By Adebisi Onanuga 24/01/2012 00:00:00
Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola has said the one week protest on the removal of fuel subsidy was a reminder of the fact that the work of the late social crusader and constitutional lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was largely unfinished as at the time he died two years ago.
He said Gani Fawehinmi was a human being and one of the best species ever lived and who wanted a Nigeria where liberty, freedom and justice flow like a mighty river and from which every citizen would take his or her fill.
Aregbesola, who spoke at the eighth Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture organised by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, said the mass of people that gathered daily at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom park during the protest was indicative of the people his works had affected positively adding that the scenario at the park looked as if it was Chief Gani Fawehinmi himself that led the protest.
“It is instructive that, by a stroke of fate, a huge crowd of demonstrators mass at Gani Fawhinmi Memorial Garden, which they rechristened Gani Fawehimi Freedom Square to protest the hike in the prices of fuel in the country. It was like Chief Gani Fawehinmi himself led the protest.
“This is a firm assurance that even though he has departed, he will forever be with us in the struggle for the emancipation of Nigerian people and the banishment of tyranny, oppression and dictatorship in all ramification”, he said.
Beyond anything, Gani Fawehinmi, according to Governor Aregbesola, was renowned for fighting through the instrumentality of law and was feared by successive military regimes and their compliant judges.
He described late Fawehinmi as a consummate social crusader and fighter for people‘s right adding “he was a selfless man who dedicated a lifetime to the pursuit of a cause he believed in”.
The NBA, Ikeja branch chairman, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole also eulogized late Gani Fawehinmi for what was described as his unparallel crusade against military tyranny, misrule and unwavering contribution to the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.
Omole observed that the day Gani Fawehinmi was called to the Nigerian bar in 1966 marked the beginning of his struggle for the emancipation of Nigerians from neo colonial mis-governance.
The NBA, Ikeja branch chairman also commended the role played by the Mrs. Ganiat Fawehinmi and her son, Mohammed during the protest against fuel subsidy saying, “I cannot but say that Gani`s spirit has come upon you”.
“You are a pride to womanhood, your activites in the past weeks of the struggle against fuel price hike and school fees hike in Lagos State University is a testimony to the fact that you were not merely a consort to Gani or merely the mother of his children, but a gallant, honest bearer and sustainer of Gani`s great legacy” he said.
On Mohammed Fawehinmi, the NBA Ikeja branch chairman had this to say, “your activities have only confirmed the Yoruba adage that says”omo to ekunba bi, ekun lo ma jo”.
SOURCE: nationonline
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