A worthwhile existence, robust health, industry, and great impact on society through philanthropy were what Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim was celebrating at the weekend on his birthday.
In Barcelona, Spain, where the eminent politician and former presidential candidate was attending a conference on energy, his associates marked his 59th birthday for him in a unique way, with a luncheon at a pristine club. There, a preserved personal letter of the global icon, the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, bought at an auction, was presented to him.
It was a surprise birthday launch, hosted at the ancient Circulo Delicio, the oldest private club in Spain established in 1847.
The letter invoked the memory of his contributions to the sage’s efforts at mobilising youths and children for a greater tomorrow in the former apartheid enclave.
Written to him in 1997, Mandela who had returned from prison after 27 years, lauded Olawepo-Hashim for his support for the success of the Children Party in Cape Town organised for the youths and children, most of them from low socioeconomic status homes, who faced difficult, life-threatening challenges and diseases.
Then, Olawepo-Hashim was only building on his record of participation in emancipation and the fight for liberty at home, right from his school days at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
He was an anti-apartheid activist; he and three other student leaders of the university were clamped into the overcrowded Police cell in Lagos in April 1989 after an anti-apartheid protest.
The university authorities under the influence of the military authorities who were seeking to frustrate him had seized his certificate. The implication of this in a society that placed a great premium on certificates rather than skills was that he could neither find a job as a graduate in the private sector nor the public sector. He had to depend on his skills to survive.
Ironically, when the civil rule was restored in 1999, and he became a member of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his push for more democratic reforms along with other compatriots met a brick wall.
However, consistent with his pedigree and antecedents, Olawepo-Hashim has built a reputation for greatness in the private sector and the polity, where he had canvassed an alternative route to national recovery, based on altruism and patriotism, until he teamed up with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ploughing back to society has been a pastime for the entrepreneur. Olawepo-Hashim has extended a duty of care to the needy and indigent, based on his love for humanity. The Gbenga Hashim Foundation, recently granted N20 million to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kwara State, constructed drainage and graded roads. It also granted N10 million to SMEs in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A devoted Christian, the birthday boy woke up with a private worship to God at 5:00 am, and an online worship coordinated by Mama Oreva and the Covenant Altar of Worship team at 7:30 am Nigeria time in Abuja.
His beloved mother also sent her prayers. More prayers and felicitations came from his children, sisters, brothers, in-laws, friends, bankers, lawyers, political associates, and online followers.
In Barcelona, Olawepo-Hashim had lunch with Vincent Geuneau, his French business partner; Mrs. Helen Brume, a director at AfreximBank, Cairo; and Mrs Begonia Rubo Saiz, ex-Spanish diplomat and former European Commission official, who has joined his team as Senior Advisor, Global Cooperation.
Lunch at Circulo revealed an ambiance. The ageless club is still maintaining its original setting, underscoring a beautiful tale of maintenance culture and dedication to the spirit of private enterprise.
A twist of history was added to the celebration as Vincent and Peter Hertog, his Deuch business partner, presented a personal letter of Mandela purchased at an Auction in Europe to him. The duo knew Mandela as one of his heroes, and that he had also been named prisoner of conscience in Africa, three years after Mandela was so named by the Amnesty International in 1989.
Remarkably, Olawepo-Hashim also got a valuable note from his daughter, Ifeoluwa, who graduated in England in Law last year, and is currently writing her practicing examination.
“I am grateful to everyone who sent messages and gifts. God bless you all and all my online followers.
To God be all the Glory,” he said.
Born in Yelwa, Yauri, Kebbi State, on June 28, 1965, Olawepo-Hashim started exhibiting leadership qualities in high school. In 1984, he was elected President of the Dramatic Society and later appointed Health Prefect at the Cherubim and Seraphim College, Ilorin. In 1986 at Kwara College of Technology, he was elected General Secretary of the Youth Solidarity in Southern Africa in Nigeria (YUSSAN) and was active in the anti-apartheid movement. He was a member of the Local Organising Committee of the ‘Massive Freedom at 70 Nelson Mandela Concert,’ held at the University Lagos. He was elected Public Relations Officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in July 1988.
In May–June 1989, he was part of the leadership of the anti-SAP and pro-democracy uprising organised by the National Association of Nigerian Students.
Olawepo-Hashim was clamped into detention for four months in solitary confinement under the Detention of Persons Decree No. 2 of 1984 as amended. It was detention without trial.
He was released after an epic legal battle, led by his counsel, the late President of the Nigerian Bar Association Alao Aka-Bashorun, and an international campaign coordinated by the International Union of Students, World Federation of Democratic Youth, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.
Amnesty International declared him a ‘Prisoner of conscience’ in 1989.
