Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has said one of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s most consequential contributions to Nigeria was his determination to keep the country’s political space open.
Sani recalled that the late pro-democracy activist spearheaded the legal battle against stringent conditions introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for political associations seeking registration as political parties.
The governor stated this on Saturday in Kaduna at the public presentation of a book titled, Gani Fawehinmi And Uba Sani, A Tale Of Mentor And Mentee.
He recalled that many human rights and pro-democracy activists became deeply disillusioned with the democratic process at the time, but Fawehinmi refused to allow frustration to turn into despair.
”At a serious meeting, we told Chief Fawehinmi, our leader, that we were beginning to lose faith in democracy. But he would not permit frustration to become despair.
” He told us to have faith in the judiciary, faith in the rule of law and faith in democracy itself. Rather than abandon the democratic process, we would use the democratic process to defend democracy,” he argued.
According to Sani, Fawehinmi and Alhaji Balarabe Musa subsequently approached the court, with the legal battle lasting more than two years before the Court of Appeal delivered judgment.
”I recall that the ruling was delivered by Justice Dahiru Mustapha in 2002. INEC appealed to the Supreme Court, but in January 2003, the Supreme Court again ruled in our favour,” he added.
The governor said the court victory had far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s political development.
Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State pointed out that the verdict ”opened the political space in Nigeria and paved the way for the emergence of more political parties.”
He urged Nigerians to remember the contributions of those who fought for political plurality and citizens’ right to organise politically.
”Therefore, whenever we celebrate political plurality in Nigeria, whenever new parties emerge and whenever citizens exercise their rights to organise politically, we should remember those who fought to make that space possible.
”Many of those proudly identifying with all sorts of political platforms today, may not know that the freedom they exercise was secured through difficult struggles by people like Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Democracy has a history, and every freedom has a cost,” he said.
Sani advised activists, politicians across different parties and academics to periodically come together to honour those who fought and made sacrifices for democracy in Nigeria.
He described Fawehinmi as more than a fighter for political freedom, saying the late activist was ”a profoundly committed pan-Nigerian who believed that the greatness of Nigeria depended on the development of every part of the country.”
According to him, Fawehinmi also believed in ”the empowerment of every citizen, regardless of region, ethnicity, religion or social standing.”
The governor said education was another of Fawehinmi’s deepest convictions, which informed the establishment of the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Foundation, where he was entrusted with the responsibility of serving as Northern Coordinator.
”I persuaded him to institute a major scholarship programme for brilliant but indigent university students in Northern Nigeria because educational deprivation was particularly severe in our region at the time,” he added.
Sani disclosed that the scholarship programme awarded assistance to more than 1,000 indigent students across Northern Nigeria.
He recalled that officials travelled across universities in the region to identify deserving beneficiaries.
”Many of those beneficiaries have since become medical doctors, lawyers, academics, engineers and professionals who are contributing meaningfully to national development,” he said.