The attention of the 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!
Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
