Exit Of A Legal Collossus Alhaji Ganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, (SAN).................As President Buhari Pays Glowing Tribute

The great Buddha was absolutely right when he was quoted as saying that “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”

And this may be the thought of President Muhammadu Buhari who last night  mourned the demise of Alhaji Ganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazaq, (SAN), Northern Nigeria’s first lawyer and father of the Governor of Kwara State.

In a tribute letter made available to us and signed by Hon Garba Shehu the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) Buhari in the sympathy message to the late First Republic Minister, Parliamentarian, pioneer Commissioner of Finance, Kwara State and until his passing, Matawali of Ilorin and Tafidan Zazzau (Zaria), the President said he was highly saddened by news of the demise of the statesman and outstanding parliamentarian of his time.

According to President Buhari, “We will remember him as one of this country’s greatest legal minds and a national leader. He garnered respect that transcended our barriers visible and otherwise. His enormous contribution to the welfare of the people of his community, Kwara State and the country as a whole will serve to inspire future generations of our citizens.

“Whenever our Nation loses an elder in the class of Alhaji AbdulRazaq, it should serve as a moment of reflection on how the lives they lived and their sacrifices built the foundation of what we must continue to strengthen.

“On behalf of my family, the government and people of our nation, I extend our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the Governor of Kwara – Alhaji Abdulrahaman AbdulRazaq and his family, His Highness, Emir Sulu Gambari of Ilorin, and the people of Kwara State. We pray for the eternal peace of his soul”wrote the President

A BRIEF, BUT CLASSICAL PROFILE OF ABDULRAZAQ: A  LAWYER PAR EXCELLENCE

Alhaji Abdul Ganiyu Folorunsho AbdulRazak SAN, OFR, was born on Sunday, November 13, 1927. By November this year, he will be 92 years old God willing. He hailed from Yerimisa Compound in the Idigba Quarters of Pakata Area in Ilorin, Ilorin West local government area of kwara state. His mother was a daughter of the Onikatako family in the Gaa Aremu Quaters of the same Pakata Area of Ilorin. He was largely brought up at Onitsha in the present day Anambra State which accounted for his obtainance of his elementary education in the defunct Eastern Region.
By the virtues of his age on this earth, the Ilorin born celebrated iconic lawyer has now become a nonagenarian.  Nine decades on the surface of earth is a rare blessing from the Creator who destined varying life span to all His creatures.

He is a complete symbol of Nigeria unity as his sojourn in life traversed all geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Born in Onisha, the present Anambra State in South-East, had secondary education in Buguma in today’s South-South, he attended the University of Ibadan, Ibadan and lived and worked in Lagos both in the South-West, launched his legal trajectory in Kaduna and Zaria in North-West, his legal practices and political excursion propelled him to Maiduguri in the North-East where he was made the National Legal Adviser of the then Northern People’s Congress(NPC)and he hailed from Ilorin, the capital of kwara State in the North-Central.

He was among the pioneer students who were first admitted into the Nigerian Premier University, the University of Ibadan. Upon completing his studies at the then University College, Ibadan, the pioneer Lawyer of Northern Nigerian origin sailed to the Great Britain where he obtained Master’s degree in History, Post-Graduate Diploma in Education and L.LB. He was eventually called to the bar in February,1955 and thereby preceeding his fellow Northerners such as Mohammad Bello (1930-1998) and Mamman Nasir (born 1927) as well as Justice Buba Ardo who were admitted into the bar some months after him.The three gentlemen eventually had distinguished careers as jurists. Mohammed Bello was the Chief Justice of Nigeria between 1987 and 1995, Buba Ardo retired as a Supreme  Court Judge while Mamman Nasir, the Galadiman Katsina and District Head of Malufashi, retired as the President of the Court of Appeal in 1992 and handed-over to that epitome of integrity, and the acclaimed “Mr. Clean”, Justice Muhammad Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi CFR, the First Wakili of Ilorin (born 1932).

A LIFE OF POSITIVE PROGRESSION

They were young. They were vibrant. They were energetic, brilliant and patriotism personified. They were many then. But only a few of them are today still on the surface of the earth. The class to which Alhaji AbdulGaniyu Folorunsho AbdulRazak belongs is almost depleted. He was one of those young and educated Nigerians who confederated with the elderly Nationalists to secure independence for Nigeria in 1960. He was a Nigerian Ambassador to Coye D’ Ivoire, Minister in charge of Railways  in the First Republic. He was the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, President of Nigerian Stock Exchange. He was the first National Legal Adviser of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) on the eve of the country’s independence, the position he held throughout the country’s First Republic.

Among the few of the remnants of that tribe are Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari and Chief Ameachi who all served as members of the cabinet of the first and only Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa(1912-1966).

May his gentle soul rest in peace

Prolific profile, researched and sourced by MIKE CERUTTI OSAGIE

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( ATTN THE Editor-In-Chief Cerutti Media Group)