GANI FAWEHINMI IS NOT DEAD

The Lord Jesus Christ did not die.

If he did, there would be no Christianity and Christians in the world today. He came to the world 'the only begotten son of God, but He lived His life for others. He gave his precious life so someone else might be saved. And he lives on in the reality of humanity.

Prophet Muhammed {SAW) did not die. If he did, there would be no Islam and Moslems around today. He came on there a great prophet and could have elected to revel in affluence, glamour and grandeur. But he opted to live in hardship and discomfort for the sake of others. He put his life on the line for the enthronement of justice and purity. And he lives on in the lives of men.

Obafemi Awolowo did not die. Through the grave odds of a humble background, a hewer of woods at the prime of his childhood and youth, he rose into intellectual and political prominence. But, in the glamour of personal limelight, he refused to forget his primary constituency - the teeming masses, the ordinary people. He laboured, selflessly and tirelessly for the total emancipation and upliftment of his people. In doing so, he recorded many enviable 'firsts' in Africa. The region he led as Premier would have ranked among the world's leading nations today if it had been allowed to develop at its own pace and in accordance with his focus and vision. Today, Nigeria, and indeed the international community, stand still at the coming of the anniversary of his birth or transition.

Nelson Mandela cannot die. He lived his life not for himself and his family but for his nation and her people. Incarcerated by the enemies of humanity for 27 excruciating years, he cared less about his personal comfort: "the struggle is my life," he proffered. If there was one human being on the surface of the earth who could justifiably lay claim to the moral right to rule his country for ever, the Madiba is it. But he was humane, selfless and gracious enough to resist any temptation to attempt constitutional ammendment for dubious unlimited terms.

Today, even leaders of the greatest nations on earth stand on their feet at the mere mention of his "undieable" name.But evil men do not live after death. Those who shall die are the ones who, under different guises, unleash excruciating horror and oppression on the people they pretend to serve. Those who leave our highways in horrible state of disrepair and watch innocent souls perish in road mishaps while they siphon the billions into their foreign accounts. Those who watch hapless patients perish at our ill-equipped hospitals while they help themselves and their families to looted funds. Those lenders and borrowers who collude to share the hundreds of billions collected from millions of hard-working peasants on the streeets without any plan of repayment.Those who shall die are the ones who place their ego above the good of the nation and leave our academic institutions in shambles and our stranded students wondering if theirs is any great nation with good people. Those who make no qualms about killing and maiming in order to cover their shady deeds and rule for eternity. Those who shall die are the ones who callously pumped acidic gas into their house of horror in which they kept Gani Fawehinmi. Evil men do not live after death. Only "the evil that men do lives after them.

"And Gani Fawehinmi, the great lawyer, the indefatigable rights activist, the relentless social crusader and reformist, the selfless philanthropist and defender of the oppressed, was no man of evil but a man of the people, friend of the masses. So he is not dead because men of his tribe do not die. Gani lives on in the lives of the people he fought for with his life, the lives he touched in the course of his personal, professional and socio-political journey.Like the great prophets, the Senior Advocate of the Masses lives on. If Gani died today, there would be no rights activism and activists tomorrow. If Gani died today, there would be no war of conscience and warriors to free our nation from the strangle-hold of socio-economic and political vampires tomorrow. So, weep not, Nigeria, weep not, my beloved people. Gani is not dead. The good that men do makes them to live after death.
Sunnewsonline Dele Akinola