Media entrepreneur and publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has added his voice to growing calls for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a post on his 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday, Momodu shared one of Kanu’s past broadcasts, describing it as “thought-provoking” and insisting that the issues fuelling separatist agitation in the South-East could not be ignored.
“Shortly before his abduction from Kenya by the Nigerian government, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made this thought-provoking broadcast in which he philosophised about the reasons he and his supporters became radicalised,” Momodu wrote.
The veteran journalist argued that the Biafra movement was borne out of decades of deprivation and marginalisation suffered by the Igbo people.
“I have taken time to listen to his critics and discovered most of them only jumped to conclusions without proper analysis of why agitation for Biafra became reignited, attractive, and fanciful after the pogrom that wasted millions of lives and destroyed unimaginable properties in the 1960s and ’70s,” he said.
According to Momodu, the “continuing marginalisation of the Igbo, and deprivation accorded some of the most energetic and vibrant brains in Africa, and globally, rekindled the Biafra sentiment.”
Momodu cautioned that attempts to suppress or eliminate Kanu would not bring lasting peace to the South-East.
“Attempts by enemies of Kanu, including his own kinsmen, to exterminate him will never solve the problem,” he said.
He stressed that Nigeria’s leadership needed to embrace dialogue and restructuring rather than repression.
“I will never support violence. But any sensible government will keep the geniuses of the South East very busy, with productive engagements, instead of this rabid hatred,” Momodu added.
The IPOB leader remains in custody as he faces charges of terrorism and incitement to violence before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
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