Nigeria: As Soludo Weighs in for Nnamdi Kanu

4 October 2016

A few days ago, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Charles Soludo passionately called on President Muhammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of the so called Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB). Soludo was speaking during the presentation of a book titled "The Politics of Biafra and the future of Nigeria." According to Soludo, the continued imprisonment of Nnamdi Kanu would make him a hero in the mould of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo who was jailed for treason by the government of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Soludo added that prior to his prosecution; Nnamdi Kanu was unknown to many people but that his continued detention has turned him into a kind of hero. Soludo feared that unless Kanu was released, his continued incarceration would harm President Buhari's chances of retaining the Presidency in 2019.

With due respect, the Professor got the analogy wrong. Chief Awolowo is not Nnamdi Kanu; Awolowo might have plotted against the government of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa but not against Nigeria in which he had painfully believed. I said painfully because Awolowo wanted Nigeria to be much more than "a mere geographical expression." However, unlike Nnamdi Kanu, Chief Awolowo never set out to cause the disintegration or destruction of Nigeria, or the zoo as Kanu's misguided followers call this country. Chief Awolowo was certainly more cultured than Nnamdi Kanu; he had a more sublime view of Nigeria than this foolish British-Nigerian Igbo chap.

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