By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
Elder statesman and former caretaker President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Ralph Obioha (Okpuruisi Arondizuogu) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to extend unconditional presidential amnesty to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and release him from detention.
Kanu who is still undergoing trial on account of his actions as IPOB leader and other associated charges, is being held at the detention facility of the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters, Abuja, since 2021.
He was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and extradited to Nigeria in circumstances which the pro-Biafra group leader felt was a violation of his fundamental rights and therefore challenged it in court and won.
Chief Obioha however urged President Buhari to "demonstrate magnanimity and broad mindedness", as the father of the nation and "especially as Nigeria prepares for a crucial election that will redefine the unity of Nigeria".
The renowned politician and prominent Igbo leader also enjoined the President to be "mindful of the country's diversity and the many mutual advantages we as citizens derive from such diversity", stressing that "a recognition of this diversity requires that our leaders remain vigilant to any situation that will cause a lasting disaffection of one part against the other" .
Chief Obioha, a former federal lawmaker in the second republic, reminded the Nigerian leader that the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been an intractable matter "roiling the Eastern region of Nigeria and disaffecting legions in Southeast particularly. It’s also core to the rising insecurity in Southeast".
He pointed out that the "South East is an important integral part of the Federation and anything that might challenge its unfettered participation in the election needs to be nipped in the bud.
"The coming 2023 election has provided an opportunity for Mr President to reconsider the matter of Kanu and pursue the path of political solutions instead of the law enforcement solutions that appear to have made the situation worse.
"It is with a high sense of patriotism and concern for the corporate existence of Nigeria that I hereby earnestly call on you to release Nnamdi Kanu from detention. I do so from my vantage position and wealth of experience as former caretaker President-General of Ohaneze, a former member of Federal House of Representatives and a former presidential candidate, among others.
"I have followed events surrounding Kanu from when he was brought back to Nigeria from Kenya under circumstances that have been condemned by the courts of the land. It’s my understanding that even the United Nations has intervened with a call for his unconditional release", Chief Obioha stated in what he described as his "patriotic call" to the President.
The former President Candidate of Justice Party (JP) in the 2003 general elections equally advised President Buhari consider what will be his legacy when out of office on May 29.
"I will recommend that you keep in mind that Nigeria, under your watch, cannot afford to miss this golden opportunity to explore a more reconciliatory path to resolving this matter of Nnamdi Kanu and the issues driving it", Obioha exhorted. NNL.