Kaduna governor highlights Fawehinmi’s role in Nigeria’s democracy
Governor of Nigeria’s Kaduna State Uba Sani said that the legal struggle of the late lawyer and pro-democracy activist Gani Fawehinmi helped open Nigeria’s political space to opposition parties and political pluralism. He said this in Kaduna during the presentation of the book «Gani Fawehinmi and Uba Sani: A Mentor-Mentee Story», written by Basirat Fawehinmi-Biobaku, Premium Times Nigeria reports.
Legal dispute over party registration
According to Sani, human rights activists and democracy advocates were disappointed by the stringent conditions that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission set for political groups seeking registration as parties.
The governor said that Fawehinmi and former Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa went to court to challenge the electoral commission’s position. According to him, the legal proceedings lasted more than two years, and the Court of Appeal ruled in their favor. Sani described the verdict as one that opened the political space and contributed to the emergence of more political parties in Nigeria.
He called for remembering the activists who, he said, fought for the opportunity to form political associations and operate on different political platforms.
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Scholarships for students
Sani also described Fawehinmi as an advocate of developing all regions of Nigeria and expanding opportunities for citizens regardless of their origin, ethnicity, religion, or social status. He separately mentioned the activist’s involvement in establishing the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Fund.
According to the governor, he coordinated the fund’s work in northern Nigeria and persuaded Fawehinmi to launch a large-scale scholarship program in the region for talented university students from low-income families. Sani said that the program supported more than 1,000 students in northern Nigeria.
The governor added that 26 years ago, during the launch of the scholarship program at Arewa House in Kaduna, Fawehinmi urged local leaders to pay attention to the educational crisis in the region. In Sani’s view, the problems of northern Nigeria are directly or indirectly linked to insufficient investment in human capital.
