By Ayodele Ale
We were in the newsroom when respected lawyer Gani Fawehinmi’s call came in that reporters should be sent to his Oduduwa Crescent, GRA, Ikeja residence. A drama was in the offing. Gani was news, any time, any day. Within a jiffy, reporters from different media houses stormed his abode. It was a day to the Ileya festival and two rams were tied to the stakes in his compound. Gani pointed at the two animals, alleging that they were sent as Ileya presents to him by the then military administrator of Lagos.
Fawehinmi
said emphatically that the MILAD, who is a Muslim did not know the tenets of
Islam as Ileya meat and gift is to be shared with the poor, not the rich like
him. Cameras flashed as Gani granted an interview, turning the animals to
four-legged celebrities. The enfant terrible loaded the animals into a truck
and returned it to the Alausa office of the governor, with the message that
Gani would never accept any such Greek gift.
Gani was war. Uncompromising. And the MILAD dared not try him. But the MILAD was also fond of him. He later approved that the road leading to Gani’s house be tarred. Gani had no objection. He told the press why. “The MILAD only used taxpayers’ money to tar the road and not his compound and he could not prevent other people living in the same street from enjoying the product of their tax. Chikena!
