7 years after, ‘Conscience of the Nation’ lives on in our hearts

Seven years ago today, Chief

He was 71 years of age.

He had lost the battle to live, to lung cancer.

Gani was the struggle and the struggle was Gani.

Gani was a fierce critic of several military regimes. As a consequence, he was beaten up and arrested on numerous occasions, his law chamber at Anthony Village in Lagos was ransacked and his guards were shot, leaving them seriously wounded.

Christened the ‘Conscience of the Nation’ by the press, Gani’s passports were seized on several occasions.

He would go underground and then re-emerge; ready for more rounds of the struggle, emboldened to keep fighting the cause of the oppressed, the abused and the molested.

Trained as a lawyer, Gani would take on cases pro-bono. He would march to television and radio stations across the country, his gospel of a just and right society emblazoned on his forehead.

Gani had become part of our lives, so much that when he passed on in 2009, we took a part of him with us and held up the kind of life he lived as a model for our children, who will then pass same to their children.

Seven years on, we still remember Gani with all the fondness in our hearts.

His views were sometimes extreme; his criticisms of government riled the jackboots and those in power.

But Nigeria has enjoyed near two decades of unbroken democratic governance thanks to the battles the likes of Gani fought and won.