The decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the payment of pensions to ex-Biafran policemen has been widely received, and gladly too. Granted, this may not be far reaching enough, yet we must salute the president for this laudable act, which even our southern brothers, former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan could not do.

It is interesting that Obasanjo, who granted pardon to these patriotic Nigerians for serving  their fatherland, fell short of expectations by neglecting to bury Nigeria’s haunting past of pain and sorrow.  Of what use then was the half-bread of pardon, many wondered. Even Jonathan, who was foisted on the naïve Igbo as a kinsman and because of whom the people have suffered so much under the Buhari government, could not do the needful. It took the same Buhari, the much vilified Igbo hater to do that; I doff my hat for him, expecting him to remember ex-Biafra soldiers and other paramilitary personnel.

Well, I will be disappointing those who may think I have turned a Buhari apologist. I have never had anything against Baba, as my concern has always been for fairness, equity and justice for all, whether Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. I am not one of those that totally dismiss a man, as having done nothing, even if he has done badly. On this score, President Buhari has done well and must be applauded. It seems a new light is dawning for the much deprived Igbo in this government. I hear some attribute it to the agitation of Independent People of Biafra, IPOB. However, if anybody deserves credit for this, it should be Chief Ralph Uwazurike and his Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, who is the progenitor of IPOB and any other group agitating for Biafra since the Civil War ended.

Talking about IPOB, it is funny that the generalissimo, Nnamdi Kanu, is missing or on the run. Whether he was killed during the military invasion of his father’s house or he was captured or he escaped, it was a cheap way to end his quest for Biafra. It is amusing to know that the shakara was all make-believe bravado programmed to lead the gullible to untimely death and distress. Even remnants of the struggle have been scared away from the streets by menacing dance steps of macabre pythons.

The implication of Kanu’s no-show at his resumed trial is that Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and co-sureties are in jeopardy and risk jail term or forfeiture of their whopping N100 million bail bond. But I beg to disagree because the military inadvertently (?) gave Kanu and his sureties alibi to escape because if the military had not invaded his abode, we probably would not been agonising over his location today. It would be most unfair, therefore, for the law to hold Abaribe and co accountable. Providing Kanu  is now beyond his sureties, as the onus is now on the military to tell the world wherever Kanu may be. 

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That military raid on Kanu’s house misfired. Government made the same mistake when it detained hitherto unknown Kanu and refused to release him despite court orders. That was how Kanu garnered cult followership but unfortunately, he too got inebriated with the varnishing adulation and began to challenge even the gods to a duel that eventually destroyed him. It would be an anti-climax if truly kanu is on the run. Where would that leave his Biafra where he superintends like an absolute potentate?

The easiest way out of the quagmire is to leave Abaribe alone. The three options he was given over the Kanu saga were unfair. However, having opted for the least of the evils, he should not be time bound to produce Kanu. The attack on Kanu’s house weeks to his appearance in court could have even been orchestrated to eliminate the Kanu menace once and for all. So, if the court is in a hurry to find him, they should ask the military, which has yet to give convincing explanation. Otherwise, they should hold on until such a time it is verified that Kanu is truly on the run. Then they can use international warrant to seek his repatriation to face justice.

Justice, which justice? It is strange that Kanu, though recalcitrant, committed any treasonable act. He was a ‘job man’ made relevant by the same establishment that has now chased his apparition away and yet wouldn’t let go. I believe government should let this fizzle out. And, more importantly, having redressed the injustice done the Biafra police pensioners, it is time the president looked into the grievances of the South East. The people defending his scorching policies against the Igbo do not mean well for his administration. If he wants to make inroads to the region, a change of policies is very desirable.

An opportunity presents itself in the Anambra State gubernatorial election that IPOB threatened to abort is knocking hard on the door. It is self-evident that Buhari’s All Progressives Congress, APC, has a formidable candidate in the person of Dr. Tony Nwoye. The only thing that stands between the young man and Government House is the party on whose platform he is running. Nwoye could change perception of the region about APC if the party comes up with credible policies before D-day that would assure Southeasterners that change has indeed come; there is no doubt that Nwoye will carry the day.

Unlike the only APC governor east of the Niger, Rochas Okorocha, who has made caricature of governance by celebrating mediocrity and chicanery, Nwoye, a man of many firsts, has all it takes to take Anambra to greater heights. The APC needs to have a foothold in the East by installing a non comedian in government, who would see everything weird in wasting scarce resources to erect Jacob Zuma’s statue while starving indigenes watch in abject bemusement, wondering why APC gave the East its very worst. Apart from making political promises at campaign grounds, as was done during Nwoye’s campaign flag-off, the APC government at the centre can only aid Nwoye’s certain victory if they introduce new and better ideas on how to treat Ndigbo. Anything short of that, even the pension laurel would sooner be blotched by the miry mud of nothingness.