Celebrating Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN) at 60

 

By Femi Falana, SAN

I join a host of other comrades and friends in congratulating Comrade Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika SAN on the occasion of his 60th birthday anniversary. In his characteristic manner,  he deliberately made it a complete low-key celebration. But Olamide deserves to be celebrated on account of his consistency, reliability, and dedication to the struggle of the Nigerian people for a just and humane society.

Upon the exit of our group from Ife in June 1981, we passed the mantle of leadership of the Alliance of Progressive Students (ALPS) on the campus and the Patriotic Youth Movement (PYM) at the national level to Olumide and other comrades. They never disappointed us. Indeed, with other members of the ALPS,  they improved and expanded the frontiers of the movement and reorganised the students as a major factor in the struggle for a new Nigeria. I have since drawn Olumide’s attention to the urgent need to revive the student unions that have been prescribed or suspended in the nation’s tertiary institutions by anti- democratic forces.

Since he joined the legal profession, Olumide has positively impacted the struggle to guarantee social justice for the masses of our people. His entry into the club of senior advocates has strengthened the capacity of the radical wing of the legal profession to break the walls of conservatism with audacity and tenacity of purpose. As a result of his selfless service and quality leadership,  the Citipoint Chambers, headed by Olumide, has become one of the topmost law firms in Nigeria.

Whenever the human rights of poor and vulnerable people in society are violated, we can always count on Olumide’s usual readiness to challenge the powerful violators in the law courts and in the streets. The successful 14-year legal defence of Comrade Rasheedat Adesina against the University of Ilorin from the Federal High Court to the Supreme Court by Olumide and his partners has become a source of inspiration to the young generation of activists in the legal profession.

Olumide’s selfless defence of many of the victims of the #endsars protests in 2020  was exceptional. Through penetrative cross-examination, he exposed the protectors of the cowardly murderers who took the lives of 99 unarmed protesters in Lekki Toll Gate and other parts of Lagos. At the end of the state inquiry, the Dorcas Okuwobi Judicial Commission agreed with Olumide that the illegal killing of the unarmed protesters could not be justified in law. Having found the State Government vicariously liable for the killings, the Commission ordered it to pay compensation to the victims and the family members of those who were killed.

In the past few years, I have been privileged to lead Olumide and other progressive lawyers in our joint defence of  Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare, Seun Kuti, and other activists. We always rely on his profound knowledge of the law and principled stand on legal battles. His regular provision of pro bono publico legal services for indigent citizens has confirmed Olumide’s insistence that access to justice should not be the exclusive preserve of the bourgeoisie.

Olumide is a man of extraordinary integrity and uncommon generosity. His generous disposition has been manifested in the quiet manner that he has looked after the family members of some of his comrades who lost their precious lives in the course of the struggle. In particular,  he secures admission for the children and pays their school fees. We cannot thank him enough for treating the family members of our fallen patriots with such kindness and compassion.

I know that Olumide is consistently in pain to realise that the limited democratic rights won by the Nigerian people over the years are being eroded by the agents of fascism that are so desperate to turn Nigeria into the vineyard of imperialism to facilitate the implementation of neoliberal policies. Even though Olumide is full of frustration with the decadent political system, he has never wavered in his commitment to the struggle for the socialist reconstruction of Nigeria.

Notwithstanding the non-justiciability of the fundamental objectives enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, the members of the ruling class have been compelled through effective campaign and progressive legal advocacy to enact a number of laws to lift the people out of the cocoon of undeserved poverty. Olumide and I have agreed that our comrades have a duty to mobilise the masses to compel the governments to fund the socio-economic rights entrenched in the welfare laws.

It is indisputable that Olumide is a man of vast experience, selfless leadership, and indomitable character. May these qualities continue to increase as he ages gracefully. However, history beckons for Olumide to collaborate with other comrades to build a revolutionary political party to arrest the underdevelopment of the country.