President Bola Tinubu has been urged to free the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in honor of deceased elder statesmen like Chief Edwin Clerk and Pa Ayo Adebanjo.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, made the plea in a letter he forwarded to President Tinubu. He argued that Kanu is a product of a collective misunderstanding of some inevitable truths and political axioms.
He further noted that Chief Clerk and Pa Adebanjo, as well as other late sages like Chief Mbazurike Amaechi, Prof. George Achulike Obiozo, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, and Chief Engr. Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, who spent their final years advocating for peace, unity, and national healing, requested Kanu’s release.
“Their voices, though now silent, remain an enduring call for statesmanship and fairness,” the learned silk stated, adding that “Kanu is fast becoming a prisoner of conscience.”
According to him, a sincere reflection on the antecedents and peculiar circumstances surrounding the emergence of the IPOB leader and his ordeals in the last seven years clearly shows that the Federal Government of Nigeria needs to reassess its strategy over what he termed a “national quagmire.”
“Kanu is a product of our collective misunderstanding of some inevitable truths and political axioms, including That our Federalism (considering the inherent and different characters of the Peoples of Nigeria) is meant to comprehensively foster the growth and prosperity of Nigeria’s diverse Peoples within a harmonious framework of constituent communities.
“It is not intended to serve as a mechanism for entrenching primordial hegemony by any particular group.
“That it is an irony and hypocritical to be deceptively preaching ‘the indivisibility of Nigeria’ from a mindset that has a total disdain for anything healthy to the true federalism and nationhood of Nigeria where every sub-group ought to have a safe and founded sense of belonging.
“To put it graphically, the indivisibility of Nigeria is not framed thought for an ethnic hegemony.
“That the manifest selective preference for force and persecution over diplomacy and constructive dialogue in addressing critical national issues such as the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu-calls for urgent reconsideration.
“Sustainable nation-building is best achieved through engagement, consensus, and adherence to the Rule of Law. Patriotism is never founded on brutal force.
“That it is a fundamental principle of the Rule of Law that a nation must uphold and enforce the pronouncements of its Courts and adhere to the rules and treaty obligations it has ratified. Any deviation from this standard undermines the integrity of the Courts and jeopardizes the nation’s credibility in the comity of nations.”
He argued that, given the trajectory of Kanu’s trial, including his discharge by the Court of Appeal, “all that is left is for the political State actors to exercise the needed political will.”
“Your Excellency, great leaders are not defined by their ability to suppress opposition but by their ability to unify, heal, and reconcile. The release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu will not be a sign of weakness but a demonstration of political wisdom and statesmanship.
“It presents an opportunity to turn a new page in Nigeria’s history that prioritizes peace, justice, and the collective well-being of all citizens,” Ume, SAN, who is a former Attorney-General of Imo State, added.
