Barrister Basirat Fawehinmi-Biobaku, daughter of late pro-democracy and human rights campaigner Chief Gani Fawehinmi, has said Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani is demonstrating the values her father once urged him to uphold by implementing programmes and projects aimed at improving the lives of ordinary people.
Fawehinmi-Biobaku made the assessment while recounting the close relationship between her late father and the governor, who lived with the Fawehinmi family for four years when he was a young Comrade Uba Sani. She recalled that her father had specifically charged him never to forget the masses if he eventually received an opportunity to serve Nigeria.
She disclosed this during the presentation of her book, Gani Fawehinmi And Uba Sani: A Tale Of Mentor And Mentee, held at the Brigadier Abba Kyari Banquet Hall at the weekend.
According to the author, the relationship between Fawehinmi and Uba Sani went beyond political acquaintance, with the future governor becoming part of the family while living at the Fawehinmi residence at 9A Ademola Close, GRA, Ikeja.
Fawehinmi-Biobaku said her father and Uba Sani maintained a close routine during those years, including having breakfast together before leaving for work.
“Uba, if you ever have the opportunity to serve our country, Nigeria, in any capacity, make sure you never ever forget the masses of our people,” she recalled her father telling the then activist.
More than three decades after the advice was given, Fawehinmi-Biobaku said she believes Governor Sani’s record in Kaduna State reflects the message her father sought to pass to his mentee.
The author said she had travelled around Kaduna State and observed what she described as the governor’s achievements during his three and a half years in office. She highlighted education, healthcare, infrastructure, rural development and peace-building as areas where she believed the governor had translated the values of his former mentor into governance.
According to her, education has received significant attention under the Kaduna State administration, with more schools and classrooms constructed and measures introduced to reduce the number of children outside the school system.
She particularly cited the provision of free education from primary through secondary school as part of the government’s efforts to make schooling more accessible to children across the state.
Fawehinmi-Biobaku also commended the governor’s approach to healthcare, saying the administration had taken primary healthcare services closer to residents. She stated that all 255 wards in Kaduna State have Primary Healthcare Centres.
Beyond education and healthcare, the author pointed to infrastructure and rural development as other areas where she said the administration had made an impact.
She said infrastructure upgrades and rural transformation projects across Kaduna had improved the movement of agricultural produce from farming communities to markets, reduced travel times and supported commercial activity.
For Fawehinmi-Biobaku, however, development cannot be sustained without security and social cohesion. She therefore praised Uba Sani for what she described as his efforts to promote peace and bring the northern and southern parts of Kaduna closer together.
She argued that peace remains fundamental to development, noting that economic and social progress would be difficult to achieve where communities remain divided or insecure.
The author also drew attention to Governor Sani’s choice of deputy governor, describing the selection of a Christian from Southern Kaduna as significant in the context of efforts to promote unity within the state.
“I’m not a politician, but I must speak on this: his choice of Deputy Governor, a Christian from Southern Kaduna,” she said.
Fawehinmi-Biobaku then linked the governor’s present political role directly to the counsel her father gave him decades ago, saying she believed the late activist would have been proud of how his former mentee was serving the people.
“Governor Comrade Uba Sani, if Gani Fawehinmi were alive today, he would have been very proud of you,” she said.
Her tribute also extended to her mother, Mrs Ganiat Fawehinmi, who, she said, could not attend the book presentation because of her age. According to Fawehinmi-Biobaku, her mother is 77 and no longer goes out, but had asked her daughter to convey a message to Governor Sani.
She recalled that her mother had also been part of the family relationship with Uba Sani, including cooking for him while he lived in their home.
Fawehinmi-Biobaku said her mother remained extremely proud of the governor and wanted the message of her late husband’s continuing influence to be delivered publicly.
“Mama couldn’t be here today. Mama is 77; she does not go out again,” she said, before relaying her mother’s message: “But she asked me to tell you: Gani lives on. We know. Uba, well done. In Comrade Uba Sani, Gani definitely lives on.”
The book presentation therefore became more than a literary event for Fawehinmi-Biobaku. It provided an opportunity for her to revisit the relationship between a celebrated human rights activist and a former young associate who, years later, became governor of Kaduna State.
Her central argument was that the principles Gani Fawehinmi communicated to Uba Sani while they lived together remain relevant to the governor’s public service, particularly the instruction that the interests of ordinary Nigerians should not be forgotten by anyone entrusted with political authority.
By highlighting education, healthcare, infrastructure, rural development and peace as areas of governance, Fawehinmi-Biobaku said she saw elements of that old advice in the programmes and projects being pursued in Kaduna State.
For her, the continued relevance of Gani Fawehinmi’s ideals is therefore reflected not only in the memory of his activism but also, in her assessment, through the public service of one of the people he once mentored.
The message from the Fawehinmi family was ultimately summed up in the phrase she delivered on behalf of her mother: “Gani lives on.”
In Uba Sani, Gani Fawehinmi’s Legacy Lives On, Daughter Says
