Date Published: 09/14/09
GANI: The hypocrisy of the Nigerian elite By Joe Igbokwe
Ever since the death of Chief Gani Fawehinmi was made public, I have sat
down to study and take mental notes of the tributes and encomiums showered
by Nigerians from all walks of life to the man who lived to serve and
served to live. The tributes are still coming in their thousands and they
will continue to come because of what Gani stood and died for. No Nigerian
leader living or dead since the inception of Nigeria has been able to
garner this kind of respect in death. In fact, a combination of all the
tributes paid to all Nigerian leaders dead or alive cannot be said to be
equal to what has been said of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
But one sour grape in the tributes is the hypocrisy of the elites who
seized the moment to dust up themselves and play politics with Gani’s
demise. I have seen some Nigerian leaders who worked against Gani, and
equally betrayed the man taking advantage of his death to feather their
political nests. Some of them have been making silly statements we know
they never believed in when Gani was alive. Some of them shouting from the
roof top now, praising Gani to high heavens were the charlatans that
betrayed Gani’s struggles. Some of them through actions and deeds were
the ones who frustrated Gani’s dream of a better Nigeria. They were the
ones that collectively contributed to the disease that killed Gani. One of
them, IBB, in particular was asked why he was always fond of detaining
Gani even when it is not necessary he tried to trivialize the matter by
saying that since past Nigerian leaders had always detained Gani he felt
it was out of place not to detain Gani.
I am therefore warning these pretenders to stop playing politics with
Gani’s death. Gani’s associates know Gani’s true friends and nobody
can deceive them with sweet talks. Nobody can deceive them with fake
tributes. I am sure that Gani’s demise has taught Nigerians some vital
lessons of history. They have seen the world paying glowing tributes. They
have seen the beggars, children, the have-nots, the down trodden,
students, market women, artisans, etc pay tributes to the man they all
loved and cherished. Gani in death has dwarfed the Nigerian leaders living
or dead. At the end of the day, one vital point has been made that
Nigerians know their leaders. Gani was the greatest leader Nigeria has
ever produced. Gani has become a monumental giant of unequal proportion
even in death. Now, I have questions for Nigerian leaders: How would
Nigerians rate you when you are no more? What would they say about you
when you will be lying in state? What would you be remembered for? What will be your legacies? This is a food for
thought. Let these charlatans stop insulting our sensibilities. Let these
fake friends of Gani stop distorting our line of vision. They should stop
deceiving Nigerians. We know the real friends of the late Chief Gani
Fawehinmi, the scourge of dictators.
Joe Igbokwe
Lagos
