A major socio-political discourse in Nigeria today is the arrest or re-arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB).
However, the mode of the exercise remains a matter of secrecy and speculation.
It is still hazy whether Kanu was really arrested in Kenya, a situation which the Kenya High Commission in Nigeria has debunked. There is also the speculation that he was extradited without the necessary protocols that define that mode of bringing a wanted person back to his home country. Nobody, except the government can speak with certainty on these issues.
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Kanu’s arrest means many things to many people, depending on the side of the divide one stands. To members of IPOB who Kanu leads in their agitation for self-determination, the arrest is not only painful but also a temporary setback.
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To other individuals and groups, especially those in some regions other than Kanu’s Eastern part of the country, the arrest is a huge triumph of ‘good over evil’ that should teach Kanu’s supporters a lesson. To the Federal Government, it is a great feat that calls for celebration.
In some quarters too, Kanu’s arrest marks an end to some of the infantile, reckless and objectionable statements credited to him which, in all intents and purposes, are capable of ‘inciting insurrection’.
But, despite all his sins and righteousness, we urge the federal government to tread with caution in dealing with Kanu who, in our estimation, is no longer one individual judging from the circumstances that threw him up. For better or for worse, he has assumed an image that is larger than himself. He is now a leader of millions of people who rightly or wrongly believe in the cause he is fighting.
We are of the view that Kanu is not a common criminal and therefore should be given a fair trial within the ambit of the laws of the land. This, for us, is germane because, by arresting the IPOB leader, the government may have started a series of events the end of which nobody can foretell.
It seems to us that government may have made a mistake by arresting him. What should have been done, would have been to ignore or find a way to engage him given the current fragility which hallmarks our polity. Today, the country can ill-afford any further unsavoury situation.
It beats our imagination though that while the country sinks deeper into hopelessness with hunger and poverty ravaging many families, the government revels in the arrest of Kanu who rightly or wrongly can be regarded as a political prisoner.
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It is painful to note that our country, which prides itself as a big brother in Africa and the continent’s largest economy, has always majored in the micro variables while macro issues that should define us as a big brother and a large economy are largely ignored.
Nigeria has always indulged in self-delusion and ill-advised choices and the implications have always been devastating. These choices explain why the country, inexorably, remains in a Sisyphean mode of existence.
It is thought-provoking that, at a time in this country when governance is on holiday for security reasons, when government is addressing a world conference to celebrate the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the biggest news in Ghana is that Toyota has opened a plant there to build cars and sell in Nigeria.
That is also happening in Ghana when President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is seeking to resuscitate open grazing routes for herdsmen. The cynic is likely to conclude here that ours is a country where government is more concerned about the welfare of cattle than that of the suffering masses.
In a country with over 20 million housing deficit, a little above 20 percent homeownership level for a 200 million population, less than 1 percent mortgage penetration and over 33.3percent unemployment rate, we believe that government should focus more on things that give meaning to life and living.
Another cheering news in Ghana today is that the country is arresting poverty while Nigeria is arresting people, bandits are over-running villages and communities, and herdsmen are killing farmers and destroying farms, thus deepening hunger and starvation in the land.
In the light of much of the foregoing, we are of the conviction that government should gauge the mood of the people and the times we are in as it deals with socio-political issues that arise. Nnamdi Kanu is not an isolated case. There are agitators or non-state actors in the country who seem to be pampered by the same government. Needless to say, this is another source for worry. Therefore, we appeal to the judiciary to give Kanu a just and fair trial. This is more so in the light of the perception that the Eastern part of the country has been unfairly treated in the scheme of things in Nigeria. Let Kanu’s trial not be political, but legal and fair as government has promised.
