Had Dr. Olu Onagoruwa died 25 years ago, his obituary would have been on the front page of the Daily Times. He would have made the front pages of many other national newspapers and the cover of several magazines. With profound pathos, I recall a quotation about Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia for 50 years until he was deposed in 1975. I cannot recollect the title of the book or the author now. The author stated about Selassie, who in his years on the throne was referred to as the King of Kings, Elect of God, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Emperor of Ethiopia: \u201cHad Haile Selassie ruled in the 19th Century, he would have been a great reforming monarch. In the 20th Century, he was an anachronism. He was born too late and he lived too long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onagoruwa lived long and he was not born too late. He was 82 when he died last Friday. But he was born in the wrong country and that made all the difference. In the fight for the rights of the ordinary Nigerians, Onagoruwa was the twin brother of the legal titan, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Both of them were inseparable in their bold confrontation with successive military regimes to secure the rights of Nigerians. But they were different in certain ways in terms of tactics and strategies. While Fawehinmi was a lone ranger, Onagoruwa occasionally joined one team or the other to realise his goals. Then he joined the Abacha team.
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