Enthronement of democracy in Ondo: I am fulfilled, Gani Fawehinmi

Human rights crusader and legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi on Thursday expressed satisfaction over the judgement of the Appeal Court in Benin which declared Dr Olusegun Mimiko as the elected Governor of Ondo State saying that with the return, by the Court, of the wish of the people of the State as expressed with their overwhelming votes for Dr Mimiko on April 14, 2007 before his mandate was stolen, he is now a fulfilled man indeed.

Fawehinmi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who is currently in London undergoing treatment for Cancer was honoured with a Special Convocation by the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, (AAU) which conferred on him a Honourary Doctorate Degree.

Speaking though his daughter, Basirat, Gani who hails from Ondo town was full of praises to God for what he termed “a new rebirth of Ondo State” with the enthronement of popular democracy through the instrumentality of the law.

“My father was overjoyed when he heard the verdict of the Appeal Court in Benin which declared Dr Mimiko as the Governor of Ondo State on February 23, this year. He called me from London and asked me if it was true that Mimiko is now the Governor of Ondo State and when I said yes, he now said, ‘listen, I am going to sound like the Gani Fawehinmi that you’ve always known. Ha! Ha! Thank God! Democracy has returned to Ondo State. The welfare of the people shall be the priority of the new government, Good roads, well equipped hospital, food on the table, potable water and clean environment shall be put in place and the people of Ondo State will rejoice once again.Oh! I am happy for Dr Mimiko and I know he will make the people of the State proud. I am fulfilled, I am happy to have witnessed this. Oh! I thank God!’”

Quoting from the book of Proverbs, Fawehinmi, stated that “when a good man rules, the people rejoice but when a bad man rules, the people mourn. A good man has come to rule in Ondo State and the people must surely rejoice.”

“My father sends his best wishes to Dr Mimiko, he says for me to tell you that you will succeed; that you will not fail because you are destined to succeed, the Iroko tree never dies, and you will not die. I congratulate the people of Ondo State and I wish to tell you that I wholeheartedly accept this honour done to me with this special convocation ceremony. I thank you most profusely”

Gani, however, urged the people to pray for his first son, Mohammed, who lost the use of his limbs in an auto crash six years ago. He urged them to pray that the young man would regain the use of his legs again; a request which the mammoth crowd readily granted as they prayed and chorused: He will walk!

In his address, entitled: “Salute to Courage,” the Visitor to the University and Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, was full of encomiums for Gani who he described as a Colossus and a pride not only to Ondo State, Nigeria but the whole world.

His words: “On behalf of the people of this State, I thank most sincerely this distinguished son of our State, this eminent Nigerian, this global personality of the finest cast. Gani has no doubt lived a life of social struggle. His is a life dedicated to the advancement of justice and the defense of the common man.

“His contributions His contributions to the development of our jurisprudence predicated upon a deep sense of revulsion at injustice and oppression remain unprecedented. In the seventy years of his life, Gani has managed to tower above several of his contemporaries and is an appropriate role model for generations of younger Nigerians.

“ We are here to let you know Chief, that we are proud of our association with you and to thank you for the eternal pride that you brought the way of our State, for whether anyone likes it or not, the Gani Fawehinmi phenomenon has helped substantially to define the nature and image of the Ondo State personality as a dedicated defender of the truth, a focused and conscientious hard worker, resilient in struggle, and driven by a deep sense of conformity with the omoluwabi ethos of the Yoruba.

“Were Chief Fawehinmi to die today, I am sure he would rest well confident that his place in the heart of Nigerians and lovers of truth, freedom and justice all over the world is assured. Once again, I congratulate you, sir.

The Governor also used the occasion to give vent to some of his programmes especially the role the University would play in making them a reality.

According to him, his blue proint of action entitled A Caring Heart would bring to Ondo State “a distinctive governance system predicated on using existing communal structures as the building blocks of governmental action. It offers a government that is selfless, transparent, forthright and committed to the generation of wealth for the good of all. It is a government in which every citizen is taken as a critical stakeholder in the true meaning of the concept, a government that is a catalyst of development and is committed to the deployment of the resources of Ondo State for the development of Ondo State citizens, an all-inclusive platform for individual well-being, corporate harmony and progressive politics.”

To him, the place of AAU cannot be over-emphasized. “I expect to see in the next couple of years a University that will be a critical player in the new paradigm of development that our people have bought into. We want AAUA to be the intellectual platform for the transformation we seek to emplace in Ondo State. We seek a University that is a specialized center of excellence for producing a quality work force that can hold its own anywhere in the world.”