Mrs Ganiat Fawehinmi
Widow of the late human right activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi has opened up on her experience this past four years after her husband's death.Mrs Fawehinmi who spoke extensively in a recent interview with PM News
expressed her disappointment with Nigerians, Human Rights Activists, The Judiciary, and much more, the management of First Trustees, that is the company in charge of her of her late husband's Will.She accused the company of dishonesty and indifference to the family.
Asked on how this year's commemoration of the late legal luminary is going to be observed, she said the family can not arrange any event on it because the First Trustees have not released any fund to that effect.Get the details after the cut.....
The only thing I’ll do is to go to church on that day, pray for his soul to rest in perfect peace and that the good Lord should take care of the family the way He has been doing. We cannot arrange any activity because as you know, he gave his will to First Trustees and they’ve been doing it the way they like. Most of the things that Chief wrote in the Will they don’t even do it.
There was a time Mohammed wrote about 67 letters, I think, the first two years after Chief died. He used to say according to clause so, so, so, my father said the family should feed the beggars in Ikeja. Until he writes them, they won’t give us anything. Feeding the beggars is not something I can do with the little amount I’m given.
When Chief was alive, he was doing it on a monthly basis, but then I don’t know why he said we should be doing it every three months. It’s when they like that they give us the money to do it. Then there is this scholarship award he was giving, there are so many people that I can’t say exactly how many because there are some that are not documented. They just come with bills and say, “I can’t pay my children school fees,” then he would tell his accountant to go to the school with his secretary and find out if really they were not able to pay the fees. If they came back with a report that they weren’t able to pay the fees, he would give the money to that person to go and pay in the name of the student and bring the receipt. But there are some that are documented.
Every year, he said that we should give to ten persons, but after he passed on, people just started coming as though Chief were still alive. Some even come with evidence; we saw the cheques he wrote and we found out from the schools and they confirmed that he was paying such school fees. But how do we continue with those things when the money is not readily available?
Even the ten he said we should give, it used to be a tug of war. Mohammed asked them if they could increase this to 20 since the company is still going on and we can afford it. I don’t know if they answered him or not. When they started administering the will, Mohammed and his brother were running the company. Before Chief passed on, he had a meeting with Mohammed, Mr. Akinsulure, currently the auditor/accountant; and Mr. Mojid, current managing director (formerly acting MD), on 19 August 2009. He told them that in view of his ill-health, he was stepping down for Mohammed to be the executive chairman, while his brother, Saheed, should assist him because of his (Mohammed’s) condition and that Chief himself would be an ordinary director but that his shares should be left undiluted. So when they got the probate and took up the mantle, they [First Trustees] wrote a letter to Mr. Akinsulire. We didn’t know then. Mr. Akinsulire replied that the meeting took place and that Chief said that he was stepping down. Mr. Mojid Ajayi was there, Mohammed was there. Then, they said because they did not see any written document, they could not honour that meeting.
They froze the company account for three months. They didn’t give us anything. According to the will, Chief said they should be giving us a monthly allowance. Thank God for Chief’s friends, who were giving me something then, maybe I would have starved to death. You can imagine not giving me any money for three solid months. Although when Mohammed wrote to them, they paid it in arrears. Again, the key to the master bedroom is still being held from me up till now. They said Chief kept his memorabilia there. I told them they were stupid. Chief had handed everything over to me because he said I’m the only person he could trust with those memorabilia and that I was always there for him all through the time he was detained. He knew what I went through during those times. Thank God that I’m alive now and the whole thing is over now. Up till now they haven’t given me the key, so if there was no other room here, maybe I would have been sleeping on the streets or go to my friend’s house and sleep there because it is not possible to be sleeping in the same room with Mohammed and Saheed. If they were girls, that would have been okay. But all my daughters are married. Will I go to my in-laws’ houses and live there? That is what they have done to me.
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