By Adedamola Ogunbewon
The former military head of state, Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), claims he tried to get along with late human rights attorney Gani Fawehinmi.
Babangida, the military president of Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, made a statement on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, hosted by Laolu Akande.
The former head of state from the armed forces praised Fawehinmi’s remarks on national concerns and called him a good critic.
He said: “If we come up with a policy, my first question to my staff was: What would Gani Fawehinmi say? I like listening to him. I made it a point to become his friend.”
“He was very friendly with one of my former ministers, the late Alex Akinyele. They were very good friends, and he (Alex) tried to make us very good friends.
“He (Fawehinmi) (was) a good critic and he didn’t want to be seen with someone that people already perceived as ‘an evil genius.”
Fawehinmi was a vocal critic of the government, both military and civilian.
He was imprisoned by several military governments, yet he never gave up on his human rights fight. On September 5, 2009, he passed away at the age of 71.
He turned down the late President Musa Yar’Adua’s 2008 award of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). According to Fawehinmi, he chose to oppose poor leadership since independence.
Nonetheless, in 2018, the late activist received the second-highest national award, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), posthumously from former President Muhammadu Buhari.
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