Media entrepreneur and publisher of Ovation International, Dele Momodu, has urged the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a post shared via his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Tuesday, the former presidential candidate said the government must address the underlying causes of separatist agitations in the South-East region.
Momodu’s post included a video clip of one of Kanu’s past broadcasts, recorded shortly before his repatriation from Kenya by Nigerian security operatives. He argued that the Biafran agitation stems from “decades of marginalisation and deprivation” experienced by the Igbo people.
“Shortly before his abduction from Kenya, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made a thought-provoking broadcast explaining why he and his followers became radicalised,” Momodu wrote.
He criticised those condemning Kanu without, in his view, understanding the historical and political roots of the Biafran movement.
“Most critics jump to conclusions without proper analysis of why the agitation for Biafra became reignited and appealing after the pogrom that claimed millions of lives and destroyed properties in the 1960s and 1970s,” he said.
Quoting Kanu, Momodu reiterated that the “continued marginalisation and deprivation of some of the most vibrant minds in Africa and beyond” had reignited the Biafran sentiment.
The Ovation publisher warned that silencing or eliminating Kanu would not end the agitation, stressing that the issue demands political, not legal or military, solutions.
“Attempts to destroy Kanu, even by his own kinsmen, will never solve the problem. The Igbo struggle requires urgent political reconfiguration,” he stated.
While maintaining that he does not support violence, Momodu advised the government to engage the South-East constructively.
“I will never support violence, but any sensible government should engage the South-East’s brilliant minds productively instead of fostering hatred,” he added.
Momodu’s remarks come amid renewed appeals from political leaders, civil rights groups, and Igbo socio-cultural organisations for Kanu’s release and a political resolution to the ongoing separatist crisis.
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