GAFAMORG Chairman Demands ACJL Domestication, N300,000 Living Wage, Democratic Safeguards for State Police
At 17th Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Lecture, Tunde Agunbiade Says Security Without Safeguards Could Become Tool of Political Repression, Calls for Criminal Justice Reform and Accountability
By Our Correspondent
The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation (GAFAMORG), Comrade Tunde Agunbiade, has called for the urgent domestication and effective implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) across Nigeria, a N300,000 living-wage benchmark, and the introduction of mandatory democratic safeguards as a condition for the establishment of State Police.
Agunbiade made the demands in his welcome address at the 17th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Lecture and Civil Justice Legacy Project, held on Saturday, September 5, 2026.
The memorial lecture was organised under the theme: “Democracy, Human Dignity and the Nigerian State: Living Wage, Security and Accountability in the Public Interest.”
The State Police question was examined under the sub-theme: “State Police, Democratic Safeguards and Constitutional Accountability: Security for Whom and in Whose Interest?”
Agunbiade said the memorial was not intended to be another annual ceremony for celebrating the memory of the late human-rights lawyer, activist, publisher and philanthropist, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, SAN, SAM, but a platform for continuing the struggle for justice, human dignity and democratic accountability.
“We remember Gani. But more importantly: WE ARE HERE TO CONTINUE HIS STRUGGLE.”
GANI'S LEGACY MUST REMAIN ALIVE
According to Agunbiade, Fawehinmi was more than a lawyer because he believed that law must serve humanity; more than an activist because he believed citizens must never surrender their rights to arbitrary power; and more than a publisher because he used information to educate, challenge and mobilise the people.
He said Fawehinmi also stood with citizens who had no one to defend them and paid a heavy personal price through arrests, detention and persecution.
Agunbiade therefore warned against reducing his legacy to an annual commemorative ceremony.
Seventeen years after Fawehinmi's death, he said, Nigeria continues to confront many of the fundamental questions that defined the activist's struggle.
He asked:
“What is democracy without human dignity? What is growth when workers cannot afford necessities? What is security when citizens remain vulnerable to violence and impunity? Who holds public power accountable? And when rights are violated, who speaks for the victims?”
ACJL DOMESTICATION: JUSTICE MUST NOT REMAIN ON PAPER
A major component of Agunbiade's address was the need to strengthen Nigeria's criminal justice system through the domestication, implementation and enforcement of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL).
He stressed that meaningful criminal justice reform must extend beyond legislation and translate into practical protection for citizens.
GAFAMORG, he said, was demanding the effective domestication of the ACJL in states where it remains outstanding, while states that have already enacted the law must ensure that its provisions are fully implemented.
The organisation's position is that the police, prosecutors, courts, correctional institutions and other actors in the criminal justice system must operate within enforceable standards of due process and accountability.
Agunbiade said arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, abuse of prosecutorial powers and violations of citizens' fundamental rights cannot be allowed to remain normal features of the Nigerian justice system.
The ACJL, he maintained, should therefore become a practical instrument for ensuring speedy justice, protecting suspects and victims, improving criminal justice administration and strengthening public confidence in the justice system.
“Criminal justice reform must move from legislation on paper to justice in practice,” he said in outlining the organisation's position.
N70,000 CANNOT BUY DIGNITY IN 2026
Turning to the question of workers' welfare, Agunbiade declared that the current minimum wage was grossly inadequate to guarantee a dignified existence for Nigerian workers.
“N70,000 cannot buy dignity in 2026.”
He said GAFAMORG's policy brief, contained in the programme pack for the memorial, indicates that N300,000 should be the benchmark required to restore the purchasing power associated with the 2019 minimum wage.
However, he stressed that establishing a new wage figure alone would not resolve the problem because inflation could rapidly erode its value.
GAFAMORG is therefore demanding an Annual Wage Review and Automatic Wage Indexation tied to food inflation and fuel prices.
According to Agunbiade, such a mechanism would ensure that workers' wages do not continuously fall behind the rising cost of living.
“A living wage is not charity. It is justice. It is the minimum requirement for human dignity.”
STATE POLICE: SECURITY FOR WHOM AND IN WHOSE INTEREST?
Agunbiade said GAFAMORG recognises the importance of effective policing and security but warned that the decentralisation of police authority must not create new opportunities for political abuse.
He said the proposed establishment of State Police must therefore be accompanied by mandatory democratic safeguards.
“Security without safeguards becomes another tool of oppression.”
According to him, the critical questions are not merely whether Nigeria should have State Police, but:
What kind of policing does democracy require?
What safeguards will prevent political interference and abuse?
Who investigates violations?
Who receives complaints?
Who holds the police accountable?
GAFAMORG, he disclosed, has prepared a draft framework on Democratic Safeguards and Constitutional Accountability for State Policing, which it hopes will be strengthened through the deliberations of the gathering.
The organisation's position, he said, is unequivocal: if State Police is established, democratic safeguards must be mandatory and constitutionally enforceable.
Police must protect citizens rather than political power, he argued, insisting that security institutions must be accountable to the law and not to individual politicians.
“Police that protect the people, not power. Police that are accountable to law, not to politicians.”
THE MEMORIAL MUST BE A CONVERSATION, NOT A CEREMONY
Agunbiade said the memorial had deliberately been designed as a national conversation rather than a ceremonial gathering.
He urged participants to ask difficult questions, demand evidence and formulate concrete resolutions.
“There should be no ‘we versus them’. There should be no fear of asking difficult questions.”
He called for the venue to become a space where Nigerians could engage one another honestly about the future of the country.
FROM REMEMBRANCE TO CIVIL JUSTICE
Agunbiade said the Civil Justice Legacy Project represents GAFAMORG's attempt to build a bridge between remembrance and concrete action.
One of its major initiatives is the campaign for September 5 to be recognised as the National Civil Day of Remembrance for Victims of Mass Atrocities and Human Rights Violations.
He said victims of violence and human-rights violations must not disappear from national consciousness once media attention fades.
“Every victim had a name. Every victim had a family. Every victim had a future. We cannot allow human beings to become statistics.”
ROLL OF THE INNOCENT UNVEILED
As part of the day's activities, GAFAMORG unveiled the 2026 Roll of the Innocent, documenting civilian victims from Kaduna and Lagos.
Agunbiade described the Roll as both evidence and a demand for justice.
Participants were invited to observe a minute of silence in honour of those named on the Roll and victims whose identities remain unknown.
CITIZEN JUSTICE TRACKER
The organisation also introduced the Citizen Justice Tracker (CJT), a lawful platform designed to enable citizens to document and follow up cases of alleged violations.
The model follows five stages:
ALLEGATION → EVIDENCE → DOCUMENTATION → ACCOUNTABILITY → REFORM
Agunbiade urged Nigerians to document, report and follow up cases rather than allow alleged violations to disappear without accountability.
THE GANI PAPER: PRESERVING THE PUBLIC RECORD
The organisation also announced The Gani Paper – Volume One, which will capture the papers, interventions, disagreements, evidence and resolutions arising from the memorial lecture.
Agunbiade said the publication would constitute a continuing body of public-interest knowledge for policymakers, courts, journalists, civil society organisations and citizens.
“When this Memorial ends, the record must remain.”
He said the arguments and resolutions generated by the gathering should become part of an ongoing national conversation on justice, democracy, security and human dignity.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
The GAFAMORG Chairman also reaffirmed the organisation's declaration on Cuba: Humanitarian Access & Global Humanity Solidarity.
He condemned the economic blockade against Cuba and called for the lifting of restrictions that, according to the organisation, continue to affect access to medicines, food, fuel and essential services.
Agunbiade recalled Cuba's historical solidarity with African liberation struggles and declared that GAFAMORG's solidarity with Cuba was consistent with Fawehinmi's wider commitment to justice for oppressed peoples.
“For us, solidarity is not a slogan. It is a responsibility.”
A CALL TO THE MEDIA, YOUTH AND CITIZENS
Agunbiade charged the media not merely to report the memorial but to sustain the issues raised at the event by interrogating government policies and following up on questions of accountability.
To Nigerian youths, he said democracy and justice cannot be taken for granted.
“NEVER ACCEPT INJUSTICE AS NORMAL.”
He called on all participants to witness the Roll of the Innocent, speak about the issues in their communities and support the campaign for September 5 to become the National Civil Day of Remembrance.
“WHAT WOULD GANI DO IF HE WERE HERE TODAY?”
Concluding his address, Agunbiade said the true measure of the memorial would not be the speeches delivered or the ceremony conducted, but what happens after participants leave the venue.
“A lecture without action is not enough. Remembrance without responsibility is not enough. Democracy without dignity is not enough. Security without accountability is not enough. Justice without access is not enough.”
He challenged Nigerians to ask what Chief Gani Fawehinmi would do if he were alive today.
But, he added, Nigerians must do more than ask the question.
“LET US CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE.”
He closed with the five-stage pathway adopted by GAFAMORG:
FROM REMEMBRANCE TO DIALOGUE.
FROM DIALOGUE TO RESOLUTIONS.
FROM RESOLUTIONS TO ACTION.
FROM ACTION TO ACCOUNTABILITY.
FROM ACCOUNTABILITY TO JUSTICE.
And with a final charge:
“LISTEN. QUESTION. CONTRIBUTE. ACT.”
COMRADE TUNDE AGUNBIADE
Chairman, Governing Council
Gani Fawehinmi Memorial Organisation (GAFAMORG)
5 September 2026
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