FAWEHINMI GETS HERO’S FINAL FAREWELL IN ONDO

Yar’Adua, governors, lawyers pay tributes
Banners and billboards proclaiming the people’s affection for him. Excited youths singing, drumming and dancing. Some residents hawking souvenirs bearing his portrait. An army of security officials at alert.
Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi’s entry – his last – into Ondo State yesterday was glorious.
Akure, the Ondo State capital, stood still for several hours as the government and people of the "Sunshine State" paid their last respects to the late legal luminary and human rights activist.
Fawehinmi died on September 5 in Lagos.
It was a rain of tributes at the Akure Sports Stadium where the remains of the legal icon lay for about five hours.
The remains of Fawehinmi, who hailed from Ondo in Ondo West Local Government Area of the state will be interred today at his residence in Oka.
Economic and social activities were partially paralysed in Akure as the residents utilised the public holiday declared by the Dr Olusegun Mimiko-led administration to receive the body of the social crusader.
Banners, posters and miniature billboards bearing Fawehinmi’s portraits in the full regalia of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) adorned the city. The billboards, which bear the insignia of the Ondo State Government, reads: "Ondo State Bids Gani Farewell".
The popular Oba Adesida Road was cordoned off by the Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to allow easy passage for the funeral procession from Lagos.
The Ondo Road-Oba Adesida Road junction looked like a huge marketplace, with various interest groups waiting at the junction to receive the body.
It was a huge carnival, with residents singing in celebration of their hero.
Smart residents made brisk business, selling T-shirts, badges, stickers, fez caps, calendars, key-holders and other souvenirs bearing the portraits of the late lawyer.
Pickpockets had a field day as many people, including a policeman whose mobile phone was stolen, fell victim to them.
The body arrived at Stadium Road junction at exactly 12.56 pm and was received amidst singing, drumming and dancing. Residents struggled to catch a glimpse of the body. Some used their camera phones to record the picture of Fawehinmi’s body.
Many of the residents who gathered in front of their homes and shops to behold the spectacle of the long procession making its way towards the stadium compared Fawehinmi’s funeral with the one accorded the late sage and Senior Advocate, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The Mercedes Limousine hearse which bore the glass casket carrying the remains of Fawehinmi had LAGOS-GANI on its number plate. Another limo carried the golden casket in which his body will be buried today in Ondo.
Immediately the body entered the stadium, youth groups, workers, students, motorcyclists, traders and others, who carried various placards, rose in unison to sing solidarity songs.
All the seats in the stadium were occupied. The football pitch was covered by spectators who formed a sea of heads around the casket.
Students of Victory College, Ikare-Akoko, the late Fawehinmi’s alma mater, attended the ceremony. They were in their uniforms.
The body was carried shoulder-high by pall bearers who filed past a guard of honour mounted by robed lawyers under the aegis of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) from various branches across the country.
Family members followed the body which was placed on one of the three big podiums mounted on the football field as music of the Afrobeat maestro, the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, was being played in the background.
Musicians who performed live at the occasion included juju music legend King Sunny Ade, Olu Maintain, Yemi Sax and Lord Ajasa.
Lawyers ascended the dias where the body was placed in quartets to pay their last respects to a colleague. Then, prominent Nigerians paid their tributes one after the other.
Fawehinmi’s body was dressed in a black Aso-Oke, a cap, his reading glasses and beads on the neck.
The Islamic opening prayer was said by Sheikh Yassin. Pastor Nelson Fadoju followed with the Christian opening prayer.
Those who paid tributes to the late Fawehinmi included the Ondo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), NBA President, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), Chief Sehinde Arogbofa on behalf of Victory College Old Students and the President of the West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr. Femi Falana.
Others who paid tributes included the Speaker of the Ondo Assembly, Mr. Taofiq Abdussalam, Campaign for Democracy (CD) President Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin and the President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Ledum Mitee.
SOURCE:THENATION