The gale of rejections trailing the decision of federal government to honour some Nigerians as part of activities marking the nation’s centenary celebrations continued yesterday as the family of the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, has rejected his award.
The position of the family is contained in a letter addressed to the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, dated February 27 and signed by the first son of the late lawyer, Mohammed.
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| late Gani Fawehinmi |
In the letter, a copy of which was made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday, the family listed four grounds for its rejection of the award, one of which is inclusion of past leaders with little or no democratic credentials.
Mohammed also faulted the perceived nonchalant attitude of government towards the killing of some students in Yobe State, stating that their late father was empathetic to the sufferings of our people, particularly students.
He said: “In the last 72 hours, 59 innocent students were mowed down by the blood-thirsty Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe State, while 20 other girls were similarly abducted by these same band of terrorists.
“These girls are still in captivity while their fate is unknown. If our late father were to be alive, would he be wining and dining with all the glitterati at a centenary celebration under these circumstances? Certainly no.”
The family also listed perceived official corruption in the management of the country occasioned by the controversies generated by the alleged unaccounted $20 billion from the proceeds of oil sales as the third reason.
“In the past few weeks, the polity has been assaulted with putrid odour of corruption with the alleged $20 billion missing in NNPC, a development that became the Achilles’ heel of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the suspended governor of Central Bank.
“As an anti-corruption activist, if he were to be alive, our late father would have confronted the issue head-on and possibly gone to court. With the issue still raging, would our late father have accepted this award at this critical moment? Certainly no,” the family wrote in the letter.
He also faulted the expenditure on the celebrations, saying it is costing the country too much. He said the funds should have been channelled to the development of infrastructures and social services.
