Leadership Notes Gani Fawehinmi Bequeathed to Governor Uba Sani – THISDAYLIVE

Jamiu Salifu

Some political legacies are preserved in monuments, some in books, and some in the institutions that outlive their makers. But the most durable legacies are often carried quietly in the character of those who were taught by men and women of uncommon conviction. They survive not because history remembers a name, but because a principle takes root in another generation and is translated into public conduct.

That is the deeper significance of the book, Gani Fawehinmi and Uba Sani: A Tale of Mentor and Mentee, authored by Basirat Fawehinmi-Biobaku, Esq., daughter of the late Chief Abdul-Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN, GCON. Publicly presented in Kaduna on Saturday, 5 September 2026, at the Abba Kyari Banquet Hall, Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, the book is ostensibly about a remarkable relationship between a legendary Nigerian and a much younger activist. In reality, it is about something larger: how political courage is transmitted, how democratic values are inherited, and how private mentorship can eventually acquire public consequence.

The most compelling evidence is contained in the book’s Foreword. It is not an elaborate essay but a simple admonition that Chief Fawehinmi gave Uba Sani more than three decades ago:

“Uba, if you ever have the opportunity to serve our country Nigeria in any capacity, make sure you do not ever forget the masses of our people, of course you know I mean the less privileged, and the unemployed youths which constitute the larger part of our population.”

It is difficult to imagine a more concise philosophy of public service.

The instruction was not to remember power, party or political advantage. It was to remember people. Specifically, it was to remember those most easily forgotten when political authority becomes insulated from the realities of…