Gani did not go to his many battles unprepared. His capacity to record events with precision and accuracy will ever remain a case study for students in higher institutions.

When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo became president in 1999, he preferred to travel abroad at the drop of a hat because he thought he can rule Nigeria from abroad until Gani reminded him the number of times he had travelled outside with dates and number of days spent. I remember one Gani’s article titled: ‘Here He goes again’, referring to Obasanjo and his unquenchable appetite for foreign trips in the face of sufferings in the land.
Gani was one of the greatest speakers Nigeria has ever produced. I remember one particular incident in a court in Lagos where Gani held everybody, including Chief Rotimi Williams, spellbound, tearing and bringing down the roof with beautiful semantics, establishing himself as a man of subtlety and with the gift of the garb. I remember Chief Rotimi Williams asked the judge to tell Gani that they are in a law court and not a political soap box.

Gani remained the greatest defender of the down-trodden and the helper of the helpless and no person in Nigeria living or dead could match his eloquent deeds to the people of Nigeria. For nearly 30 years, no Nigerian living or dead could overtake Gani as the conscience of Nigeria. No Nigerian could surpass Chief Gani Fawehinmi in the struggle for equity and fair play, rule of law, and social justice. Chief Gani was the most detribalised Nigerian ever lived. He fought for the North, he fought for the South, he fought for the East and he fought for the West. Gani travelled to Enugu, Kaduna, Zaria, Port-Harcourt, Jos, Sokoto, Markurdi, Kafanchan, Kano, Abakaliki, Aba, Umuahia, Benin e.t.c. to defend Nigerians irrespective of whom you are.

When the late General Sani Abacha established the Provisional Ruling Party (PRC) and the Igbo was not represented, Gani went to Court. Hear Gani: "The Igbo by their contribution to the economic development of this country are otherwise called the Jews of Nigeria. They are very hard working, very industrious, very innovative and very articulate people. The economic development of this country owes much to their contribution. I don’t like the way they have been treated since 1970. They still bear the scars of the Biafran crisis and they are still being treated as if the civil war is still nascent, which is wrong? They have been kept out of the security forces of this country at the strategic levels, the law enforcement of this country at the most strategic levels, they are ignored, despised by the cabal. Even in the civil service. I don’t know how many permanent secretaries are Igbo. I don’t know how many senior police officers are Igbo, and same goes for the Navy, Air force and the Army. They are one of the largest groups in this country. In fact it is a nation within a nation. The major manpower pull of this country is being supplied by the Igbo. I was so angry when Abacha came to establish the provisional Ruling Party (PRC) and the Igbo were not represented, I went to court to fight the cause of the Igbo. It was after my suit in court, challenging Abacha and asking that the PRC composition be set aside by the court until Igbo were given their rightful place that Abacha then reversed the composition of PRC and appointed some Igbo…."

Chief Gani Fawehinmi was the most detained Nigerian since the inception of Nigeria and had been detained in Nigeria’s worst prisons. When Gani believes in a cause only Allah will stop him because he will throw in everything-time, money, energy, strength e.t.c. Gani was the tallest and the biggest Iroko in the land and when the Iroko fell down, the birds, big and small, have nowhere to perch.

I remember few years back when Gani complained that Nigerian politicians have failed all of us. What I did was to pick my pen and write to Gani that all of us will continue to suffer the rules of idiots if we do not go into politics. If you want to change the world there is no alternative to politics. I remember I told Gani that if he fails to enter into politics he may not realize the Nigeria of his dream. I told him that evil triumph in every society when good men do nothing.

Perhaps, that was what compelled Chief Gani Fawehinmi to go into politics. He founded the National Conscience Party (NCP). Gani did not disappoint anybody but the ruiners and destroyers of Nigeria stood on his way.
At 71, Chief Gani Fawehinmi traversed a thousand mountains and hills, drilled the deepest well, squeezed water out of stones, took the greatest risks of his life, fought the most dangerous and wicked Nigerians and yet he promised to fight on even from his grave. I wish him well because Gani lives on.. Gani was a historical necessity who travelled the road less travelled. At the lying- in- state ceremony in his country home in Ikeja the lion was still. I cried Gani! Gani!! Gani!!! Gani!!!! And there was no response. The roaring lion was silent and at once the meaning of life dawned on me once again.

The duty we all owe Gani is to ensure that the court jesters, the charlatans, the predators, the scavengers, the palace clowns do not succeed in Nigeria. The unfinished business must be finished and Nigeria restored to the path of sanity, honour, growth, and integrity. The gardener asked: Who plucked the flower? The owner said I did. And the gardener held his peace! Gani lives on!!
SOURCE: THE NATION