On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari announced the conferment of the Grand Commander of the order of Niger (GCON) on Gani Fawehinmi, the late human rights lawyer.
GCON is the second highest national honour in the land.
Buhari also honoured the late MKO Abiola, presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 election, with the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), the highest honour in the land and Baba Gana Kingibe, his running mate, with GCON.
In his lifetime, Fawehinmi was a vocal critic of the government, both military and civilian. Different military regimes incarcerated him but his fire of activism did not die.
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There have been different reactions to the conferment of the award by Buhari. While Mohammed, his first son, described it as a welcome development, adding that the family had been looking forward to it, Fatai Ibu-Owo, chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the National Conscience Party (NCP), said Fawehinmi would have rejected the award if he were alive.
In 2008, the late President Musa Yar’adua awarded the lawyer the Officer of the order of the Federal Republic (OFR), but Fawehinmi rejected it, citing many years of misrule since independence.