Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN

Chief Abdul-Ganiyu “Gani” Oyesola Fawehinmi, GCON, SAN was a well-respected Nigerian author, publisher, philanthropist, social critic, seasoned human and civil rights lawyer, politician and Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Here are ten (10) things you should know about him.

1. He was born on 22 April 1938 into the family of Saheed and Munirat Fawehinmi in Ondo State, Nigeria.
2. He was the first born and only son out of six children born to his mum.
3. He 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, Ondo from 1954 to 1958.
4. He dropped out of the Holborn College as a full-time student while studying Law due to financial difficulty. He then took a full-time job as a Toilet Cleaner in Russell Square Hotel in Southampton Row, London.
5. During Gen. Sani Abacha’s regime, Gani was deported from Port Harcourt back to Lagos. This is the first of its kind when someone was deported from a state back to his home state.
6. His international passport was seized 7 times by security agents.
7. He was detained 40 times by security agents.
8. In 2008 Chief Gani Fawehinmi rejected one of the highest national honours that can be bestowed on a citizen by the Nigerian government – Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) – in protest of the many years of misrule since Nigeria’s independence.
9. He died in the early hours of 5^th September 2009 after a prolonged battle with lung cancer at the age of 71 years.
10. In 2018, Chief Fawehinmi was posthumously awarded the GCON, Nigeria’s second highest honour.