Since the Russian Revolutionary, George Plekhanov, wrote 117 years ago his famous essay entitled “The Role of the Individual in History”, historians on the Left and Right have been debating what impact could an individual make in changing the course of history. Although Plekhanov strategically disagreed with other leaders of the Russian revolution, his younger comrade (and by the way, a lawyer too), Vladimir Lenin, acknowledged his “immense contributions” especially in providing theoretical insights. One of those contributions of Plekanov was theorising about the interplay of objective and subjective forces as exemplified in the essay we are referring to here.
It is hardly imaginable for any theoretician to enter into the debate on the role of the individual in history in the Nigerian context today without examining the role of Gani Fawehinmi whose memory is richly honoured by the presentation of the book under review. Indeed, there is hardly a more fitting epitaph to Fawehinmi than the title of the book, STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN IF YOU ARE STANDING ALONE. Every minute of the life and times of the man, described by Justice Kayode Esho in the book as “one of the greatest advocates that have worn the Silk,” was a teachable moment. In theory and practice, Fawehinmi taught us lessons about what difference a man make without prejudice to the defining role of organisation and other historical forces. As Professor Bolaji Akinyemi once put it another forum, it is said that a tree does not make a forest, but Gani’s tree actually strove assiduously to make a forest in the struggle for social justice and freedom.
Like every human being, Gani, of course, had his faults, but you could never accuse him of not standing up for what he was convinced about; he was never lacking in the rare virtue of courage of conviction. He stood up for his conviction by tirelessly offering the public ideas to solve socio-economic and political problems. He not only spoke out loudly against injustice and unfreedom, he also acted in the courtrooms and on the streets. That is why the Ikeja NBA should be commended for keeping the memory of Fawehinmi alive with the bounteous harvest of ideas embodied in this book of great value. It is a great service to posterity.
Fawehinmi devoted his life to the advancement of human progress; embodied in the well-edited book are ideas from divergent perspectives about what is to be done to advance human progress. The reader is therefore invited to partake freely in the big harvest of ideas on freedom, democracy, good governance, legal activism, fighting corruption, eradicating poverty, electoral integrity and a people-centred political economy. These themes and others efficiently explored in the book, of course, coincided with the themes of Fawehinmi’s perspicacious interventions in the public sphere.
In fact, they defined Fawehinmi’s life historically. Between 2005 and 2014, the Ikeja NBA, the organisers of the Fawehinmiism Lecture Series, invited men and women imbued with some ideas in the respective themes to make presentations which are now complied into a book in an exemplary institution-building manner. It is salutary that those who institutionalised this remarkable Lecture Series were able to attract these great women and men of ideas to be part of this feast of the minds over the years.
Furthermore, it is a tribute to the culture of documentation, which, as we all could remember, was one of those great Fawehinmi’s passions. Fawehinmi’s passion for ideas and documentation was such that it would be eternally regretted that he couldn’t publish his definitive memoirs before the callous illness took over his life. But his numerous polemical statements and insightful publications would remain veritable sources for synthetizing ideas for progress. Meanwhile, if you like to decode the philosophy of Fawehinmiism, the starting point may as well be reading STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN IF YOU ARE STANDING ALONE. Indeed these words came directly from Fawehinmi himself.
To be sure, even when you have cause to disagree with the perspective of any of the contributors (some of whom are unfortunately deceased like Fawehinmi himself), it would be wrong to say that any of them had nothing to say in his or her chosen theme. This is no surprise when you go through the names of the authors of the essays in the book. In fact, merely listing their names could be intellectually, professionally and ideologically intimidating. Sharing the space with Justice Esho are Ademola Popoola, Funke Adekoya, Sam Amadi, Akin Ibidapo-Obe (with two essays), Abubakar Momoh, Jadesola Akande, Olu Onagoruwa, Nuhu Ribadu, Ishola Williams, Yusuf Olaolu Alli, Innocent Chukwuma, Joe Okei-Odumakin, Segun Sango and Olasupo Ojo.
Others are Yemi Osinbajo, Dora Akinyuli, Ayo Obe, Adams Oshiomhole, Kayode Fayemi, Omotoye Olorode, Chidi Odinkalu, Abiodun Owonikoko, Tunde Bakare and Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika. It may be safely said that the thread to the multi-perspective contributions is a deep theoretical grounding of the themes spiced with everyday life examples. In fact the discussions are further animated with personal experiences.
Since this is a season for politicians to deliver their manifestoes this book may well be handy for those genuinely interested in formulating policies to combat corruption, which Mr. Chukwuma identifies as the “number one contributor to social disorder”, and Osinbajo pinpoints as “one of the leading causes of poverty.” The interplay of factors of corruption, poverty, democracy and the rule is the focus of Professor Akande’s scholarly examination of the issues.
When Dr. Onagoruwa says, “poverty, corruption and democracy are strange bedfellows” he might as well be talking of Nigeria of January 15, 2015. According to Onagoruwa, “ the corruption of our rulers has deepened poverty more. There is no moral edification for the poor people, they always struggle with their poverty…” Which man of conscience would disagree with the foregoing position of the former Attorney General? Or when Mallam Ribadu says “the example that angers the most, is the squandermania associated with the volume ($400 billion) of development assistance that had flowed into this country since independence but for which there is just little to show for it”?
And talking about conscience in these matters, General Ishola Williams, who tasks the followership rigorously in the anti- corruption efforts, has simplified the definition of the socio-economic scourge like this: “My definition of corruption is any act that your conscience tells you is wrong.” Perhaps, the most pernicious form of corruption is the corruption of the electoral process. This is because that is the corruption of the process of getting into power in a democracy. Some of the suggestions of Dr. Fayemi and Mr. Alli, SAN, in this respect would be useful in sanitising the process of securing people’s mandate. While Dr. Fayemi stresses the prosecution of electoral offenders Alli advocates, “enhancing the independence and strengthening the capacity of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).” After all, it is instructive as Comrade Sango puts it, “ an effective and sustained war against corruption will require at least a government truly elected by Nigerians themselves.”
To be sure, the reader will find a lot to read on what is to be done about corruption as the book is suffused with many anti-corruption ideas. This is to be expected in any publication associated with the name of Fawehinmi. Some other contributors demonstrated with evidence and logic how the social scourge impinges on governance or as some insist it puts legitimacy of governance into question. You could rightly put into this category the contributions of Dr. Okei-Odumakin, Professor Osinbajo, Professor Ibidapo-Obe, Comrade Sango and Mr. Olasupo. For instance, those who are on the drawing board for the anti-corruption strategies of their political parties may wish to read the “typology of corruption” rigorously presented by Professor Akin Ibidapo-Obe.
Nigeria’s debacle in the making of a people’s Constitution is also given some space. Two lawyers, Mrs. Obe and I, examined certain aspects of the problem. While I do not see the possibility of a re-inventing the constitution with a “top-bottom approach” Mrs. Obe posits rather intriguingly that : “the only thing that the National assembly ought to do if it were really resolved to re-invent the Nigerian State, would be to amend the Section 9 of the Constitution, transferring the process out of the National Assembly to a democratically elected constituent assembly where the Nigerian people are truly represented and which could then set about a genuine Constitution.” Now we may ask a conjectural question: did the last year National Conference meet this bill?
In a sense, the problems exemplified by the various themes of the book are all derivatives of the fundamental problems of the political economy. Professor Olorode approached this with a revolutionary approach while combatting neo-liberalism all the way. He categorically calls for the “audacity of the oppressed” organised in movement against exploitation. In fact, Dr. Odinkalu and Mr. Owonikoko further demonstrate how the workings of the political economy impinge on human rights. So the book is also about human freedom. According to Odinkalu, “the heart of the Nigerian problem is the replacement of politics of participation with politics of capture at both ends of the continuum of political economy from citizen to state”
The dextrous deployment of the instruments of bourgeois laws in Fawehinmi’s legendary struggles is what is identified as legal activism. While Justice Esho, offers what you could call a recipe for this activism, Professor Momoh gives a theoretical insight into Fawehinmiism. He says Fawehinmiism could indeed be a form of philosophically vast landscape called humanism. “Gani is a humanist”, he says. For Dr. Amadi, Fawehinmiism “ is beyond Gani and the radicals” because it “it is about nation-building.” Mrs. Adekoya makes a spirited case for an activist bar association because as she argues “ a bar association that espouses values and principles of justice will enjoy public standing …. and will be voice to be respected.” Yet in a bourgeois social order legal activism has its limits in the struggle to advance human progress. As Professor Oyebode instructively observes : “At a certain level also, activism is limited to incremental reforms within the existing social order and is, therefore, unattractive to those enamoured of more revolutionary forms of political action.”
Some contributors demonstrate wide breadth of reflection on the Nigeria condition. Hence the contributions are replete with deep thinking and inspiration on a road map to human progress and interrogation of the leadership question. The presentations by Professor Akinyuli, Pastor Bakare and Oshiomhole fall into this category. All told, the book is not only about ideas with which Fawehinmi was associated; it is also a book of testimonies about Fawehinmi as Mr. Olumide-Fusika shows admirably in his very animated “postscript.” The citation of Fawehinmi by Professor Popoola in his inimitable style is such a profound and well-put together portraiture of Fawehinmi that one is tempted to read it as a foretaste of a full-length biography of Fawehinmi.
Expectedly, there appears to be a problem with the organisation of the book because some themes are interwoven. Some passages appear invariably repetitive. Not all the contributions are dated. The book could have also been enriched by a perceptive introduction. No doubt, this book is a major and timely contribution to the debate about how to change the Nigerian condition. We were all witnesses to the historical fact that changing the Nigerian condition was Fawehinmi’s mission on earth. All those who yearn for ideas for human progress should read the book.
Finally, in commending the Nigerian Bar Association for this publication, it would not have come at a more opportune time than now. While a leading candidate of the opposition political party has threatened to jail those who loot the treasury, President Jonathan has assured Nigerians, that if re-elected, his administration would use technology to fight corruption instead of sending people to the prison yard. It is also interesting to note that political parties and politicians are being compelled to debate and discuss issues pertaining to the underdevelopment of the country.`
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