INTRODUCTION
Ordinarily, one would have readily applauded President Muhammadu
for signing an Executive Order banning possession of guns, having
regard to the unbridled proliferation and possession of small and
medium scale politically motivated and banditorily-induced arms
currently in circulation. However, Buhari’s sectionalistic
perceptions of governance from the opaque prism of ethnicity and
religious nuances do not give one such euphoric comfort of
nationalistically induced decisions.
It seems to me a panicky measure meant to forestall the
threats by Niger Delta militants to declare their Republic by 1st
of June, and also for the now historic struggle by IPOB for
self-determination. Whatever be his reasons, the president and his
handlers appeared to have lost the larger picture of the citizens’
rights to life and self defence. Section 33 of the
1999 Constitution provides for the right to life.
Section 258 of the Criminal Code
which operates in the Southern part of Nigeria and sections
59- 60 of the Penal Code that operates in
the North, all guarantee the right to self defence and the
defence of one’s property. What the Executive Order has unwittingly
done is to leave honest and innocent Nigerians most vulnerable
to the unrestrained murderous and blood-letting activities of
marauders, herdsmen, Terrorists, armed robbers and kidnappers.
People may now decide to possess these arms illegally and under
cover as guerrilla tactics, since even a legitimate licence cannot
guarantee same, after thorough screening by law enforcement
agencies. After all, self-preservation is the first law of nature.
The Executive order is also gravely flawed in the sense that those
known and notorious to illegally possess these same arms, like
herdsmen, were not even named at all. There now appears to be two
sets of laws for Nigerians. Recall that the same government had
incredibly set up a special radio network station for this over
pampered set of “superior” Nigerians. No thought
was given to the equally illiterate Nigerians of those
communities whose wives are daily raped in their homes, children
murdered in cold blood, farmlands invaded, crops eaten and such
farms then set ablaze. I always wonder who advises Mr President.
But as Harry Truman once declared, “buck stops
here”. The End.
GANIAT FAWEHINMI AND BASH ALI: TWO OF A
KIND
INTRODUCTION
Women may not always be given the accolades that they deserve
other than the ephemeral remark that “behind every
successful man is a successful woman”. Even then, many are
quick to point out that a truly successful man would have a woman
standing alongside or beside him. That is just the story of the
first wife of my late mentor, the iconic and legal luminary, Chief
Gani Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN, SAM. Her name? Mrs Ganiat Ibukun
Fawehinmi. Today, we shall x-ray the exploits of Mrs Ganiat Ibukun
Fawehinmi. Thereafter, we shall take on Bashiru Lawrence Ali, next
week. Both Ganiat and Bash Ali are two of a kind in resilience,
doggedness, perseverance, courage, tenacity, patience, resoluteness
and determination to succeed in the face of all
odds.
MRS. GANIAT IBUKUN FAWEHINMI (NEé OREBELA)
EARLY LIFE
Ganiat was born on Thursday, 26th May,
1949, to the family of Orebela. She is a native of
Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. She is the first wife of late Chief Gani,
for whom she bore seven children, namely: Mohammed, Saheed, Basirat
Biobaku (nee Fawehinmi), Dr. Haufsat Oni (nee Fawehinmi), Kudirat,
Simbiat Osho (nee Fawehinmi), and Mubarak. These are great children
to make parents happy forever.
HER EMERGENCE AT THE NATIONAL SCENE
Ganiat is not as often mentioned as her late husband, Gani.
However, it is no small feat to have stood proudly beside the
confrontational and sometimes unconventional Gani through all the
years he spent, warring against the powers that be, through his
constant arrests, detentions, harassments, beatings and
humiliation. Knowing the daring life lived by Gani during perilous
times, it is undoubted that fear hung over his family like the
sword of Damocles. That was not publicly manifest because of the
reassuring and fortifying presence of this amazon of a quiet,
behind-the-scene woman.
She has been a great source of succor to downtrodden Nigerians.
Whilst her late husband, Gani, was fighting for defenceless
Nigerians in the court rooms, on the streets, in prisons and at
detention dungeons in DSS and Police, defying tyrants’ guns,
manacles, shackles, tortures and violence to his person, she was
the silent pillar, housekeeper and encourager.
She remained largely in his shadows, quietly enduring, but
managing the loneliness, the anguish, pains, pangs and cries of her
children who longed to see their beloved father. In those locust
days of military dictatorships, she was valiant, bold, courageous,
yet maintained the noblest virtues of a good housewife.
NOW THIS
Ganiat stated in one of her many interviews with Nkrumah
Bankong-Obi and Simon Ateba of PM News, one of the guerrilla media
houses to emerge during the dark days of military juntas, that she
has to be a “sheep” as Gani was a
“goat”. She was ever the peace maker, always
asking for forgiveness from Gani whenever an argument arose, even
if she was right. Hear what Ganiat said:
“When he was angry, I calmed down. Yoruba people say
when there is an argument, one party should be agutan (sheep) and
the other ewure (goat). The sheep is calm, while the goat is
unruly. So, anytime he was angry, I just withdrew and sat somewhere
or took a newspaper and read. When he calmed down, I’d go to him
and apologise. Sometimes, I knelt down. People said I was a bush
woman for doing that. I don’t see it that way. Each time I did that
to him, he felt I understood that he was the head of the family and
he was happy with me. He was someone who had a forgiving spirit. If
you apologised, he accepted it and that was it”.
I agree with these words, as Gani was a human volcano, a moving
tornado.
Ganiat’s love, support and belief in her husband through thick
and thin never swayed, despite the numerous threats, disgrace and
mental and psychological trauma serially forced on the family by
successive military tyrants.
Even after Gani’s death, Ganiat Fawehinmi has remained
relentless in the fight for true democracy and good governance. She
is a critic of the government, always sharing her experience,
insights, knowledge and wisdom on how the society can be made
better. She is a role model to many and a woman’s symbol of
loyalty, strength and will power. She has inspired many to continue
the fight for the greater good of humanity.
AND THIS GANIAT AT 70
On 26th May, 2019,
Ganiat clocked 70, to roaring celebration and festivities. There is
always much to say about a virtuous woman. About Gani’s widow, the
Buhari Presidency released a glowing tribute, as follows:
“The President believes the matriarch of the
Fahewinmi family epitomizes the resilience, wisdom and loyalty that
drives every nation to greatness, particularly carrying on with the
work of charity and sacrifice, and standing by reason, justice and
truth that characterized her husband’s life.
“As Mrs Fawehinmi turns 70, President Buhari affirms
that her zeal to see a better life for Nigerians, especially the
poor and underprivileged remains indelible, underscoring the many
risks involved, pains suffered and the frustrations she has endured
in seeing that the country turns out greater.”
The life of Mrs Fawehinmi is truly worth celebrating. Through
this iconic woman, the legacy of the late Gani Fawehinmi certainly
lives on. Truer words have never been spoken. She is a complete
embodiment of the fighting spirit not only of late Chief Gani, but
also of all Nigerians who strive to achieve a better country that
secures and safeguards their interests.
(Next week, we shall continue our discourse with Bashiru
Lawrence Ali)
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“It should be remembered that the president cannot, by executive
order, do things that affects the public at large unless there is
some Congressional basis for it”. (Edwin
Meese).
LAST LINE
Nigerians, thank you for keeping faith with the Sunday Sermon on
the Mount of the Nigerian Project by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR,
FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D, even as you await the next explosive
dissertation.