President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, pro-democracy activist, Chief Anthony Enahoro, and several other notable Nigerians, have described the death of Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), as an irreplaceable loss. Fawehinmi passed on yesterday morning in his house at the Ikeja GRA, Lagos after a long battle with Cancer of the lungs. He was aged 71.
Yar’Adua expressed “sadness and a deep feeling of great national loss” at the news of the passing away of the eminent lawyer.
A statement by the Presidential spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, said Fawehinmi “lived a fulfilled and remarkable life dedicated to the unrelenting pursuit of good governance, equity and justice for all Nigerians.
”President of the NBA, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), in a statement, said members of the association were shocked by the news of Fawehinmi’s death. He said: “The sad news of our indefatigable Gani (Fawehinmi) 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. Fawehinmi, a legal icon and public interest litigator per excellence, fought a good fight. His life is an enduring lesson,” he added.
Senate President, David Mark, in a condolence message to the family, said: "Fawehinmi was one Nigerian who lived his entire life for the betterment of all Nigerians as an irrepressible enemy of oppression. He was a human rights crusader of inimitable courage, a philanthropist, and a patriot with great commitment to nation building.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dimeji Bankole, said the death of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was a grievous and monumental loss to the nation.
Also in his reaction, Babangida affirmed in Minna that: “Though Fawehinmi criticised my administration the most, I still had great respect for his criticisms because he supported them with great research materials. He puts people on their toes especially me when I was in office and we had to be watchful of the things we did and anytime we wanted to take decisions, we had to take into cognisance what he would say because he would look at it, tear it into pieces and make a case out of it”. Babangida said.
A devout Muslim, a fighter, people's combatant, civilian soldier, social crusader, human rights activist, consummate legal icon, politician, and compassionate family man whose love for mankind defined his journey of life.” The former leader said he received the news of Fawehinmi’s death with rude shock and “I am pained that we have lost such a legal icon, social crusader and human rights advocate at a time when Nigeria is trying to reform her electoral system.”
Similarly, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, said the late human rights activist was a defender of the rule of law and of the common man. He said Gani is irreplaceable. Atiku said the “Death of Fawehinmi in the Holy month of Ramadan, is a favour and an indication of Allah’s acceptance of his life and struggles”.
Also in his condolence, Enahoro said the late Fawehinmi remained an inspiration to the progressive movement since he first met him in the 1980s; “serving as the rallying point of the peoples’ struggles at various times and making unimaginable sacrifices on each occasion of his rare intervention.”
Former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Olufemi Pedro, said: “Fawehinmi holds a special place in my heart. During my disagreement with Tinubu, I was not in the country when he went to court on my behalf with my resignation letter and without my asking him to. He offered to be my counsel without my paying for his services. The case is still in court. He was not only lawyer for the poor, he was a defender of the oppressed, rich or highly placed, irrespective of faith or ethnicity,” he added.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Conference of National Political Parties (CNPP) also expressed shock at the passage of the legal icon. The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, in a statement said by this development: “One of the greatest crusaders in the history of Nigeria for human rights and social justice has been lost.”
The CNPP in a statement by its spokesman, Osita Okechukwu described Fawehinmi as one of the pillars of the opposition movement in Nigeria, whose demise would certainly create a vacuum.
Ondo State Governor, Fawehinmi’s home state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Afenifere leader, Chief Rueben Fasoranti, and many others from the state also expressed shock at the passage of activist.
Mimiko in his reaction, expressed sadness over the death of the legal luminary whom he said was a colossus and a pride not only to Ondo State, Nigeria but the whole world. In the seventy-one years that it pleased almighty Allah to bequeath him with on earth, Gani towered above several of his contemporaries and became an appropriate role model for generations of younger Nigerians.” For Fasoranti, Fawehinmi lived a “fulfilled life worthy of emulation and praise”.
Retired Anglican Bishop of Akure Diocese, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, said: “I am very sad that we have lost a rare gem like Gani Fawehimi. His death is a great loss to his immediate family, Ondo community where he hails from, the general people of Ondo, Nigeria at large and the entire world”.
A PDP stalwart in Ondo State, Chief Alex Akinnadeju described Fawehinmi’s death as the “greatest calamity that has ever befallen Nigeria in recent time”.
Similarly, the Lisa of Ondo Kingdom, High Chief Bayo Akinlola requested that Fawehinmi’s death be celebrated by Ondo people and the whole Nigeria because “he lived rewarding life”.
Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Hon Taofik Abdulsalam, said the Assembly was shocked by the Fawehinmi’s passage. “He was a fighter for a true democracy in Nigeria,” he said.
Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said the death of the legal icon, Fawehinmi, would create what he called a vacuum in the annals of legal practice.
In his reaction, Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, said "Indeed, Fawehinmi was a great Nigerian, a larger than life figure, and an accomplished lawyer. His consistency, tenacity and independent-mindedness are hallmarks of a true patriot and leader,” the governor said.
In a related development, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, lamented development and said: “Fawehinmi pioneered an outstanding contribution to the development of the legal profession, especially through his publication, the Nigeria Weekly Law Report series which eased access of practitioners to legal precedents and decide cases.”
Another governor, Mr. Segun Oni of Ekiti State, in his reaction, said Fawehinmi’s death was a national loss, a national tragedy to the legal profession, “who we shall all miss.”
His Kano State counterpart, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, described the deceased as “A nationalist, who sacrificed all his life for the emancipation of the common man’s rights”.
In a related development, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State said: "The death of Fawehinmi is a great loss to the nation. With his death, Nigeria has lost another strong agent of positive change," he said.
Deputy Governor of Delta State, Prof Amos Utuama, regretted the death and said: “One is sad that Fawehinmi is dead. But for the mysterious nature of death, he would have fought it to a standstill as a powerful social justice crusader and advocate.”
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, submitted that “Fawehinmi doggedly pursued what he believed in under the ambit of the rule of law and was one Nigerian who never sought other means to attain justice.”
Former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said: “I would simply say Nigeria has lost its conscience, a rare patriot who just would not resign himself to the rot all around him”.
Also speaking, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, said: “Voice of the voiceless is silent, the comforter of the comfortless is gone, the true patriot is no more.”
To the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE), Gani, as he was fondly called, was the authentic friend of the press. “He was the refuge to which media practitioners ran to in times of trouble. Gani spent his time, knowledge, material resources to defend the freedom of the press and speech among other fundamental human rights.”
In the submission of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media, Ayogu Eze, Fawehinmi was a great asset to democracy, who ensured at all times that those in authority were kept on their toes.”
Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said by Fawehinmi’s death: “Indubitably, Nigeria has lost a dogged fighter par excellence, a social crusader of extraordinary moral fibre and a public interest litigator of unequal dimension who consistently confronted the menace of institutionalised injustice, wanton official corruption and excruciating poverty unleashed on hapless Nigerians by a tiny rapacious ruling elite.”
Another Lagos lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, described Fawehinmi as an irrepressible friend of the subjected, rejected, dejected, suppressed, repressed, oppressed and dehumanised underclass everywhere in the world.”
Mrs. Farida Waziri of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), described the deceased as ‘a principled, dogged, and unrelenting crusader, fully committed to any course he believed in.”
Speaking in the same vein, National Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Maurice Iwu, described the incident as a national tragedy.
For a religious organisation, Nasrullahi Fatih Society of Nigeria (NASFAT) Fawehinmi was a fighter in the cause of the oppressed, constitutional law expert, social mobiliser, leader in the war against corruption and advocate of a better”.
Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said in a statement that: “Nigeria has lost a kind man who put others before himself. His legacy of fighting for the down-trodden against larger opponents like the government in no small measure inspired us to fight oppressive giants today.”
Similarly, Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), in its reaction said: “Like a bolt from the blues, the news of Gani Fawehinmi hit us with unbearable severity. Fawehinmi finally lost a long-drawn battle with lung cancer at a London hospital. How are the mighty fallen”.
Former Chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in his tribute, said: Fawehinmi was a revered individual and his untimely death is a tragic loss to Nigeria, particularly at this moment in our history, but we must take consolation and celebrate his life as the father of modern day democracy in Nigeria. He was a true image of Nigerian unity; a pillar for the poor and a voice that spoke against the enemies of the people - the oppressors and the corrupt.”
National Co-ordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Comrade Joseph Evah, said: “Fawehinmi’s death is a sad chapter in the history of African people struggle against bad governance, leadership, poverty and corruption.”
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