Nnamdi Kanu And The Cry For Biafra, By Femi Fani-Kayode

By Femi Fani-Kayode - Oct 24, 2015

Femi Fani-Kayode

I am not a Biafran and neither am I igbo. I do however believe that it is the inalienable right of any human being or ethnic nationality to aspire to be free and to be able to determine their own destiny. The right of self-determination is enshrined in international law and it is guaranteed by every moral stricture known to man.

It is a right that has been exercised successfully over and over again in world history and it has led to the creation of new nations which were carved out of older ones. The denial of that right and the suppression and persecution of those who attempt to exercise it leads to nothing but defiance, dissent and resistance and, if not properly managed, it eventually spills over into war and carnage.

This has been the primary cause of most of history’s most brutal civil wars, including the American, Russian, French, English, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Nigerian, Angolan, Congolese, Zimbabwean, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Nicaraguan, Cuban, Irish, Syrian, Libyan, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Iraqi, Italian ones and countless others. I do not believe in violent change and neither do I believe in war, revolution, terror or the use of arms in the pursuance of even the most noble causes.

I do however believe in the power of ideas and the right of any man, woman or people to yearn to be free from bondage and to peacefully and freely express that yearning. It is in this context that I situate my belief in and support for those that view the Nigerian Federation as an oppressive entity which has effectively enslaved its people in an attempt to create what is essentially an artificial and unworkable state.

Those that believe in Nigeria have every right to continue to do so and to voice their resolve to keep Nigeria one. What they do not have the right to do is to refuse to offer the same degree of freedom of expression to those that do not believe in a united Nigeria and who instead believe in the peaceful dissolution of our nation to speak their minds and voice their views. What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. You cannot grant one side of the divide freedom of expression whilst you deny it to the other.

This is all the more so because freedom of expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. It must be accorded in equal measure to those that believe in Nigeria and to those that do not. It is in this light that we must consider the plight of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra and the man that has been described by the Igbo World Assembly as ”Buhari’s first political prisoner”.

We may not like his style, we may not like his radio station, we may not share his views or approve of his methods but one thing that we cannot take from Mr. Kanu is his right to hold such views and to express them in a peaceful and lawful manner no matter how distasteful those views may be to some. To deny him this most basic human right is not only an act of intellectual terrorism but it is also the most grave and barbaric manifestation of what is essentially an evolving police state where different or contrary views cannot be accommodated by those in power.

When Mr. Alex Salmon and his Scottish Nationalist Party began the agitation for the dissolution of the United Kingdom and for the establishment of Scottish independence many years ago they were not charged to court, locked up indefinitely or murdered by the British authorities but instead they were eventually given the opportunity to participate in a referendum and test their ideas. The same thing happened in the Catalan region of Spain where the agitation for the establishment of a new nation is compelling and very popular.

Sadly President Buhari who, like most in his generation, are still stuck in the mindset of a civil war general, has refused to learn from this. The biggest mistake and miscalculation of his administration so far is not the ruthless implementation of its patently and monstrously unapologetic northern agenda but rather its absurd resolve to lock up Mr. Kanu indefinitely and to effectively throw the key away simply because he dared to call for the establishment of Biafra.

As far as I am aware Mr. Kanu has not used or advocated the use of violence whilst expressing himself and neither have any of his supporters. One therefore wonders what has panicked the Federal Government to such a point that they not only have to lock him up but that they also have to violate the law of the land by not allowing him to see his lawyer and by not presenting him before a court of law and charging him within the constitutionally-prescribed three days.

State-sponsored violence and intimidation, the violation of human rights, illegal incarceration, the murder of innocents and the vicious suppression of legitimate ideas leads to nothing but hardened hearts,
https:///e7qGOScAiw

op is that the best you can think About?

I think everybody deserves the right to choose where to belong or who to be.
No crime about that

LastSurvivor:
I think everybody deserves the right to choose where to belong or who to be.
No crime about that

Exactly...more like Freedom of choice

Fani kayode is desparately looking for popularity

nairalandmaster:
op is that the best you can think About?

There is something very special about FFK. That I admire about him. He stands up and speak up for that truth everyone is shying away from.

Hate him or Like him.

Mr fani pls did UN also enshrined it in their policies/chatter to promote hate speech on countries u seek to brake away frm

Cos kanu has been notin but a radical,inciting violence by calling nigeria zoo.


'with biafra its done' gowon/15

Kayode should be go to the east since he wants to be a wailer.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed,, but freedom after speech is not guaranteed

That link is not from a credible source. The link looks like something u can download virus from.

Gowon fought, suppressed and collapsed the Biafra into Nigeria and if in his lifetime he refuses to let them go, then he had only succeeded in passing the war to his children.

God bless you FFK for standing on the side of truth and good reasoning and not trying to belong to biased tribalists, who for the sake of hatred, shy away from the truth.