After a protracted battle with lung cancer, legal icon, Abdul-Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, popularly known as Gani, on Saturday lost the battle.
The human rights activist passed on about 7.16 a.m. at the age of 71.
According to a statement by the family signed by his first son, Mohammed Fawehinmi, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria died at Lister Medical Centre, Ikeja Lagos, as a result of lung cancer.
The family expressed gratitude to Nigerians for their strong support during the period of his illness, adding that burial arrangement would be communicated to the public.
Gani's most senior wife, Ganiyat Fawehinmi, said: "I was beside him when he died. He asked me to tell the children to take heart and that he had done the little he could. He said the government should take care of the less privileged" as he was not in a position to do more than he did.
The widow described her husband as "a caring husband that would fight injustice with anything he has".
Gani's health problem, she said, began when he was detained by former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) when he was incarcerated in different cells across the country. "So he (Gani) suspected that that might have led to his having cancer," she added.
One of the early callers at Gani's GRA Ikeja residence is former information minister and the owner of Juli Pharmacy, Prince Juli Adelusi, who described Gani's death as one of the challenges of the moment.
It was tribute galore on Saturday as Nigerians from the six geo-political zones eulogised the late Gani.
President Umaru Yar'Adua, IBB, former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, Speaker Dimeji Bankole of the House of Representatives and governors top the list.
Yar'Adua described Gani's death as a great national loss of an eminent lawyer and social crusader. He urged Gani's family and associates to be comforted by the knowledge that the late legal luminary lived a fulfilled and remarkable life dedicated to the unrelenting pursuit of good governance, equity and justice for all Nigerians.
For IBB, the death is a great loss to Nigeria as a whole.
Babangida, who got a substantial dose of Gani's criticism between 1984 and 1993 when he was in power, described the deceased as the only Nigerian with guts.
"Nigerians see him as a radical lawyer, but I think he was more than just that. He was the only critic in this country that backs his criticisms of any government in this country with facts and figures.
"His criticisms put some of us in authority on our toes all the time because anytime we want to take decisions, we always take cognisance of what Gani would say and we are always mindful of him because he used to tear our decisions into shreds.
"I remember in 1988, we invited him to address some of the burning issues of the time. He came, not minding that he was before Generals, and was saying what we perceived as insults, (but) we were clapping for him. He was very brave and a courageous man. We have lost one of our very best brains and lawyers in Nigeria," he said.
Even immediate past President Olusegun Obasanjo, who also got his 'fair' share of Gani's tirades, had kind words for the deceased. He described his death as a great national loss.
Bankole described the death as a grievous and monumental loss to the nation, adding that the death of the principled social crusader at this time the nation is making efforts to consolidate democracy through electoral reform.
Elder statesman and convener of the Mega Summit Movement, Anthony Enahoro, said Gani had always been an inspiration to the progressive movement since they first met in the 1980s, serving as the rallying point of the people's struggles at various times and making unimaginable sacrifices on each occasion.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) stated in his own words: "I received with utmost shock and sadness the news of the death of Nigeria's most illustrious and foremost legal luminary, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) who passed on yesterday. He lived and died fighting for an egalitarian society."
Nigeria has lost a conscience as well as a patriot of the first order, former Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos said.
Atiku described Gani as a defender of the rule of law and of the common man. "He is irreplaceable. The death of Gani, the crusader in the holy month of Ramadan, is a favour and an indication of Allah's acceptance of his life and struggles. May Allah delete his sins."
From Kano, elder statesman and former President Shehu Shagari's adviser on National Assembly matters, Tanko Yakassai, declared: "By his death, Nigeria and indeed Africa has lost an icon, whose dogged fight for human rights, democracy and the rule of law is unparalleled in our recent history. He devoted his entire life to challenging those in authority who wish to rule by impunity, rather than due process."
For the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), the legal profession has lost one of its beacons of courage.
"The sad news of the demise of our indefatigable Gani, after succumbing to a terminal ailment, came to us as an unkind piece at this period. We are consoled by the quality of his consistent and persistent input to national development. His life is an enduring lesson," he said.
Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu; Anambra State governor, Peter Obi; and Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti joined other Nigerians in mourning the passing on of the human rights advocate, saying it's a tragic loss to both his family and the country.
Governors of the various states in Nigeria were not left out of the tributes galore. Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State described Gani as a legal colossus whose leadership would be missed by his disciples.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said in a statement by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, David Iyofor, that Gani lived what he believed and died "fighting the cause of the masses and the enthronement of democracy in the country."
Governor Adams Oshiomole described his death as a great loss to the country.
Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State said Gani's death was particularly painful because his (Daniel) government was inspired to begin the construction of a cancer diagnostic centre because of the wrong diagnosis of the lung cancer which killed the activist lawyer.
Never in the history of legal practice in Nigeria has the country had such a fiery, passionate and revolutionary mind, Daniel said.
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State said he was saddened by the death of the social crusader.
Gani made his mark in the bar as a brilliant lawyer, but connected deeply with the people, especially the poor and under-privileged through his onerous crusade for social justice and human rights.
"Today, Nigeria is a democracy; thanks for the enormous contribution of Gani and others like him. Even in that, Gani, the tireless gadfly, continued to campaign for a better democratic practice, challenging any aspect that showed disrespect for the people's will and right," he added.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, Gani's state of origin, expressed sadness over the death of the human rights activist whom he described as a colossus and a pride not only to Ondo and Nigeria but the whole world.
Delta State deputy governor, Professor Amos Utuama (SAN), said Gani lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation.
"However, he will be remembered for his monumental contribution to legal development and practice through his Nigerian Weekly Law Report (NWLR), other publications and fearless advocacy," Utuama said.
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, described Gani's death as not only a great loss to his family but to the nation as a whole.
The EFCC boss in a statement on Saturday described Gani as "a principled, dogged, and unrelenting crusader, fully committed to any course he believes in".
Civil society groups, political parties and associations who interacted closely with the late Gani were very vocal in mourning his demise.
Chekwas Okorie of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) described Gani as one of the greatest Nigerian patriots.
Former general secretary of NBA, Dele Adesina (SAN), said: "I was still calling him on phone in London throughout the week. We celebrate him even in his transition from mortuary to immortality."
Publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, said: "There is going to be a void in Nigeria because Gani never kept quiet in the face of tyranny. I was one of the people who took him to Ile-Ife to get 'Senior Advocate of the Masses' at a time Nigeria could not honour him with SAN. I am one of the smallest people to speak about Gani, who did his best for the country."
Spokesman of Yoruba Socio cultural group, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said: "Gani struggled to free our country from the grip of jackals. Those are the people that Gani stood against all his life."
With tears running down her cheeks, national president of Campaign for Democracy (CD), Joe Okei-Odumakin, said "I have known Gani for over two decades; he is a great life-wire in the human rights anti-democracy movement. He was not properly diagnosed and was being treated for pneumonia; because of that, the cancerous effect ate him up. It is a shame for this country."
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has also regretted that foremost human rights advocate died at the time his dreams for the country was being realised, describing it as a painful loss.
National chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, said it was difficult to contemplate what Nigeria's political and legal landscape would be without the daring crusader.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Education, Farouk Lawan, also expressed the same sentiment, describing the news as quite shocking.
Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) expressed rude shock on the death of the renowned Lagos lawyer.
In the same vein, the civil society in the North has described the death of Gani as a colossal loss to the nation and a deadly blow to democracy.
ACF stated in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Anthony Sani: "Apart from excelling in his legal career, which the late chief used to bring issue into the open, and force creativity and changes in style of governance on the part of political leadership, Fawehinmi was an activist par excellence."
Also, leader of the civil society in the North and national president of the Civil Rights Congress (CRC), Shehu Sani, said: "The death of Gani is not just a loss but a quantum loss; he was a Ghandi, Mandela and Martin Luther King in one body."
The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) said it received with shock the passage of Gani to immortality at 71. "Humanity has lost a great defender of freedom and justice. Gani was the authentic friend of the press. He was the refuge to which media practitioners ran to in times of trouble," the body added.
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