The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been awarded Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia in the United States.
He was also designated an “Outstanding Citizen” to be accorded the courtesies of a Goodwill Ambassador from Georgia.
The proclamation was issued by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, on behalf of the Republican-controlled state government. The letter, dated January 16, 2026, was formally presented on Friday, January 23, 2026, in Milledgeville—one of Georgia’s capital cities—by State Representative Gab Okoye.
Former Nigerian Consul General to South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, received the certificate on Kanu’s behalf. Ajulu-Okeke described the IPoB leader as “Africa’s most famous political prisoner and a global prisoner of conscience.”
In the proclamation, Raffensperger stated: “I, Brad Raffensperger, Secretary of State of the State of Georgia, do hereby proclaim Nnamdi Okwu Kanu as an Honorary Georgia Citizen.
“May this Outstanding Citizen be accorded every courtesy as a Goodwill Ambassador from Georgia in his travels to other states, to nations beyond the borders of the United States of America, or wherever he may hereafter travel or reside.”
The document was signed and sealed at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on January 16, 2026.
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at the Sokoto Correctional Centre following his conviction by Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja. He was found guilty of treason-related offences, which he has consistently denied.
The IPoB leader has maintained that he was tried under laws that do not exist and has vowed to challenge the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
Kanu was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and subsequently returned to Nigeria, an action his supporters have described as extraordinary rendition, which occurred during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Advertisement
