By Tim Tochukwu
For Biafra Choice Writers
Kanu: Prisoner of conscience |
“The
only advice for Ikedife is that he should take a cue from Justice Eze Ozobu, a
former Chief Justice of Enugu State, who was in fact the Chairman of the
defunct Biafra Council of Elders. As a decent elder, Ozobu has kept his peace
allowing the younger generation to do their thing.”
Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) and Director of Radio Biafra, spent his birthday in prison yesterday,
Sunday, April 17. That is something that would never have happened if he were a
leader like many people who claim to lead Igbo Biafrans today. He went through
it because of his leadership style – leadership by example.
Going by reasons of his birth, there are privileges
Kanu should be enjoying today, which he spurned to fight for the freedom of his
people. He is the first son of a rich, comfortable, and prominent traditional
ruler in Biafraland. He could therefor enjoy all manners of comfort. He had;
for instance, the privilege of staying in his cozy and beautiful home in London
to enjoy the closeness of a beautiful wife and children on his birthday. But he
chose to suffer for the Freedom of Biafra, receiving detention and torture from
the Nigerian state.
In spite of this people like Dozie Ikedife, a former
President of a discredited Igbo group known as Ohanaeze, could still lie
against him. In a recent interview in the Sun Newspapers, the more than 80
years old medical doctor said of Kanu, “People say Nnamdi Kanu is the leader of
IPOB. The truth is that Kanu is the Director of Radio Biafra. We founded the
IPOB, not Kanu. In the IPOB we founded, there is division of labour. Kanu only
handled the communication wing of the organization but he went ahead to
arrogate himself as the founder of the IPOB because of the instrumentality of
the Radio Biafra.”
It surprising that at his age, Ikedife does not know
that a leader is someone people follow because of his principles and stances. In
the case of Kanu, people do not only follow him because of his principles, but
also because of his leadership by example; and his uncompromising stance to
stay the course on those principles.
Ikedife may have his say, but Biafrans know who their
leaders are, that is why they shut down Biafraland for weeks as they protested
his detention. Biafrans know that Radio Biafra was single-handedly established
by Nnamdi Kanu, with initial funding for AM transmission from Movement for the
Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASOB). Biafrans equally knew
that when the payment for AM transmission ran out that MASSOB refused to
provide further payment because Ralph Uwazuruike, the then MASSOB leader had
been compromised by Nigerian government.
Even when Kanu and other members of
Radio Biafra Editorial Board visited Nigeria to speak with Uwazuruike, he
refused to see them. Instead, Uwazuruike called on the Nigerian Police to
arrest them. His reason was that they had vowed to campaign against the coming
election. It is on record that when the Nigerian Police refused to do that,
Uwazuruike did it himself – he had his men torture Kanu; they stripped him
naked, flogged him and had women urinate on him.
Uwazuruike: sold-out agent to Nigerian government |
It through the doggedness of Nnamdi Kanu and Uche
Mefor that Radio Biafra restarted broadcasts, but this time through the
Internet, since there was no fund to pay for AM broadcasts. The resumption of
AM and FM broadcasts resumed when Biafrans were organized enough to start
funding.
Biafrans know that Ikedife did not appoint Nnamdi
Kanu as Director of Radio Biafra, but that Kanu appointed him as Deputy
Chairman of Biafra Council of Elders. In fact, Ikedife’s case is a pathetic one.
Ikedife was appointed by Nnamdi Kanu, when the idea of bringing the elders into
the struggle, to fulfill the Biafran known culture of respect to elders. Unfortunately,
Ikedife and co betrayed the trust Biafrans had for they started hobnobbing with
Nigerian government.
It was particularly discovered that despite the
agreement that nobody in the struggle should have dealings with Nigerian government
or Nigerian government officials, but Ikedife and his cohorts were cavorting with
Rochas Okorocha, the Governor of Imo State, a well-known Islamic agent in
Biafraland.
Ikedife and cohorts with Buhari |
As if that was not enough, at the coming of the
Muslim Brotherhood party known as All Progressives Congress (APC), Ikedife and
co quickly jumped on board. They wanted to quickly get back at Goodluck Jonathan
who they accused of appointing younger people in his government without giving
positions to the elders. That was why IPOB completely kept them out of the
struggle.
Ignored and rejected, they have been doing
everything to rubbish Nnamdi Kanu. They have concocted lies and raised all
manner of childish arguments against him. Just recently, some of them said Kanu
should not be pulling out innocent young men and women in the streets to die;
that he should bring out his own children. How thoughtless can some people be? The
young man is in the frontline of the struggle and receiving everything thrown
at IPOB – insults, persecutions, and ostracisms – yet some people are saying he
should bring his children to join struggle.
Meanwhile are mere toddlers – his second son is
around four months old; given birth to while his father was in detention. Kanu’s
mother, brothers and sisters are always at Biafra meetings and protests. How thoughtless
and callous can people be?
Well, that Kanu is the leader of IPOB is not in
doubt. Nobody needs Ikedife’s endorsement to know who the IPOB leader is. The
European Union leadership that Biafrans have demonstrated in front of their headquarters
knows who IPOB leader is. The United Nations (UN), the British Parliament, the American
Congress, and countries where Biafrans have demonstrated for Kanu’s release are
well aware who IPOB leader is.
The only advice for Ikedife is that he should take a
cue from Justice Eze Ozobu, a former Chief Justice of Enugu State, who was in
fact the Chairman of the defunct Biafra Council of Elders. As a decent elder,
Ozobu has kept his peace allowing the younger generation to do their thing. Nnamdi Kanu does not need Ikedife's endorsement to lead IPOB.
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