Nnamdi Kanu: Why Tinubu should emulate Yar’adua
LATE President Umaru Musa Yar’adua engendered relative peace and harmony throughout the country by the way he handled recalcitrant agitators. Shortly after he was sworn in as the president of Nigeria in 2007, he granted amnesty to the Niger- Delta militants who had held the nation by the jugular during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration. As someone who Obasanjo imposed on Nigeria as his successor, he had the option of dancing to the drumbeats of his predecessor by continuing in his style of governance, but he chose to toe the path of peace. Yar’adua quickly stopped the violent agitation in the Niger- Delta without firing a single bullet unlike his predecessor who couldn’t stop it even with maximum force. Since 2007, a lot of hitherto dangerous militants have become very responsible and useful to themselves and the society through the numerous programmes of rehabilitation by the federal and states governments. Some of them have acquired degrees from tertiary institutions and are now gainfully employed while some of their leaders have become traditional rulers, for example, Ateke Tom. Government Ekpemupolo ( alias Tompolo) who was one of their leaders is today a top and influential pipe line protection contractor with successive governments including the current one.
Granted that some people may argue that it was during Yar’adua’s administration that the current plague of Boko Haram started in 2009. If Yar’adua had lived longer, he would have equally applied diplomacy to nip the terrorism by Boko Haram in the bud. If he could engender peace in the south of Nigeria, would such a man had allowed turmoil to engulf the northern Nigeria?
Boko Haram terrorism only transmogrified to the beastly stage it is today just because Yar’adua was succeeded by President Jonathan. The sentiments of religion and region came into the mix to compound the insecurity problem during Jonathan’s administration, and of course fuelled by evil politicians. President Bola Tinubu should never toe the path trodden by his immediate predecessor, Buhari on every facet of governance. There is absolutely nothing to emulate Buhari for if Tinubu wants to succeed as the president of Nigeria. Of course the president had started well by spreading the appointments for the service chiefs by giving a considerable fair distribution to almost all the regions of the country. He may be failing on the economic growth and development but it’s rather too early for history to judge him.
On the vexed and sensitive issue of Nnamdi Kanu, the President has history before him to write it as he deems fit. Buhari refused to release Nnamdi Kanu even after several pleadings by eminent and respected Igbo leaders. A prominent personality and a first republic minister of aviation, Mbazulike Amechi, on a wheelchair, led a delegation of Igbo leaders to Buhari pleading with him to release Nnamdi Kanu, yet Buhari rebuffed such an elder statesman. Several other Igbo leaders and interest groups pleaded with Buhari to no avail. Yar’adua and Jonathan wouldn’t have been that heartless.
The lame argument that the matter is before the court and only the judiciary will decide his fate is puerile and untenable. The federal government that renditioned him has a choice of entering a Nolle ( discontinuance of the case) currently before the Federal High Court which recently refused his application for bail. The federal government had discontinued its matters with Sunday Igboho and most recently that of Omoyele Sowore who was facing treasonable felony trial during Buhari’s regime. Why is that of Nnamdi Kanu different?
President Tinubu may not have been supported by majority of the Igbo during the last election but he still has a few supporters in the south east. His die- hard supporters are also bearing the brunt of continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu. It has crippled their businesses and may have resulted in some deaths among Tinubu’s supporters in the region by the menace of the unknown gunmen who have hijacked and are hiding behind Nnamdi Kanu’s detention to wreck havoc in the region. Shouldn’t Tinubu save the lives of his few supporters by releasing Kanu? Is it not said that it’s better for thousands of criminals to escape in order to save the life of a single innocent human being than killing the single innocent along with the criminals?
On the part of Nnamdi Kanu, I do hope that he has learned some lessons from his ordeal even if his agitation is justified. Biafra agitation is as a result of gross injustice being meted on the Igbo in Nigeria. Altruistic Nigerians like President Shagari wanted to correct that injustice by picking an Igbo man as his vice president just nine years after the civil war. If other Nigerians particularly our leaders had continued in that trajectory, Biafra agitation would have died a natural death long time ago. The massive participation of Ndigbo in Nigeria’s general election especially the last one shows that they still have hope in Nigeria. The Igbo just want to be treated fairly and equitably. Nnamdi Kanu should have also realised by now that the propaganda being bandied about before his latest arrest that the United Kingdom and the United Nations will fight for him if Nigerian government arrest him is all fallacy. President Tinubu should emulate Yar’adua by releasing Kanu even if with a little condition that there would be no more agitation from him and the rest of the Igbo as long as Nigeria is treating the region with fairness just like Shagari, Yar’adua and Jonathan treated them as presidents.