The humanism of Gani Fawehinmi

AN embattled revolutionary once advised compatriots who might find themselves in personally tragic situations to be careful not to judge a historical epoch by their own personal fates. Let us attempt an elaboration of this admonition. A historical epoch, or development, may be considered tragic for a large section of a given segment of humanity, or even for humanity as a whole. And one may share this tragedy as a social being, as a species being, as a member of a family, as a member of a social class, group or community, as a partisan, etc. But the tragedy may in addition, impact on you in a unique, personal way.

The revolutionary was advising that while admitting the full extent of the personal impact you should not judge "the general" by "the personal", however devastating the latter may be. I have had reasons to remind myself (and sometimes, others) of this admonition several times in the recent past. The latest reminder came in the build-up to the 4th Fani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture Series organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and held in Lagos on Tuesday, Janaury 15, 2008.

In the third week of November 2007, I received a notification, through multiple sources, of the Gani Fawehinmi event. The notification included a request for my participation as a speaker on the topic; "Impact of corruption on the socio-economic development of Nigeria" within the theme "Challenges of legitimacy in governance and the war against corruption". I quickly assessed the situation and concluded, mainly on account of the constraints placed on me by the present order of things, that I would not be able to participate in the event. I communicated my fears and regrets immediately. Towards the end of the year, I committed this response to paper, and dispatched it to a number of comrades and friends. I had concluded the letter with the words: "Those who know me and my relationship with Gani can guess how distressed I am at this point". The communication was followed with a very brief telephone discussion with the subject, Gani Fawehinmi.

It was at this point that I cautioned myself against visiting the pain of this disappointment on my assessment of the present social order. Specifically I decided that such a visitation would not objectively make the social order any darker than it is. Indeed, it would make my assessment less capable of withstanding the test of time. Thereafter, I decided on this piece, an introduction to a substantive work on this exceptional being, Gani Fawehinmi.

Gani Fawehinmi is one of the most productive, prolific, reported, analysed, debated, and documented public figures in Nigeria. This is not simple a product of the computer and internet revolution. My observation applies even to the period before the information and communication revolution, or before the revolution expanded to these parts. The result is that anyone who wants to conduct a research on the subject or aspects of his life, career struggles, politics, law and morality, revolution and the law, etc, will have to battle with the problem of "over-documentation".

My practical approach to this problem is two-pronged: first, to proceed from some of the most significant encounters I have had with Fawehinmi. Not encounters in general - for this will create new problems - but encounters that were at once personal and emotional, as well as political and of enduring public interest; and, secondly, to revisit three or four of the articles I had written on him, or which he had inspired. The two approaches will be complementary and mutually re-inforcing. The opening theme is humanism.

My first encounter with Gani Fawehinmi took place in a court room in Lagos in March 1975: I, as a political detainee produced in court on the orders of a High Court Judge; Gani as my unpaid lawyer. I had never seen him before then. I shall return to this first encounter. But let me continue with the listing. The second encounter, according to my list, was in September 1978. A national protest by Nigerian students had been staged earlier that year. It was tagged "Ali Must Go". A number of students and non-students were killed by armed agents of the state. Later, a number of University teachers and administrators, including my spouse and I, were dismissed by the military regime headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo. I contacted Gani Fawehinmi. The third encounter was in October 1983 when I was arrested at the Lagos Airport on my way to Ghana. From the airport, I was taken to the Awolowo road headquarters of the security agency. Somehow, the report of my secret arrest got to Gani before we even got to Awolowo Road! Mind you, we were at least a decade away from the information and communication technology revolution.

My fourth encounter with Gani Fawehinmi was in January 1987 when my colleagues in the Political Bureau (appointed by General Babangida) prevented me from further participation in the work of the body. I met Gani. The fifth encounter was in the second half of 1988 when, in company of some comrades, I went to see Gani at his chambers for a particular favour. I shall also return to this particular encounter. The sixth encounter was in December 2000 when a high profile comrade, a victim of political vendetta and incredible malice, was arrested in Calabar and falsely accused of murder. He was changed to court and detained in prison. I called on Gani, and he answered me. He dispatched a lawyer to Calabar and made a public statement - both within an hour of my speaking to him. The comrade was freed. Gani charged no fees. The seventh encounter was in the year 2002 when Gani visited Calabar on professional and political engagements. He paid me a loud courtesy visit at home. He later addressed a mini "rally" in my office, and another one in my spouse's office.

In returning to the first encounter, I shall merely quote, with minimal editing, from the article which appeared in this column on November 30, 2000, and titled For Fawehinmi and Umar: "I first met Gani Fawehinmi in March 1975. Before then, I had heard and read about him for about two years. The scene of this first encounter was the Lagos High Court, Ikoyi. I had just been brought, by road, from Sokoto Prison on the orders of the court. The order was made upon a motion filed by Fawehinmi on behalf of the Students' Union of the University of Lagos where, six months earlier, I had been appointed Lecturer in Mathematics. According to the order of my detention, presumably for attempting to overthrow the military government of General Yabuku Gowon, I was to be held in Sokoto Prison. But the military government decided to keep me and my three comrades somewhere behind Dodan Barracks.

"How Fawehinmi learnt of this, and the identities of the people who assisted him in uncovering this state deception, are for him to reveal in his memoirs. Some of these people are already dead; some are in retirement; others are still in the service of the Nigerian State. When the order to produce me in court was made, the authorities decided, as a cover-up, to rush me to Sokoto Prison. The story of my journey from Lagos to Sokoto, the attempted interception at Ilorin, my five-day stay in Sokoto Prison and my journey back to Lagos, will be sweeter in Gani's mouth. It is sufficient for me to say that Gani Fawehinmi knew all this and brought his knowledge to bear on the brilliant and fearless motion he brought before the court. Gani had never met me before then. Not only did he charge no fees, he radically and absolutely supported my fiancee (now my wife), friends and comrades, in cash and in kind, against those who preferred a policy of "gradualism" and "supplication".

"Gani's attempt to free me, of course, failed. But back in detention, after my brief appearance, I read in newspapers smuggled to me Gani's angry denunciation of the judge's capitulation to the pressure mounted by the government. He ended with the words, "I am sorry for your soul, my Lord". Even in captivity I was afraid for Gani. When we were eventually released, Gani, at his expense, organised a welcome party for us at his Surulere home and chambers. He did not attempt to recruit me for his "cause". He could not recruit me not because I was not recruitable but because his cause was universal liberation which defied political, ideological and organisational boundaries". I shall return to this theme.

"Gani Fawehinmi has remained essentially the same, except for changes in tactics demanded by changes in circumstances. In the struggle for democracy, human rights and freedom, Gani Fawehinmi is an exceptional being. He is in a class of his own. In political history he could be called a revolutionary democrat. In the history of philosophy, he could be called a radical humanist. Fidel Castro once remarked that if Che Guevara, his late comrade-in-arms, had been a Catholic, he would have been made a saint. I would say the same of Gani Fawehinmi - only that saints are not made in their lifetime".