We’ll Aiming To Make The Annual Gani Fawehinmi Lecture a NBA “National Event”.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA Olumide Akpata says he’ll set mechanism in motion aiming to make the annual Gani Fawehinmi Lecture a NBA “National event”.
Mr Akpata disclosed this during the 2022 edition of the lecture held on Saturday, 15th January at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja.
The NBA President said that his office will be proposing to the National Executive Council of the Association that the Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture becomes a national NBA event.
Akpata reiterated that if the proposal is ratified, the lecture will continue to be hosted by the NBA Ikeja Branch with the full support of the National body because “Gani our hero deserves nothing less.”
Full speech by the NBA President
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 18th Edition of the Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture taking place today, the 15th of January, 2022, which is the day set aside by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) to commemorate the life and times, and indeed the memory, of not just a celebrated social critic and human rights defender, but also one of the greatest legal practitioners that this country has been blessed to produce, in the person of the Late Chief AbdulGaniyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN, GCON.
I thank the organizers for inviting me to Chair this year’s Lecture. The Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN was a man we cannot honor enough. He has written his full names in the sands of time and has left a legacy of an adroit defender of human rights. For us at the Nigerian Bar Association, he remains a major resource (even in death) of knowledge bank with the evergreen analysis and reportage of contemporary cases in The Nigerian Weekly Law Report (NWLR) which, quite commendably, has continued even after his passing.
It would be difficult if not impossible to find any adult Nigerian who can claim not to have heard of the exploits of the Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN (or Gani as he was simply known by the majority of the Nigerian populace). Chief Gani Fawehinmi represented different things to different people in and out of the legal profession: he was a Human and Civil Rights Lawyer, a Social Critic, an Activist and Politician, an Author and Publisher, a Philanthropist, the Bamofin of Ondo, an aggressive defender of the common man and a consistent, dogged and committed advocate for good governance. To me, he was a hero, a national asset, and a truly global icon.
I will therefore be proposing to the National Executive Council of the NBA that, going forward, the Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture becomes a national NBA event, hosted by the NBA Ikeja Branch, with the full support of the National body. Gani, our hero, deserves nothing less.
Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN was a man who spoke truth to power. Are there still men like him today? Men who placed the interests of the public over their personal interests. Men who could sacrifice their personal comfort for a communal goal. Men, who even on their death bed continue to remain concerned about the country Nigeria? Certainly, Chief Gani Fawehinmi stood out and it is for this reason that I ask that we please rise for one minute in his honour and in honour of his son, our dear brother, Mohammad Fawehinmi, who also left us on the 11th of August last year. May their gentle souls rest in peace.
Chief Gani Fawehinmi was a man acquainted with struggle. Not the kind borne out of hunger, poverty, or frailty of health, no. He knew great struggle by carrying the burden of justice in this great nation. He struggled even when he didn’t have to. He was a man of impact and an ardent lover of the common people. He displayed this all through his life and ensured the continuity of his support for the weak and poor even after his death, through the Gani Fawehinmi Foundation. Did he speak truth to power in his lifetime? Oh, certainly! I remember when former President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, lost his dear wife, Chief Stella Obasanjo, the late Gani Fawehinmi, in condoling him did not miss the opportunity to send a clear message on the subject of good governance when in his condolence message he stated inter-alia:
“In a period of six years, you have virtually traversed the entire world visiting most of the countries of the world. One would have expected that not less than sixty (60) Heads of State and their wives would either have graced the occasion of the burial of your wife or sent their wives to represent them at such burial…despite several times that you slept out of Nigeria visiting foreign countries in Europe, Asia and America. Mr. President, is that not a hard lesson? Even for a Chairman of the Commonwealth and Chairman of African Union (AU), is the lesson not obvious? You must now realise that it is what you do at home to promote the welfare of your people that sells your image abroad… In spite of all I have written above, I sincerely sympathise with you on the death of
a woman who became a human rights activist of note, fighting tooth and nail for your release from incarceration”
That was the man, Gani Fawehinmi: compassionate but also assertive.
8. The topic for this year’s Lecture, ‘The Imperatives of Good Governance and the Struggles of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, SAN: Whither Nigeria?’, is one I consider altogether fitting. I have had the privilege of receiving, and reading, an advance copy of the paper to be delivered by our Guest Lecturer and I can assure you that you can anticipate not just a brilliant presentation but also a robust discussion from the distinguished panel of discussants.
According to the World Bank, good governance is epitomized by predictable, open, and enlightened policy making; a democracy imbued with professional ethos; an executive arm of government accountable for its actions and a strong Civil Society participating in public affairs; and strict adherence to the rule of law.
It is not in doubt that our dear country is going through very turbulent times in her history. This is that time when we require strong and accountable leaders who understand that good governance is born out of the execution of the social contract between the ‘Governors and the governed’. Achieving an orderly society characterized by internal rules and restraints, an independent judiciary and a society and government which respects the rule of law.
Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen, I have reminded myself that I am not the guest speaker and will therefore refrain from delving into the substance of the discourse. However, I must say that today, we shall attempt to unpack, yet again, the concept of good governance through the lens of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi; particularly at a time when electioneering is gathering its momentum and everyone’s focus appear to be on individuals and not institutions. It is my hope that we will one day be able to distinguish between the importance of having strong individuals in government and having strong governmental institutions. It will appear that whilst Nigeria has spent an unquantifiable time building the former, the later has suffered from abject neglect. It is time we consider building strong institutions in Nigeria as opposed to strong individuals in government. This is what Chief Gani Fawehinmi stood for in his lifetime.
For us at the Nigerian Bar Association, we will continue to remain guided by the ethos of the late legal luminary; what he stood for and his unapologetic agitation for a better Nigerian State. We will continue to do our best to ensure an improved administration of our justice system, respect for the rule of law and above all we shall continue to speak truth to power with a view to ensuring good governance for the members of the Nigerian legal profession and indeed the Nigerian nation in general.
I wish to thank you all for listening and look forward to a robust conversation from the stellar panel.
OLUMIDE AKPATA
President
January 15th 2022
