News Star newspaper

Gani Fawehinmi and Ondo citadel of the absurd

It was yet another week of intellectual assault, psychological rip-off and heart-ripping offensive wonder! And at the centre of the queer drama was (and still is) our own world-renowned tireless fighter, Chief Gani Oyesola Fawehinmi, who unfortunately, is still in the “boxing ring,” far away in London, in a breath-taking duel with malignant cancer – of the lungs.
Trouble sidon jeje, yanga go wake am. Oh yeah; perfectly captures the sordid game that borders on the dirtiest absurdity, which reared its ugly head on Sunday. I’m sure that after reading this, as usual, you will apprise me of what the oddity did to your sensibility.. Sure; it must cause an ache in the belly of an ape!
It began on July 31, precisely 51 days ago. Authorities of the Adekunle Ajasin University , Akungba, Ondo State , through a letter duly endorsed by its registrar, Mrs. B.A. Oloketuyi JP, notified the legal icon of his nomination for honorary doctorate degree.  By the letter which noted all the sublime qualities that stand him out among legion of humans, which he got on August 14, he was expected to be so decorated during the school’s convocation initially billed for September 12. Except those behind it were walking on their heads while taking the decision, presumably, the institution’s Senate must have done a thorough groundwork.
Like the lion who never greased any palm to become king among animals, the head of the “reluctant” Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, wouldn’t have “swollen” over the award which was just one out of well-deserved hundreds in his kitty. But he acknowledged it through one of his lieutenants, Adindu Ugwuzor Esq.
Suddenly, on September 8, through another letter to the genius lawyer, the university made a u-turn that would even jolt Satan, the cruelest one! The five-paragraph letter laughably revoked the award “owing to unavoidable circumstances,” while it also announced the curious shifting of the graduation ceremony to September 19! Initially, I thought it was a bad one from a scare-monger. Realising that it was no farce, all the organs in my head suffered unrest as I covered my face in shame on behalf of the “lords” in the institution, (and even the innocent students of the school who would have loved to give the 70-year-old fiery legal giant, 70 gun salutes that day) after reading the third paragraph that partly read, “…on review, it has been discovered that three eminent personalities in the legal profession were put up for the award. It has therefore become imperative that we reduce that number by one.”
Trust Gani; you may not like him on all fronts, especially for his idiosyncrasy, but his intellectual stature, and indeed, logical reasoning, which have stood the test of time, are non-pareil! In a press release, he fingered the Ondo State governor, Chief Olusegun Agagu, his “political enemy” as the brain behind the lugubrious comedy. But Abiodun Nejo, a  colleague, who is also one of the governor’s media aides,  dismissed such insinuation as “a petty thought of mischief makers,” saying that Agagu would not tamper with the constitutional autonomy of the university.
But then, even if Agagu so demanded of the authorities, it behoves them to, realizing that the institution should uphold the sacred hallmark of unblemished integrity and untainted transparency, stamp their feet to say, “Your Excellency, we are sorry; we won’t compromise the inviolate integrity of this institution at stake!”
How do we trace the dogs that have disappeared with honour in this country? Or did it go with the winds? We are in dire need of a wind “sieve” to return honour and conscience into the insane system where corruption has become the norm. I can feel it; this nation has gone sleazy with consciencelessness.
Now, let’s ask questions: Who and who constitute the school’s highest ruling body, or the awards committee? Did they have their liver under the soles of their shoes? Okay; who are the two other lawyers whose credentials outshine that of Gani who, on September 13, 1998, for his legendary contributions to law profession on all facets, got a ten-minute standing ovation in Vancouver, Canada from over 3,800 eminent legal luminaries who gathered from across the globe for the event where he too was honoured with the prestigious Bernard Simons Memorial Award?. We are waiting to know the duo!
Were those who picked Gani and the two others ab initio in a trance before the strange u-turn? So, they knew not that there were dispensations for only two persons before sending the letter to Gani?  A situation where the academic community that is supposed to be the only surviving (as it now seems) custodian of integrity which sadly, has taken a flight from our land, is embroiled in this kind of mess, calls for profuse tears from the few among us who know the potency of forthrightness in our current desperate attempt at re-making Nigeria.
For such an authority in a respected academic environment to take such a precipitate action only to later turn round to say something else is an unpardonable error couched in procedural anomaly, which would raise the eyebrow of the worst dunderhead on earth.
Despite the “Akungba power play,” Gani has his unique place in history. But this issue is not about him; some people must be told in clear terms that Nigerians are no morons. Or wetin I talk? See you again next week; Insha Allah!