By: Chinedu Okafor (Lagos)
Note: This is my opinion. You can either agree or disagree.
On Biafra issue
“The issue of Biafra is a very big one in Nigeria today. Some of us are waiting for the president’s mind to calm down and I will appeal to him to personally release Nnamdi Kanu to me and I’m sure the president will listen to me when I finish marshalling out my reasons. These are young boys, they have the right to ask for Biafra, but the problem is the process.
“People have committed more offences than what Nnamdi did but they were pardoned; so, I’m still going to appeal to the president, we will have a common ground very soon. Let’s see what will happen between now and the end of the year. This issue should not be rushed, the president should not be pressurised; we are talking to him informally. We are talking to the president through the international community, we are talking to him through African presidents and we are talking to him through personal friends. He is going to listen, Buhari is not as hard as people think and he has a heart that flows with milk.”
“So, let us get the right core. I will make application if they will allow me to see Nnamdi Kanu in prison very soon and I will like to talk to him and I know he will listen to me. Nobody is saying anybody cannot talk about Biafra, you can talk about any other republic but you should not take Nigeria for granted; it’s a sovereign nation and we’ve all sworn to keep the country together.”
The former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, who on Friday, December 16, visited the embattled pro-Biafra leader in Kuje, where he is being held over crime against the state
Chief Kalu who broke the news of his visit on his Facebook wall said: “Today, I visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Kuje Prison and we engaged in a very long discussion. Kanu is my brother and a son of the soil.
“He shouldn’t be where he is because Kuje Prison is not his home. It is therefore my utmost concern to see him regain his freedom like every other Nigerian.”
You should understand that dialogue is the best weapon for any political difference. I love this man he made a way for kanu where there was no way. He had to talk to the power that be to let go of the young man. Asking the authority to forgive his highhanded and naughtiness. Big man talk to big man, big man understand.
Almost half of the unlearn folks in Igbo Land were busy castigating Chief Kalu for jumping ship. How market? Nnamdi Kanu knows deep in his heart that his release or maybe a temporary freedom is tied up to the discussion he held with the formal governor.
The bail conditions tell it all.
The conditions are:
— Mr. Kanu must not hold rallies.
— He must not grant interviews.
— He must not be in a crowd of more than 10 people.
— He must provide three sureties in the sum of N100 million each.
— One of the sureties must be a senior highly placed person of Igbo extraction such as a senator.
— The second surety must be a highly respected Jewish leader since Mr. Kanu said his religion is Judaism
— The third surety must be a highly respected person who owns landed property and is resident in Abuja
— The IPOB leader must deposit his Nigerian passport
— He must also deposit his British passport with the court
— He must provide the court with reports on the progress of his health and treatment on a monthly basis.
— The order for him to deposit his Nigerian and British passports also mean he cannot travel out of the country (If this is considered, it is the thirteenth condition).
Justice Nyako however refused bail to the three other defendants standing trial with Kanu, namely Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.
The judge maintained that the only reason she admitted Mr. Kanu to bail was because of his ill health.
She said although the charge of terrorism had been struck out against the defendants, the charge of treasonable felony hanging over them was a very serious offence.
Ndigbo should be very grateful for the decamping of the formal governor from the people democratic party PDP to All progressive Congress APC.
If you get brain use an oooooooo
Buhari never laugh. Lesson for next time
After the meeting, Mr. Kalu, who defected recently to the ruling All Progressives Congress, told journalists in Abuja that the detainees had given him the “go-ahead to talk on their behalf” with the Federal Government.
The former governor was optimistic that supporters of Mr. Kanu would now be more cooperative with the authorities, following his discussion with their leader.
He said the discussion will form the basis for an interface between the Federal Government and Mr. Kanu.
He added that the planned talk would have the view to end Mr. Kanu’s trial.
“I came to talk to him to talk to his supporters. I think they will have a change of attitude. We are all Nigerians. If both himself and the Federal Government are genuinely interested, we can come to a common ground. It is a possibility,” said Mr. Kanu.
On the decision of the Federal High Court hearing the case against Mr. Kanu and his colleagues to grant partial protection to prosecution witnesses, Mr. Kalu said the practice has long existed.
“The protection of witnesses is nothing new in law. We can do that but it may not get to that stage; if we talk to each other well. It is possible to settle out of court if both parties are realistic.
“Now he has given me the go-ahead to talk on his behalf. And if I can speak on his behalf, then the process will begin; and if things go as they ought to, we might not get to the stage of having to require protection of witnesses.
“If he trusts me and the Federal Government trusts me, I don’t see how this will not work. I know the government well. I am a member of the ruling party. So I can use my position well,” Mr. Kalu said.
The former governor explained that his visit was in line with the United Nations’ charter on human rights and in furtherance of his duty to the state he once governed.
“My visit to Kanu is in compliance with the United Nation’s charter that, anyone who is in prison should frequently be visited.
“I decided to come and visit him as a younger brother and as a former governor of Abia State; once you become a governor, you have a duty to always protect your people.
The former governor met with His Excellency Eze I.O Kanu and his wife at their palace in Afara-Ibeku, Umuahia
They discussed issues surrounding Kanu’s release…
A former governor of Abia state Orji Uzor-Kalu on Tuesday, January 3, visited the parents of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.
During the visit, the former governor discussed the need for the release of Kanu with His Excellency Eze I. O Kanu and his wife Ugoeze Sally Kanu.
Sources within the family said Uzor-Kalu’s visit to the palace of Eze Kanu was met without much difference from the reply the former governor got from the IPOB leader in Kuje.
Orji-Kalu had in December 2015, visited Kanu in prison.
The former governor during his visit told Kanu that he has to be released
He also based his discussion on the analysis that a prison facility is not befitting for the IPOB leader.
