SOURCE: http://www.channelstv.com/headlines.php
Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Nigeria's human rights activist and lawyerHuman rights activist and lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi has rejected the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), which was to be conferred on him by President Umaru Yar’Adua.Chief Fawehinmi was among 275 Nigerians that were named for National Honours last week by the Federal Government.
In rejecting the National Honour, Chief Fawehinmi chronicled his efforts at addressing injustice to the Nigerian people and his travails under successive governments.
According to a press statement signed by him, some of the arrowheads of his struggle include the abolition of poverty, governance through democratic process, the subjection of everything to the Rule of Law and making Nigeria a corruption free country.
In his views, Chief Fawehinmi’s said Nigeria's present government and the ones before it, have consistently failed to uphold these democratic principles, which have guided his struggles in the last forty-three years.
He maintains that poverty is still a sad reality in the nation today, while cases of abuse of fundamental rights pervade the land, adding that corruption remains a single factor that has retarded the progress of the nation.
The human rights activist says the prosecution of former EFCC boss, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in particular, is a clear pointer that the current administration is not out to fight corruption.
Chief Fawehinmi says it is clear to him that the government is not living true to the provision of Section 15, Sub-section 5 of the Nigeria Constitution, which states that “the state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“I find it extremely difficult to accept that the government of President Yar’Adua has the honour to dispense honour," he said.
This is not the first time a citizen nominated for the National Award would turn it down, on the basis of Nigeria's socio-political situation.
Renowned author, Chinua Achebe best known internationally, for his novel "Things Fall Apart", also rejected the award under the Obasanjo administration.
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