Nnamdi Kanu: An activist worthy of emulation. IPOB must continue to agitate for their rights - Chinua Achebe Centre for Leadership and Development

Nnamdi Kanu: An activist worthy of emulation. IPOB must continue to agitate for their rights - Chinua Achebe Centre for Leadership and Development

Chinua Achebe Centre for Leadership and Development has joined the world in voicing its support for Nnamdi Kanu, and it described him as an activist worthy of emulation. Speaking at the just concluded World Igbo Summit held in Enugu; the body which campaigns for promotion of Human Rights, Good Governance and Inter-ethnic peace is a non-profit public charity registered in the State of Michigan, USA, for the purpose of advancing and protecting Human Rights around the world.

Our primary focus is Africa and more specifically Nigeria. We chose to focus on Nigeria because we saw that the signs of genocide are very present in Nigeria and the international community needs to know the truth in order to avert the repeat of the events of 1966 to 1970 when millions of Biafran people were killed, mainly through official starvation of policy of the Nigeria Government which designated the whole of Biafra land as starvation camp contrary to acceptable war practices and conventions established by the United Nations” the organization said through its Board chairman , Rev. Joshua Amaechi.

The organisation further questioned the rationale behind the silence of the international community while Nigeria contravenes the entire international obligation she swore to uphold using due and willing signatory. This prompted accusation that they have been lobbied to be ineffective when it comes to Biafra

The Chinua Achebe Centre for Leadership and Development chose to focus on Nigeria because the voices that shape foreign policies of the US and the UK towards Nigeria have shown that they cannot be relied upon in protecting the rights to life of all; especially that of Biafrans” he further noted that domineering power strongholds in Nigeria had lobbied Washington and Buckingham Palace that influences international policies towards Nigeria.

The body illustrated the delay in designing Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation as the distrust it paints.

Speaking on the state of Biafra and the agitation going on; the group made it clear without being definite that Nnamdi Kanu’s right to agitate must be protected and that it supports his quest. “We are not against any group or persons, but we are for Human Rights, justice and equity.

We are for the right of all peoples to life, to freedom of speech and association and the rights of all groups to choose their political and economic future without compulsion”. The people of Biafra have been grossly murdered and forced to disappear in the course of agitation for self-determination which according to the group must be respected.

It urged IPOB to continue to agitate peacefully for their rights which are a guaranteed in the United Nations charter. “Before we conclude this speech; we would like to commend the Biafra Youth for their exemplary record of peaceful activism and their contribution to the worldwide quest for freedom and justice.

By organising many peaceful demonstrations in their search for Biafra, these youths have shown that they possess the finest qualities of decency and maturity. Even under extreme provocation, whether in Onitsha, Aba or Portharcourt, these Youths remained peaceful.

We are proud of them and encourage them to continue to be peaceful in all their activities. We would like to use this forum to call on the government of Nigeria to demilitarise Nigerian democracy and allow the rule of law to prevail so that the people can freely express themselves without fear of being killed or intimidated.

We also call on Nigerian government to release Nnamdi Kanu and all pro-Biafra detainees and begin the process of restructuring the Nigerian state so that the people will have their voices” it concluded by taking a quote from the famous Essays titled “The Education of a British-Protected Child” by Chinua Achebe which says “We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without devaluing our own”

Reacting to the speech, when Ifeanyi Chijioke sorts the view of the participants who are mainly Youths, they buttressed the position of the speaker on Nnamdi Kanu. “Nnamdi Kanu should be released because we have been calling for his release and negligence to this amounts to an abuse of our people,” one Miss Aso Ahuoma said.

Her counterpart who identified herself as Miss Ihemedu Ogechi supported the move by Igbo Awareness and Development Initiative to have called the people together to fashion out a solution to the problems facing the people of Old Eastern region. “The call made by Achebe Centre is a sign that we are all united in this call. Freedom to life and liberty to self-determination is not a crime and we the Youths that participated in this join in the call for Kanu’s unconditional release” she added.

While speaking with high voice and determination, Asomugha Harrison who took the floor on behalf of the whole students and non-students that attended the summit could not mince words as he noted that continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu after calls by almost all the people from Old Eastern region would spell doom for Nigeria.

The call which has ranged from the most violent groups destroying oil pipelines to the most decent legacy of Achebe and showing no sign of stopping. Harrison who made the call on behalf of students and non-students said “We have heard everything Joshua said, and they are correct.

We are being killed, and we are unlawfully arrested; Nnamdi Kanu should be released, and if this is not stopped, retaliation might become a must which will further throw the country into more chaos. God help us all, thank you.”

The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu could gradually be taking another dimension with the awareness being created over it. There is a strong campaign by all and sundry that Nnamdi Kanu represents the subjugation the people of the old Eastern region have been long complaining about and with this status quo; Nigeria might be thrown into another civil war because endurance cannot last forever.

-Ifeanyi Chijioke writes for BiafraPost

Editor/Publisher: Akachukwu Udo

For Biafra Reporters