Nnamdi Kanu has been in the news in the past few days, following the Court of Appeal verdict that the rendition of Nnamdi Kanu from a foreign country without following the laws guiding extradition was an assault on humanity and executive recklessness carried too far. The court rightly held the view that if left unrepudiated humanity stands endangered.
The appelate court, therefore, held the view that the process of bringing Kanu to Nigeria rendered the case very hopeless. It quashed the charges and set Nnamdi Kanu free. There have been arguments whether the court acquitted Kanu of the charges or not. Whatever is the position, what is clear is that as of today Nnamdi Kanu, in the eyes of the law, is totally a free man. The federal government jolted by the turn of events reacted in its familiar pattern of hate. The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, quickly expressed open rejection of the judgment and gave intention to appeal the matter in the Supreme Court, which his office has done.
Going to the Supreme Court is not the concern for many of us critical watchers of events in the country. There are two issues, which are concern in this matter. The first is the vehemence and speed with which Malami reacted to a matter everyone knows is more political than criminal in nature. By his act, the AGF exhibited a kind of bitterness that has been a hallmark of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration since inception, in its relationship with people of South East extraction. The regime has been very hostile to anything Igbo, from appointments into strategic departments of the government to offering of soothing words.
Recall that in place of dialogue in dealing with matters of agitations coming from mainly South East, the Buhari administration had opted for maximum force, using the military under different guises to militarize the zone, maltreat the people and kill the youths with reckless abandon. He has deliberately refused to invite leaders from the area for dialogue. On the few times he visited two “friendly” states in the region, where his governor-friends in the states handpicked those they styled Igbo leaders to interface with the President, nothing concrete came out of those ventures.
The meeting in Abuja with Igbo leaders was very pathetic. Mbazulike Amaechi who is getting close to one 100 years in tears begged Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu to him, pull back the troops to their barracks or to areas prone to insurgency and allow Igbo leaders deal with the security situation in the region. In all the occasions, President Buhari was aloof, and when he responded he read from a prepared speech which indicated that while he was with them, his heart was already made up on the course of action he wanted to take: the troops would remain on the streets and the law must be allowed to take its course.
The truth is that no president from another part of the country would have treated a Northern delegation including the Sultan of Sokoto in that manner. Such a president would listen with rapt attention and speak extempore, right from the heart, giving firm promise to settle the case amicably within a very short time. In the case of his interface with Igbo leaders, it has been a case of talking down and schooling them on principles of good behavior. We would expand on this later.
The other would be that the court declared Nnamdi Kanu free. I have asked my lawyer friends and they told me that Kanu ought to have been set free. Kanu has been in detention for upward of one year. I have also made enquiries and have been told that treason is a bailable offence. Yes, Kanu may have jumped bail before but everybody is aware he was in his father’s house. It was his tradducers who sent the military to storm his residence, where they killed over 30 persons. As you are reading, Kanu is still in detention despite the appelate judgment. This is not fair and unacceptable.
President Buhari in his many interviews had told the world he has placed all his cards on the Judiciary and here we are with the Court of Appeal giving an excellent pronouncement, yet the government has continued to dilly dally over it, choosing further legal battle rather than peace. This is, to say the least, very unfortunate. The verdict of the appelate court on Kanu offered the government the best opportunity to pursue peace. It should have been the time to commence constructive engagement with authentic Igbo leaders, if the intention is not to unnecessarily cage and humuliate but to build a strong, virile country, where every component part has a sense of belonging.
Going to the Supreme Court shows Buhari and his Attorney General as men pursuing ethnic agenda. Some of us see in their action efforts to carry Igbophobia to another ridiculous level. More than 40 years after the civil war ended, there are many northerners who still insist that an Igbo person will never rule Nigeria. One of the the tools they tried using was to attempt to shoot down the ambition of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, by claiming he was a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). When that failed they said he has never condemned their activities. What they tried to do would be like every northerner is a Boko Haram member or an insurgent. Or to hold northern leaders responsible for acts of banditry and terrorism ravaging the North because they were unable to speak and control the young ones. The other day presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said only the North is passionate about the unity of the country. Many of us heard it and felt he was telling the truth. Where he failed is when he said it came to them naturally, that is not true. Since after the revenge could in 1966, the core North has succeeded to a great deal in recolonizing the space called Nigeria. The core North has not only reconfigured the country we took from the British colonialists to their advantage, it has appropriated the common patrimony to develop its own area.
The man from Niger Delta still can›t understand why he should be a proud Nigerian when the oil found in his backyard has never been of any benefit to him in any way. A man comes from the Sahel and sits on the administration and collection of the proceeds. South East never sat down to take a decision mandating her sons in the army to stage a coup. When some gathered themselves to stage a coup and it failed, northerners branded it «Igbo coup». What is in a name? You give names that dictate intended action. When the North staged revenge coup, officers of Igbo extraction were hunted like bush animals and wantonly killed in the most horrifying manner.
After that the barbaric venture was extended to innocent civilians from the old Eastern Region living in the north, it was this that dovetailed into the Civil War during which over two million persons mainly Igbos lost their lives. At the end our leaders proclaimed what became known as three Rs: rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation, which never happened till today. Germany was defeated during World War 2, yet Europe and America introduced the Marshall Plan, to aid reconstruction and return to normalcy. In the Nigerian case, we declared Igbo buildings in some parts of the federal side as property abandoned. The then federal government gave people from Igbo land only £20 no matter the amount of money they had in the bank.
Vice Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, Kashim Shetima once led a northern delegation through the Southeast and came up with a verdict that roads in zone were the worst in the country. There is no electricity supply, not to talk of industrialization. Every where people ask why do Igbo like moving out of their areas, yet the answer stares them in the face. Biafra is an idea, it not about a person. Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu’s transition didn’t anything, rather radicalized fellows are rising up. Jail or kill Kanu, one greater than him will appear.
Agitations are not criminal. We must throw away fears and see it from that perspective. What we need is consultation. Constructive engagement. Bring people into the space and pursue even development. Immediate release of Kanu will help this process and I urge Buhari to overrule his narrow-minded legs and hands and release Nnamdi Kanu today.