FAWEHINMIISM 2010- NBA IKEJA CHAIRMAN'S WELCOME SPEECH

dave ajetomobi esq.

BEING THE WELCOME SPEECH DELIVERED BY DAVE AJETOMOBI CHAIRMAN, NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, IKEJA BRANCH, AT THE 6TH GANI FAWEHINMI ANNUAL LECTURE/SYMPOSIUM HELD IN HONOUR OF CHIEF ABDULGANIYU OYESOLA FAWEHINMI, SAN, ON 15TH DAY OF JANUARY 2010.

The Chairman of this occasion, Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, the irrepressible, principle and consistent first civilian Governor of the old Kaduna State. Alhaji Balarabe Musa is the first Nigeria from the core North that has ever consented to chair Fawehinmiism, we have made several efforts to reach out to our leader from that part of the country but they will disappoint us in the last minute, we appreciate this great elder statesman for honouring his comrade in the struggle for better Nigeria. The Guest Speaker, His Excellency, the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State ably represented, His Excellency, the Governor of Ondo State ably represented, all other protocols duly observed,

Today we are gathered here to celebrate the life and times of Chief Abdul-Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAM, SAN, LL.D, D.Litt., frontline nationalist, conscience of the nation, irrepressible defender of the defenceless, doughty champion of the cause of human dignity and values, indefatigable crusader for social justice and rule of law, philanthropist extra-ordinaire, accomplished author, publisher and law reporter, former National Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, Life Member, Obafemi Awolowo University Student Union, life member, University of Lagos Student Union, the Lomofe of Ondo, founder and former National Chairman, National Conscience Party (NCP).

Chief Gani Fawehinmi is one Nigerian whose numerous exploits can not be conveniently placed in one pigeonhole. No doubt, he was lawyer par excellence indeed, one of the greatest of our time, but he was also a politician of uncommon hue. He was not just a political and human right activist, he was a philanthropist, a nationalist and a citizen of the world championing with uncommon zeal and fervour, the values that binds humanity.

Despite all these, his life has a curious twist of irony to it. It vividly exemplified the tragedy of our national life, considering the fact that in more that four decades of our national existence, the country is yet to evolve a system, sanitized enough to ensure that only our best emerge in all critical position of leadership. A cursory glance at history will teach one thing for sure that ability to lead is not innate. It is acquired through nurture and through experience. Institutions, empires and states which had endured in the course of human history were built on a solid foundation of learning, on the other hand institutions and states have degenerated because they had appointed low men to high posts.

At a time when as a people, we seem to have been losing respect and regard for true heroism and too often to mistake self aggrandizement for greatness and the blind, reckless, murderous pursuit of material
success has become the cankerworm that has virtually completed its task of totally destroying our society and our chances of building a nation.

As you are aware, the theme of this year's programme is 'Nigeria: A Nation of Credible and People Oriented Leadership. ''This theme is apt in view of the fact that we are on the threshold of another rounds of elections. The aim of picking this topic is to assess our journey so far in our l0yrs experiment in civil rule.

The Guest Speaker for today, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is in a better position to speak on this topic from his personal experience as a Labour Leader, who has fought for the cause of the masses before, during and after his 8 years' presidency at the Nigerian Labour Congress. In the cause of this, he had confronted institutions, including governments at various levels, individuals and corporate oppressors. One can say, the man once referred to 'Adamant Adam' like Saint Paul has fought the beast at Ephesus. He has fought many battles against unjustifiable fuel price increases, introduced by the government under the cover of deregulation. He has fought for better living conditions for Nigerian workers and he has fought bravely against casualisation of Nigerian workers by local and foreign countries.

He has also fought fierce battles to recover the mandate freely given to him by the good people of Edo State, who were tired of several years of misrule and maladministration in that state. That legitimate mandate was stolen by the enemies from the people, but as a result of his fearless struggle, alongside the givers of the mandate, that is, the good people of Edo State who earnestly yearned for better life. The mandate was eventually recovered through the instrumentality of the law.

Therefore, the Comrade Governor will be in a better position to tell us what credible and people oriented leadership is all about.

The question we need to ask ourselves at this point in time is what credible and people oriented leadership entails. Any person of average intelligence can conveniently say that it entails the following:

A leadership that emerges in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the people.

Considering the fact that INEC is peopled by the die-hard party loyalists, who are ready to conduct election even in the face of pending court injunction to the contrary, can we say we have this in the present day Nigerian?

We do not think that credible and people oriented leadership could emerge from such elections that was conducted contrary to the rule of law, despite the much touted rule of law sloganeering of the Federal Government.

A credible and people oriented leadership will not prefer importing fuel at a very exorbitant cost when it can produce same locally at a much cheaper and reasonable costs.

A credible and people oriented leadership would not promise to tackle incessant power outages, and for 10 years the solution has remained in the realm of promises. Consequently, causing industries to fold up and relocation to neighbouring West African countries where constant power supply is assured.

A credible and people oriented leadership should be concerned with the loss of lives that has become the order of the day due to gross neglect of our roads nationwide.

Our educational sector is plagued by incessant strike by university lecturers who are demanding for better funding of the system.


The Health Sector is nothing to write home about.

Consequently, our political leaders who are supposed to see that the hospitals are well-equipped and funded, prefer to seek medical attention abroad, instead of upgrading the facilities in our hospitals.

As a result of the insensitive leadership in the country, ninety percent of our people live below poverty level. A problem that has further been compounded by mass unemployment and retrenchment. In this respect, we have to commend Government of Lagos State for the efforts at job creation by creating bodies like LASTMA, KAI, and Highway Managers, drain ducks, etc, which has reduced the unemployment in the state.

The fight against the major enemy of the country CORRUPTION is being fought haphazardly. So far no corrupt public official has been tried and convicted except in a recent case in a Lagos State High Court. Instead we have seen cases where the Honourable Attorney General has made strenuous efforts to stall the trial of some Nigerian suspects by a foreign government.

As we celebrate the life and times of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the man who spent his life contending with the above mentioned societal evils, we should resolve in our hearts to continue where Gani left off, if we fail to do this, posterity will not forgive us.

I promised during my speech at the valedictory Court session held in honour of Chief Fawehinmi by the Lagos State Judiciary that we will inaugurate Gani Fawehinmi Award in certain categories. It is my pleasure to inform this August gathering that we have concluded arrangement to present the 1st set of the Awards in three categories today. They are:

1. Gani Fawehinmi Award for Good Governance won by Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN,

2. Gani Fawehinmi Award for courageous defence of popular Mandate won by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

3. Gani Fawehinmi Award for Outstanding Judicial Officers jointly won by Hon. Justices Joseph Oyewole and Habeeb Abiru.

I wish to congratulate the winners and urge them not to rest on their oars as the battle for better Nigeria is yet to be won.

Finally, I want to thank our guests for sparing time to join in celebrating this great son of Africa, particularly the individuals and Chambers that have been consistent in assisting-us in financing this project, may the Almighty God continue to prosper you all.

NIGERIA - A NATION IN SEARCH OF CREDIBLE AND PEOPLE-

(Being Contributions by Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, Governor of Edo State, at the 6th Gani Fawehinmi Annual Symposium Organised by the Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja Branch on January 15, 2010 at the Airport Hotel, Lagos)

Protocols
l. Appreciation
I wish to thank the NBA, Ikeja Branch, for inviting me to the 6th edition of the Chief Gani Fawehinmi
Annual Lecture/Symposium.

2. Reasons for Accepting invitation
1.
In accepting the invitation, I had no hesitation or second thought at all 1. First because of any tremendous respect for the illustrious memory of Chief Gani Fawehinmi. There is unanimity off opinion that Gani was one of the most courageous, principled and selfless patriots and fighters against injustice ever produced in Nigeria, Like many Nigerians, whom Gani had fought for, I feel highly indebted to him. Therefore, addressing this forum in memory of Gani is for me a great honour,

2. The second reason I accepted this invitation is out of my respect for the Ikeja Bar. The Ikeja Bar has earned a formidable reputation for its vibrancy in defending the rights of Nigerians and in using the law to confront abuses of the constitution and anti-democratic forces. The Ikeja Bar is truly the Tiger 0f the Bar, which has in its ranks many courageous advocates of the Nigerian people.

3. Finally, I was excited by the topic, which is Nigeria — a Nation in Search of Credible and People-Oriented Leadership. For me, there is no mater that is more pressing in Nigeria today than the need for people-driven, competent and committed leadership.

4. Many would argue that poor leadership is the primary explanation for the roundly deteriorating Nigerian condition. The Nigerian condition is characterised by development indicators that rank her among poorly performing or under-performing nations. Yet, in terms of factor endowments, Nigeria compares favourably with some of the most naturally endowed nations of the world.

5. The view that Nigeria's crisis flows from leadership is exemplified by the famous writer, Prof Chinua Achebe. In his seminal book -The Trouble -with Nigeria, Prof Achebe argues quite forcefully and I quote rather approvingly: "the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely the failure of leadership".

6. However, despite the well-acknowledged leadership failures, we have seen leaders and leadership performance that are clearly above average at all levels in Nigeria. I believe that recognising this is critical because it helps us to appreciate that we are not inherently incapable of producing outstanding leaders. Despite many disincentives, it is generally acknowledged that Nigerians can be very resourceful. From all accounts, including a persuasive testimony by former President Bill Clinton, Nigerians are high-flyers and leaders in many fields worldwide, such as scholarship, science, technology and research.

7. As that prominent official TV advertisement boldly proclaims) several outstanding Nigerians are global icons in several fields. The curious paradox is that despite these stunning and outstanding individual accomplishments) the country still under-performs. Many would argue that the missing element is a competent and committed leadership that is able to harness, inspire, mobilise and invest these boundless talents into national greatness.

8. Definition
The operative word in the theme of this lecture is LEADERSHIP. What really is leadership? There are various theories and typologies of leadership, much of which emphasise the exercise of direction, control, management and authority in furtherance of goals. My understanding is that leadership is the act and process of envisioning, designing and executing solutions that benefit the full diversity of the immediate and long-term interests of members of a unit of society, in a -way that integrates their wishes and will.

9. Leadership is very much about conceiving and mobilising towards solutions and meeting challenges. This means in essence that leadership is not necessarily synonymous with office bearing. In society, there are outstanding individuals who command respect by being able to inspire and provide direction without necessarily bearing any official positions. Some Nigerians like Chief Gani Fawehimm have consistently helped to clarify what Nigeria could be but is not, and have sought to provide leadership in mobilising the people around improving her conditions. In this respect, people like Chief Gani Fawehinmi very much form part of our stock of leadership.

10. Attributes of leadership
Good leadership must naturally entail a wide variety of attributes and competences, such as:
- high level of integrity, incorruptibility and great strength of character
- clarity of vision and capacity for constructive visioning;
- intellectual depth
- Experience in governance
- respect for collectively evolved values and rules
- humanism and compassion
- technocratic competence
- ability to interact with, engage, inspire and mobilise the people based on the common good
- accessibility, humility and simplicity
- patience
- courage
- willingness to otter service selflessly

11. However, for me, what sets apart a great leader from the rest is a certain restlessness, which comes from deep-seated aversion to business as usual. Again, Chief Gani Fawehinmi embodies this positive restlessness to a large measure and this informs the extent to which he was willing to go in search of solutions.

12. Some questions
In formulating the theme of this lecture, it would appear that the organisers presume entirely that Nigeria is deficient in leadership. Is this really correct? My position is that both in our previous and current dispensations as a nation, we can find elements of good leadership, which need to be celebrated and nurtured, while there are obviously bad models, which we must collectively repudiate.

13. The organisers also readily imply that the entirety of Nigeria is searching for credible and people-oriented leadership. However, for some Nigerians, there is clearly no cause to search, since they have already found their leaders. It is common I in politics and governance for certain individuals to be christened, described and celebrated as “My Leader" or "the Leader" because they meet all the criteria of good leadership to those who rely on them for political and other advantages. Therefore, who really is in search of credible and people-oriented leadership? How do we bring about credible and people-oriented leadership?

14. Finally, from the topic, it could be inferred that the reference of the NBA is leadership in the context of the Nigerian State. Quite rightly, the discourse on leadership and governance is usually based on the conduct of custodians of state power because of the impact of the relatively enormous fiscal, administrative and political powers available to them.

15. However, more recent analysis of leadership focuses on both the State and the non-State spheres, such as the community, business and corporate terrains, social movements and faith-based movements etc. This is because social progress is driven by the cumulative aggregation of acumen and accomplishments by those who exercise leadership across all spheres, both State and non-State. Therefore, the responsibility for the evolution and sustenance of effective leadership is a shared one.

16. Popular perception of leadership
Leadership is best assessed by those it serves or purports to serve. In this context, it might be pertinent to appraise how Nigerians view those in leadership positions. Very often, Nigerians are very critical, even contemptuous, of leaders for very good reasons. This is evident across social movements, in the media, in beer parlours, students’ platform, markets and other theatres of society, including among school children. What this indicates is that leaders often do not add value to the lives of the people. Even more importantly, some leaders in their utterances have often justified the contempt of the people.

I7. However, how do our leaders regard themselves and their roles in society? The come-and-eat agenda, espoused by a seasoned politician and serving minister, represents the notion of leadership as call to eat and not a call to service. In many respects, many functionaries of various dispensations in the country typified the understanding of office and power as instruments for private accumulation at the expense of the interest of the people and the development agenda.

18. At the same time, some other leaders have evolved notions of leadership that is service-driven. In proclaiming himself a Servant-Leader, President Yar’Adua reminds that leadership is about service. This view involves an appreciation of the people as the masters, who deserve to be served, and served properly.

19. Going further into history, Nigeria actually had leaders, who elevated service over other considerations despite short-comings and contradictions here and there. In the First Republic, we had leaders who delivered on the development agenda.

20. For me, the critical challenge is for the Nigerian ruling elites to revisit the fundamentals, which leaders of that period subscribed to, irrespective of political parties, tiers of government or other affiliations.

21. One of this is commitment to nation building. Nigeria needs nationalists and national leaders. The lesson of history is that cohesive nations forged by visionary leaders are more viable and enduring as units of development than those held hostage by ethnic unionists.


22. We also need to challenge leaders to put the development agenda on the front burner. While the First Republic politicians had their ideological differences, the development agenda enjoyed accelerated attention. Those leaders gave the country an early head start relative to several other nations in Asia, South and Latin Americas and Africa, which have unfortunately left us behind today.

23. My experience is that Nigerians appreciate and celebrate leaders, with certain redeeming qualities and records whether in government or not. This explains the massive popularity enjoyed by leaders like Chief Gani Fawehinmi among the generality of Nigerians. Nigerians appreciate and celebrate leaders when they see performance that brings benefits to the people. Today, Lagosians celebrate the fact that Lagos is working because of the successive good leadership in this dispensation.

24. Who really are the leaders?
Who really are the leaders? My view is that the people are the leaders ultimately because their will is sovereign and supreme. To quote the words, of Prof Wole Soyinka, “there is only on eternal, sustainable sovereignty, and that is the sovereignty of the people”.

25. The people have a choice to delegate this sovereignty to persons of their choice. Across many spheres, this process of delegation is usually credible and effective. In the Labour Movement, with which I am most familiar, leadership is usually vested in stewards democratically, which is the basis of their credibility and legitimacy. Unfortunately, our stock of collective experience in mandating leadership has not been allowed to deliver credible and people oriented leadership in politics and governance.

26. How does a people-oriented leadership emerge?
Some believe that leaders are born, while some insist that leaders are made. My conclusion is that leaders are Elected or should Elected. Credible and people-oriented leadership can emerge only when the people’s will is allowed to prevail in the choice of leaders through free and fair elections.

27. Back to the Electoral Reform Agenda
Having said this, the option is not to lament. I believe that he people have a duty and role in the emergence of credible and people-oriented leadership. In the final analysis, the people must be willing to be politically assertive, politically involved and militant in the defence of their interests. We. Must be ready to defend our electoral choices. The restoration of my mandate is an example of what the system can deliver when the people are sufficiently mobilized. We need to develop viable strategies to engage the abundant civic energy in our people and translate it to political gains in their interests.

28. My last word is that Nigerians need to cultivate an activist citizenry in the no-nonsense, militant tradition of Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Even with the best of systems, good governance thrives better when the people are alive to the responsibility of troubling their leaders. This is the best tribute we can pay to the illustrious memory of Gani Fawehinmi and other fighters like him.

29. I thank you for your attention and God bless.

Government House,
Benin City,
15th January 2010