Nnamdi Kanu must not die in prison, Ohanaeze tells Buhari

COSMAS CHUKWU

Sequel to the statement by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor esq. about the deteriorating  health condition of the detained IPOB leader, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has reacted saying that he should not allowed to die in prison.

In a statement issued and signed by Dr Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze’s National Publicity Secretary, recalled the Ohanaeze position of a political solution as his case is beyond the court or force.

His message reads fully:

“The attention of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has been drawn to the deteriorating health of the Leader of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Information reaching us indicates that “Nnamdi Kanu is currently suffering from gastro intestinal illness, which necessitates the constant use of antacids and other available medical treatments”. It adds that “the DSS has refused to allow him have even the smallest amount of the prescribed painkiller, which could have given him short-term respite,” Report from Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the IPOB’s attorney, further adds that “the DSS has repeatedly treated the existing court order—which specifically directed that Nnamdi kanu should be granted access to his doctor for an independent review/investigation of his current health status—with the utmost contempt and disdain”.

“The above report should be very worrisome to any fair-minded patriotic Nigerian. The fair-minded and patriotic because, it is self-evident that the Nnamdi Kanu phenomenon is a product of circumstances. It is rather an outcome, or the effect of the orchestrated alienation of the South East from the centres of power in Nigeria, especially since the onset of President Buhari administration. “Several patriots such as Chief E K Clarke, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Dr. Bitrus Porgu among others have decried the unjust treatment to the Igbo of the South East. The Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in a humane and patriotic candour stated that “the marginalisation of the South-East geopolitical zone by the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari is crazy and unprecedented”. Tambuwal adds: “I feel sad and disturbed each time I see the Igbo crying of marginalization. The Federal Government of Nigeria has been unfair to the Igbo. In all socio-economic activities is like the Igbo are not part of the nation”.

“The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor, an erudite professor and seasoned diplomat, has on several occasions advised President Buhari that the issue of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is beyond the courts or the use of force; advising that it requires political solution. Obiozor urged the federal government to embrace the values of justice, equity and fairness in their true sense for real peace, progress, unity and development to thrive in Nigeria. He argued that all over the world, the moment the populace become conscious of the existence of governance based on selective morality, outrageous paradox and double standards, the expected legitimacy from the people becomes well-nigh unattainable.

In other words, how can the Igbo youth feel comfortable with the lopsided appointment of about 16 service chiefs to the deliberate exclusion of the entire South East of Nigeria? “How can the youth condone the outrageous doormat treatment where of all the die-hard APC supporters of President Buhari from the South East, none of them is qualified to serve as a minister in the grade “A” ministry, such as Works, Agriculture, Power, Health, Education, etc? The latest political recrudescence is the outright conspiracy against the South East when it was clear to all that it is the turn of the South East to produce a president for Nigeria. According to Tambuwal, there are several reasons why the Igbo should be unhappy. It is the expression of dissatisfaction with the orchestrated injustice against the Igbo that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu represents. “Unfortunately, the uninformed focus at the effect thereby ignoring the cause of the problem.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio cultural organization and several eminent Igbo have repeatedly appealed to the heart of Mr. President to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on the premise of a political solution. “The only living legend among those that fought for the Nigerian independence and the minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amechi presented the request to President Buhari when he visited Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, as his last wish. Earlier before that, Mbazulike had also met President Buhari in Aso Rock, Abuja for the same reason. In the interim, common sense will ask: why deny Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the necessary access to a medical doctor? This is very curious and raises a lot of questions.

“Finally, it is a common knowledge that the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu has rather contributed to the enormity of insecurity in the South East and one wonders what will happen if by the utter carelessness, negligence or unnecessary victimization, something untoward happens to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Instructively, many uninformed Nigerians share the base reasoning of the proverbial ostrich; the ostrich buries its head in the sand, joyously flapping its wings, and believes that it has escaped from reality.

As in the ostrich, the civilised world are watching!”

Also, the apex Igbo sociocultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo World through its National Publicity Secretary,Dr Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, has lambasted one Kennedy Iyere for dragging its image in the mud by asserting that the demanded payment to support an Igbo presidential candidate in the upcoming election.
Ogbonmia in a press statement described the statement as fallacious,callous and mendacious

The statement reads fully

“Our attention has been drawn to a social media clip making the rounds indicating that Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide demanded payments from one Comrade Kennedy Iyere as a condition to support a Nigerian President from the South East. This is the most fallacious, mendacious and callous of all the falsehoods aimed at tarnishing the image of the Igbo as the Judas category that values money more than human conscience.
“On the advocacy for a president from the South East of Nigeria, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo took the message to all parts of Nigeria; including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar III; Chief E K Clarke, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the British High Commission and so many other places. “The delegations comprised the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor; the former President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, former President General, Chief Gary Igariweh, the Secretary General, Ambassador Okey Emuchay; National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia; others include Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, HRH Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, Professor Anya O Anya, Chief Simon Okeke, Professor Charles Nwekeaku, among others. Several other Igbo activists and interest groups such as Nzuko Umunna led by Senator Chris Anyanwu, Arc Ferdinand Agu, etc were also at the fore-front in the advocacy.
On December 13, 2021, I personally addressed an Open Letter to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, reminding him that it is the turn of the South East to produce a president for Nigeria and urging him not to contest the 2023 presidency on the grounds of equity, justice and fairness. (2023: Open Letter to H.E. Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu By …https://globalpatriotnews.com › News › Local). I also wrote Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, reminding him that the current Igbo travails is as a result of our support to his candidacy in 2019.  A simple search on the Internet will reveal that Ohanaeze had made numerous press releases urging Nigerians and the international community to lend support to the quest by the South East for presidency.
“The Ohanaeze Ndigbo further propagated the advocacy to the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders (SMBLF) led by Chief E K Clarke, and Chief Nnia Nwodo as the Coordinator General. Other leaders of the SMBLF include Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the Leader of the Afenifere; Dr Pogu Bitrus, Leader, Middle Belt Forum, among others. Our gratitude goes to the SMBLF for their irrevocable position to support an Igbo of the South East for presidency in 2023. Similarly, we thank Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for receiving us in his Abeokuta residence about three times. I am inwardly delighted that the unwavering position of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has gained a global momentum and unprecedented volcanic eruptions of human passions across the country. “Above all, the Ohanaeze message has found expression, resonance and traction in the irrepressible power that is inherent in the Nigerian masses.
In the social media clip making the rounds, orchestrated by one Comrade Kennedy Iyere, he alleged that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Chief Nnia Nwodo demanded payments from him to attend a meeting at Awka for a Nigerian president from the South East. The truth of the matter: In October 2020, Chief Damian Okeke Ogene, former President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Anambra State chapter was contacted by Chief Iyere to invite the seven state presidents from the seven Ohanaeze states. Ogene explained to Iyere that members would be coming to Awka from distant places such as Port Harcourt, Owerri, Aba, Ebonyi and that it would not be possible for them to go back to their locations on the same day. Iyere promised to secure hotel accommodation for the seven persons, and that he would also pay for their transport costs. At the meeting in one hotel at Awka, Iyere was seated with White men and he highlighted the unbearable injustice to the Igbo by the past Nigerian leaders and the equity in a South Easterner to become the president of Nigeria come 2023.  Paradoxically, we were very delighted and also curious that a non-Igbo and White men were championing an Igbo cause. At the end of the meeting, he pleaded with us to manage seventy thousand naira (N70, 000.00); that is, ten thousand Naira each, as transport costs. Some of us refused the money while some others reasoned that it could be misinterpreted if we rejected the ten thousand Naira each. “I am rather shocked by the depravity and a kindergaten shenanigan with which Iyere painted his encounter with the Ohanaeze Ndigbo; that Ohanaeze Ndigbo demanded payment from him in order to support an Igbo for presidency. This is the most morally reprehensible fabrication from the pit of hell. Surely, we failed to attend his subsequent meetings for two reasons: through a Freudian slip, a stench character deficit became manifest in his maneuvers at Awka; second, he espoused hate, invectives and unwholesome remarks against our then President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, simply because, according to him, Nwodo did not pick his phone call.  In the clip that has gone viral, several eminent Igbo sons were mentioned in bad light; for me, Comrade Kennedy Iyere is a pernicious sharp knife within; a conflict entrepreneur, social wasteland, political juggler, stumbling amateur, windbag, mischief maker, name dropper and a mundane predator, best to be avoided. “Unfortunately, hard as he may try, most of the names that Iyere dropped in the social media are the cream Igbo titans, political avatars, tested moral edifice, pure, decent and very much above reproach and his cheap and unreflective tarnish; in fact the pillars of the current national movement.”