Gov Sani: Fawehinmi, Others Paid Huge ‘Cost’ For Nigeria’s Democracy

Governor Shehu Sani of Kaduna state says the democracy that Nigerians enjoy today could not have been possible without the sacrifice of some Nigerians, including the late human righst activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

The last human rights lawyer and others, he said, paid the high ‘cost’ for the democratic freedom that Nigerians are now enjoying because they refused to give up, even when others have lost hope.

The state’s helmsman spoke in Kaduna at the weekend at the public presentation of a book titled, Gani Fawehinmi And Uba Sani, A Tale Of Mentor And Mentee, saying the activist fought to open the political space for Nigerians.

For instance, he explained that it was Fawehinmi who took the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, to court when the commission tried to stop some associations from being registered as political parties in the country.

He stated that the issue with INEC had made some Nigerians to give up on the electoral process but that Fawehinmi took up the matter, despite the discouragement some human rights activist went through at the time, until justice was eventually achieved.

‘’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,’ Governor Sani said.

Adding that ‘’ 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.

‘’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.’

Fawehinmi and others who fought for democracy shouldnever be forgotten,he stressed,adding that the plularity in the nation’s political space came as a result of the huge sacrifice paid by the late activist and others in the civil society.

‘’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.

Chief Fawehinmi, a staunch human rights activist, died on September 5, 2009 at the age of 71.