By SIMON EBEGBULEM

HUMAN rights activists including the former secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Frank Kokori, Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo, Ayo Opadokun, stormed Benin, yesterday, with one of the widows of the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, to witness the commissioning of a township road and layout named after the deceased legal luminary , by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

Other activists at the occasion included the Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate in Ekiti State , Dr. Kayode Fayemi, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Umar, represented by the vice president, of the NLC, Comrade Isa Aremu, and Mr. Lanre Arogundade.

The Isonorho-Custain community road, initially named after Oba Akenzua 1, was abandoned for years and, as a matter of fact, was converted to a refuse dump. But after Oshiomhole was sworn in as governor, he visited the community in the heart of the city and wept after he saw people living there. He therefore vowed to turn the area into a beautiful place. He significantly named it after Gani Fawenhinmi after he explained that the late human right activist would have preferred to live in such an area rather than staying in areas reserved for the rich.

Speaking at the occasion, Mrs Ganiyat Fawehinmi, who expressed joy over the naming of the road after her late husband, described Oshiomhole as “another Gani” and urged the people of the state to ensure that Oshiomhole is voted in for a second term in order to consolidate on his achievements.

Speaker after speaker at the occasion extolled Gani.  Kokori urged Nigerians to ensure that they check the excesses of politicians.

Oshiomhole, in his address, said,  “If Gani was alive and was to choose the part of the city that he would like named after him, he wouldn’t want the part of the government reservation area (GRA) to be named after him”.