some of your senators too was doing bad job for abroad before them come for naija.

GANI FAWEHINMI PASSES ON AT 71
Cover Stories Sep 5, 2009 Fire-eating lawyer and Nigeria’s foremost human rights activist, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi is dead. The news of the death of the Human Rights crusader hit the Nigerian nation early this morning.

Gani, who has been fighting a terminal illness over a period of time has championed human rights activities in Nigeria for decades and led the legal team in most of the nation’s celebrated cases. He was said to had died last night.

Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi was born in April, 1938, he dedicated his whole life to the defence of human rights and condemnation of all ill government polices, fought the military junta with all that he had.

In 2003 he founded the National Conscience Party in 2003.

What people think of GANI

Joseph Contrears of Newsweek magazine, a leading magazine in the United States in an interview with Fawehinmi in the October 10, 1994 edition at page 56 of the magazine titled “No Freedom without a fight” said of him:

“Gani Fawehinmi is Nigeria’s best-known human-rights attorney. He is also a leader of the pro-democracy movement that is currently protesting the de facto state of emergency imposed by the military regime of Gen. Sani Abacha.”



Catriona Rogan writing in the Washington Times of Thursday, November 23, 1995 titled “Nigeria Outsider who will be Insider” wrote of Gani as follows under the caption “Fawehinmi challenges military in the street.”

“Nigeria’s “Steve Biko”, Chief Fawehinmi is a larger-than-life politician and lawyer with a track record of defending human rights activities, including the ethnic Ogoni, who have fought Shell oil which drills in their home land near the Niger River delta over environment issues”

James Brooke writing for the New York Times of Friday, October 28, 1988 under the heading “A Gleeful David to Face the Goliath that is Nigeria” describes Gani thus:

“Fawehinmi is taking a different strategy to hasten the return of democracy to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation. This year, he has emerged as a one-man movement battling Nigeria’s Military Government for more civil freedoms now.”

Education

Chief Gani who was called to the Nigerian Bar on the 15th of January, 1965 had his early education at Ansar-Ud-Deen Primary School, Iyemaja – Ondo from 1947 to 1953 and his secondary school education at Victory College Ikare, a Christian School from 1954 to 1958, under the leadership of the Late Rev. Akinrele.

On the 8th of December 1958, he was given a letter to his late father by the principal of the college, Rev. Akinrele. In it, the principal advised that Gani must be encouraged to study Law as a profession.

While in college, he his passionate interest in national, legal and political affairs earned him the name the “Nation”

On the 29th of April, 1961, he left the shores of Nigeria by Sea with M. V. Aureol Passenger Ship for the United Kingdom. He arrived Liverpool on the 12th of May, 1961. He travelled by train to London arriving Victoria Station in the evening of that day.

Gani the ‘Toilet Cleaner”
On arrival in England, Gani received the result of his General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) Advanced Level which he took shortly before he left Nigeria.

He then enrolled in the Holborn College of Law for the LLB degree of the University of London (External) in September 1961. He was in part II of the three year degree programme when his father died on February 5, 1963 and the source of his finance dried up.

All efforts to secure financial help failed. He was forced by financial circumstance to drop out of the Holborn College as a full time student.

He then took a full time job as a Toilet Cleaner in Russell Square Hotel in Southampton Row, London. He did other cleaning jobs which included working as a sweeper in the old Gatwick Airport between February 1963 and August 1964.

He literally taught himself Law for parts II and III of the LLB degree course and sat for and passed all his examinations. He came back to Nigeria in early September 1964

On his arrival in Lagos, he enrolled in the Nigerian Law School at No. 213A, Igbosere Road, Lagos for the compulsory three months course which he successfully completed.

Gani’s wives & children

Gani is married to Mrs. Ganiat Ibukun Fawehinmi, nee Orebela a native of Ago-Iwoye in Ijebu, in Ogun State. She has eight ( children for him. Gani has another wife, Mrs. Abike Fawehinmi, nee Ikuomuyilo, from Ondo. She has six (6) children for him.

Details later.

@ Poster
What's the point? Are you trying to ridicule a dead man? At least he was honest enough to have written that in his autobiography. Some other Nigerians would have written that they were working in Buckingham Palace as the Queen's PA or something rathr magnifying. This post is rather unnecessary.

what the hell is "bad" job?

more than half of nigerian abroad do this useless work and send the money to you in nigeria. why?

Everybody no fit do yahoo yahoo like u

A Man of no lesser value has been lost,of what relevant is it that he once cleaned or swept somewhere?and more over considering the circumstance, better still he utilized all well.say something better nexct time

and this is suppose to make me happy and jump for joy right?

your post was educative though but need not say less: get a life

Resilience in the face of adversity

goes to show Gani was made of some very stern stuff. most of us would have called it quits and come back home.

chuckodili:

more than half of nigerian abroad do this useless work and send the money to you in nigeria. why?

No mind dem jare.

in life you do what you have to do until you can get to do what you want to do.

so what if the man worked as a janitor.

a friend of mine, when we were in college once spent a summer working as a rubbish collector. Today he works in Senior management at Chrysler.

Dont judge a man by his humble beginnings. It is often those who have tasted poverty in early life that work extremely hard to make sure they escape it for good.

besides, who are you to call it useless work when it probably pays more than your white colar job in nigeria.

Thank you shesi for your enlightenment on us. Even a cleaner in the UK is almost richer than a white colar bank manager here in Naija.