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| Biafran child holding a placard |
The arrest and continued detention of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu –
the operator and Director of now famous Radio Biafra – by President Muhammadu
Buhari-led government is, to say the least, one ignominious show of lack of
good understanding of the values, tenets, practices and principles of democracy
and/or democratic governance on the part of the person of Muhammadu Buhari –
which is a complete negation of and clear departure from the dictates of the
same system which avails him the rare opportunity of junketing around the world
to be pontificating about democracy, freedom of all sorts, self-determination
and all that jazz (yet these are all virtues he does not respect at the home
front).
And this whole thing about the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu
and General Buhari’s false democratic disposition is increasingly becoming
worrisome considering the apparent quiet which has of late engulfed the
activities of the civil societies in Nigeria and those of the elements who are
wont to parade themselves as human rights activists and representatives of
foreign Non- Government Organization operating in Nigeria. Little wonder that
Muhammadu Buhari-led government is currently and perniciously building up a new
brand of impunity which for now seems not to matter or constitute a grave
threat to the lives and interests of all those who in no time, but sooner than
later, will take up the gauntlet in a bid to contain his (Buhari’s) dangerously
developing excesses.
Arguably, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu is being accused by the Buhari-led government of
using the medium of Radio Biafra to be mobilizing the people of South-East, and
perhaps the South-South, geo-political region of Nigeria for the burgeoning
clamour for separation or independence from the mere “geographical expression”
called Nigeria. This, among other accusations, is perceived to be the
ostensible reason for the unlawful and continued incarceration of Mr. Nnamdi
Kanu without trial or conviction. And like Nelson Mandela, Nnamdi Kanu has
become a prisoner of conscience.
Incidentally, Kanu’s tormentors – apparently led by President Muhammadu Buhari
– believe that what he allegedly does with the Radio Biafra in the Diaspora or
perhaps in the United Kingdom where the station is reportedly registered and
licensed to operate, amounts to an offence in Nigeria. Though it still boggles
one’s mind what that actual offence is which the Federal government has
reportedly and covertly charged Nnamdi Kanu with before a magistrate court at
Wuse in Abuja and following which he was reportedly granted bail, yet the
Buhari-led government sees no sense or wisdom in abiding by the common
principles of the rule of law and/or in respecting the basic provisions of both
our municipal laws (as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of Federal Republic
of Nigeria as amended) and those of the International laws as contained in
charters, treaties, etc, on the fundamental human rights of peoples demanding
for self-determination, all of which the Nigeria state is a key signatory to.
Now come to think of it, granted that the Radio Biafra is registered and/or
licensed to operate in the United Kingdom and in which case its operator –
Nnamdi Kanu – implicitly pays tax for it and other dues that inhere in such
operation and as and when due, the question that follows is: who then is to be
held responsible by Buhari-led government between Nnamdi Kanu and the relevant
British regulatory authorities for whatever content being aired by the Radio
Biafra? Again, given that the relevant British authorities so far have not seen
or found good cause to either withdraw the license or permission given for the
operation of the Radio Biafra in whatever form or deemed its content harmful,
threatening or outrageous to either a section of mankind or humanity in
general, contrary to the unnecessary alarm and fear being raised by a section
of media in Nigeria, what then is the actual offence for sake of which Nnamdi
Kanu is being tormented and incarcerated by Muhammadu Buhari government?
Moreover, if indeed President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is scared and
deeply concerned about the messages and the general content being aired on the
Radio Biafra from outside Nigeria, then what on earth for goodness sake stops
this President of the so-called giant of African from effectively exploring and
employing all diplomatic and technological means possible in combating the
challenges posed by the existence of this pirate radio station, rather than
merely chasing shadows by descending on Nnamdi Kanu in the false belief that
this is one way of suppressing the unabated, ubiquitous and strong demand for
the independence of the Republic of Biafra, out of Nigeria? Funny enough, the same President Muhammadu Buhari who now takes delight in
tormenting Nnamdi Kanu in the DSS dungeon – simply because he is an Igbo demanding
publicly that his people be granted independence from this mere “geographical
expression” called Nigeria – had recently demanded that “the Palestinian people
and those of the Western Sahara” be obliged their legitimate demands for
self-determination to the United Nations, forthwith.
While delivering his speech on 28th September, 2015, during the 70th session of
the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA, President Muhammadu
Buhari had enthused before the world leaders that: “As we engage in these
annual debates, we need remind ourselves of the principles that led to the
founding of the United Nations. Among those are peaceful co-existence and
self-determination of peoples. In the context, Mr. President, the unresolved
question of self-determination for the Palestinian people and those of Western
Sahara, both nations as qualifying for this inalienable right must now be
assured and fulfilled without any further delay or obstacle”.
Of course, these are the exact words of President Muhammadu Buhari at the
recently concluded United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, USA.
Yet this is the same man back at home, contradicting in reality the same gospel
he felt comfortable preaching to other people in New York. And here we are with
the same President Muhammadu Buhari who will not stop at anything in
suppressing the Igbo who obviously share similar fate with the people of
Palestine in terms of their common demands for autonomy; a President who has
elected himself as the new spokesman for the Palestinians at the international
arena.
What is more, it is quite provocative and excruciatingly disturbing that even
President Muhammadu Buhari clearly has no illusions about the gross immorality
and sheer wickedness associated with not just his continued detention of Nnamdi
Kanu in the DSS dungeon, but equally his apparent use of the security
apparatchiks to harass, intimidate and even to kill members of the Indigenous
People of Biafra and their MASSOB brethren. And nothing speaks volumes about
this deliberate, wicked and deplorable attitude towards these armless
self-determination agitation groups than Buhari’s instructive remark to the UN
General Assembly session to the effect that “neither do we have the moral right
to deny any people their freedom or condemn them indefinitely to occupation and
blockade”. Conversely, this is exactly the same right that President Muhammadu
Buhari is desperately striving to establish for himself here with the intent to
wield it against the Igbo and other folks who share in the cause of the ongoing
clamour for an independent Biafra.
Today, having been pushed to the wall by the Hauas-Fulani herdsmen with their
novel wave of kidnap terror and other associated atrocities being launched in
Yoruba land, the Yoruba folks are thus impelled to begin to bemoan and rethink
their partnership in the Lugardian project called Nigeria. Not surprisingly,
therefore, the Yoruba are now threatening to pull out of Nigeria in the face of
the rising tide of the Hausa-Fulani (herdsmen) malaise and sundry other ugly
trends unfolding under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari. In other words,
the Yoruba too appear to be weary of the project called Nigeria and are now
inclined to express it as evidenced in their latest secessionist threat which
is somewhat comparable with the ongoing agitation for a Republic of Biafra (?).
Yet, President Muhammadu Buhari only views Nnamdi Kanu, because he is an Igbo,
as a genuine threat to be dealt with over the same agitation for
self-determination (?).
Anyway, it is high time all Nigerians and, especially, members of the
international community began to impress it on President Muhammadu Buhari to
not only release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu before anything ill befalls him in the DSS
dungeon, but also to leave him alone henceforth bearing in mind that he (Mr.
Kanu) and his ilk are merely exercising their “inalienable right” to demand for
self-determination like the Palestinians whose cause and demand for
self-determination did receive a tremendous fillip from Mr. Muhammadu Buhari before
the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Needless to remind Mr.
President, at this juncture, that what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the
gander.
Source: Global Reporters.
Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije
writes from Abuja via [email protected] (07012130204). He can be reached on facebook or on twitter @onyiorahpaschal.
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