Nnamdi Kanu and prerogative of mercy
It is baffling to note that after over 50 years of the end of Nigeria’s fratricidal war, the agitation for Biafra has refused to die down, especially among those who did not witness the sad era of our history.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was formed in 2014 as a splinter faction of Movement for Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), led by Ralph Uwazurike, which began its activities in the early 2000s. The leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, operated a radio station, Radio Biafra, from his far-flung location in London, and used it creatively to mobilize and reach out to his fans, supporters and loyalists in Nigeria and the diaspora. Within a short period, IPOB loomed large with mass appeal in the South East, predominantly in the informal sector – artisans, transporters, traders, community youth groups, the unemployed, and other non-state actors.
They found expression in IPOB’s ideology whose sphere of influence extended to Igbo-dominated areas of Rivers, Delta, Lagos and Kano states, etc. Like MASSOB, IPOB started as a non-violent movement with emphasis on peaceful protests, mass rallies, and observance of sit-at-home downing of tools, in honour of the memories of ‘Biafran’ fallen heroes. IPOB’s self-given mission is to actualize the sovereign state of Biafra through an internationally-supervised referendum.
As usual, the Nigerian state visited the agitation with outright repression and clampdown.
The disproportionate use of force and extra-judicial killings of IPOB members, as noted by Amnesty International, radicalized the group. Scholars from University of Nigeria (Ibeanu, Orji and Iwuamadi) in a study carried out in 2016 discovered that a “perceived collective victimhood by the Igbos” underlies the persistence of the agitation. Hence, the agitation reaches a crescendo when “there is a high feeling of collective victimization and low sense of inclusion” in the mainstream of national political economy.
The feeling of “collective victimhood” which was high under Buhari’s government drew strength from some cogent issues. First, Buhari’s declaration that he would favour those who gave him more votes than those who gave him less votes in 2015, was seen as targeting the Igbo. Second, when no Igbo headed any of the security formations throughout his eight-year tenure, against federal character principle, it was seen as a ploy for ethnic cleansing.
Third, the federal government’s seeming helplessness in reining-in on the herdsmen’s forceful occupation of farmlands and forests, was also reasoned as a scorched-earth policy. Four, the terrorist tag on IPOB vis-a-vis Boko Haram adherents’ rehabilitation, was perceived as double standard. As such, the separatist agitation was over-the-top under Buhari. Be that as it may, Nnamdi Kanu, the IPOB leader, was arrested and charged for treasonable felony in October 2015. But in what looked like a political solution, Kanu was granted bail in April 2017 with stringent conditions that barred him from “granting press interviews, holding rallies, or being in a gathering of more than ten persons while on bail.” The conditions were observed more in breach. But, Kanu’s inspection of guard of honour of Biafran Secret Service and Biafran National Guard was likely the last straw that broke the camel’s back. With a speed of light, IPOB was designated a terrorist group through an ex parte order in September 2017. Its activities became proscribed. This was followed by the launch of military offensive, code-named, ‘Operation Python Dance III’ in the South East, apparently to stamp out IPOB. Kanu was lucky to escape the heavy-handed plunder to track him down. And on return to his London base, he spewed out all manner of verbal attacks against Nigerian establishment. Kanu said that an impostor- ‘Jubril of Sudan’ was acting as Nigeria’s president, and not Buhari.
This narrative got traction in the international news media that in December 2008, Buhari had to personally dispel the propaganda at a conference in Poland. In December 2020, IPOB resorted to self-help by establishing the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to ‘safeguard’ the Igbo enclave and forests from marauding herdsmen. And few weeks after bounty was placed on Kanu by some non-state actors in the North, Kanu was arrested in Kenya and repatriated by Nigerian government in July 2021.
Femi Adesina confirmed that if not for Buhari’s intervention, Kanu would have been assassinated when he was apprehended. Consequently, IPOB declared a mandatory sit-at-home every Monday, beginning from August 9, 2021 in the South East. Since then, violence and criminality have spiraled uncontrollably even against Kanu’s charge from detention cell, and IPOB’s denial of complicity. It was therefore a big relief that the trial court has given leave to the parties to settle out of court. Igbo leaders should reach out to the Attorney General of the Federation for a workable rapprochement.
A presidential pardon for Kanu will help to de-escalate tension and facilitate peace building in Igbo land. In couching the terms of state pardon, Kanu should not be portrayed as someone who has sold out. Otherwise, another agitator like Kanu might surface if the structural root causes and conflict drivers are not addressed. The Biafran spirit is indecipherably palpable! Though offences and circumstances might differ, eminent Nigerians like Awolowo, Jakande, Enahoro and Ojukwu had enjoyed presidential pardon in the past. The creation of an additional state in the South East and signing into law the South East Development Commission (SEDC) bill, will send a message of inclusivity, which President Tinubu started by appointing one of the Service Chiefs from the South East. The dynamic National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, can initiate an amnesty for IPOB/ESN members by leveraging the UNDP’s ‘Silencing the Guns in Africa’ development approach for productive youth engagement and ending violent conflict.
It will help to mop up illicit arms and de-militarize the region. The cold-blooded murder of our patriotic security operatives will be curbed, if not stopped. The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes will lead to discovery and maximization of our amazingly talented young generation. Indeed, President Tinubu will go down in history if he quenches the tinderbox by graciously exercising his power of prerogative of mercy on Nnamdi Kanu. The feeling of “collective victimhood” will begin to evaporate. The every Monday sit-at-home will end. It will also be a political masterstroke. According to Winston Churchill, “To Jaw-Jaw is better than to War-War.”
