Veteran author and public affairs analyst, Richard Akinnola has provided fresh historical context on the relationship between late human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi and former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking during an interview on State Affairs with Edmund Obilo, Akinnola dismissed long-held assumptions that the two men had interacted during Buhari’s military rule or shortly after he was ousted from office in 1985.
Akinnola revealed that Fawehinmi and Buhari had no personal contact throughout the period in which Buhari served as Head of State or in the years that followed. According to him, their first encounter occurred much later, almost two decades after Buhari left power.
In his words, “The first time Gani will ever see Buhari was in 2003. Buhari left office, he was overthrown in 1985. The first time Gani will set eyes on Buhari was in Ondo Mosque during Gani’s mother’s burial and Gani didn’t even know he was even coming.
He explained that Buhari’s unexpected arrival at the Ondo Mosque during the burial ceremony of Fawehinmi’s mother came as a complete surprise to the late activist, who had no prior information or hint that the former military ruler would attend.
Akinnola stressed that this revelation is essential for correcting misconceptions that Fawehinmi maintained a relationship with Buhari during the 1980s. He noted that Fawehinmi’s lifelong struggle against military dictatorship made such an association unlikely, and the 2003 encounter only underscored how little contact existed between them.
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