Nnamdi Kanu
Media entrepreneur and publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has joined growing voices calling for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday, Momodu, whose submission was accompanied by one of the IPOB leader’s broadcasts, reflected on Kanu’s continued detention and the deeper issues driving separatist agitation in the South-East.
He argued that the movement for Biafra was fueled by decades of marginalization and deprivation experienced by the Igbo people.
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Shortly before his abduction from Kenya by the Nigerian government, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made this thought-provoking broadcast in which he philosophised about the reasons he and his supporters became radicalised,” Momodu wrote.
He criticised those who dismissed Kanu and his followers without understanding the historical and political context behind the renewed agitation.
“I have taken time to listen to his critics and discovered most of them only jumped to conclusions without proper analysis of why agitation for Biafra became reignited, attractive, and fanciful after the pogrom that wasted millions of lives and destroyed unimaginable properties in the 1960s and ’70s,” he said.
According to him, the “continuing marginalisation of the Igbo, and deprivation accorded some of the most energetic and vibrant brains in Africa, and globally, rekindled the Biafra sentiment.”
Momodu warned that attempts to silence or eliminate Kanu would not resolve the crisis.
“Attempts by enemies of Kanu, including his own kinsmen, to exterminate him will never solve the problem,” he said.
He emphasised that the Igbo struggle required “serious political reconfiguration” rather than repression.
“I will never support violence. But any sensible government will keep the geniuses of the South East very busy, with productive engagements, instead of this rabid hatred,” he added.
The IPOB leader is currently standing trial for terrorism and incitement to violence.
