Dear Mr Nnamdi Kanu,
I am morally obliged to write this onerous letter to you as a former ally. Nevertheless, how do you do? I hope all is well with you. Before I will proceed in discussing the crux of the matter, I wish to remind you that no man born of a mere mortal is above questioning. And he who choose not to listen to the voice of reason often dwell in a world full of regrets. This might sound very nauseating but the fact of the matter shouldn’t be misrepresented. As I x-ray my point in this letter, I will suggest we eschew all forms of emotional parochialism and see things from a factual standpoint.
On the 8th of May, in what appears to be one of the biggest legal maneuvering in the history of jurisprudence in Nigeria, the Supreme court in Abuja ordered for the immediate release of Senator Orji Uzor Kalu who was formerly sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for 7.65 billion fraud. I’m not here to question the legality of the judgement nor rejoice over his release but what perturbs me most is why you hurriedly said it was the constant attacks of your group (IPOB) that made the release of the former Governor possible. Frankly speaking, this is one of the most bizarre statement I have ever heard since the resurgence of Biafra agitation.
How sensible does it sound to you Mr Nnamdi Kanu? That you have the power to pressure a monstrous government to release a man that looted billions and left his state in a serious economic coma but lacks the mojo to also pressure the same government that arrested, battered and imprisoned innocent men and women who queued into your convoluted message of freedom is quite disappointing. You are beginning to unmask your true colour. Wonders they say shall never end. There are hundreds of IPOB members languishing in various prison facilities in Nigeria with no hope of regaining their freedom, unfortunately as a so called leader, you abandoned them and decided to campaign vigorously for the release of a man whose actions partly instigated their agitation. What an unfair world!
Mr Nnamdi Kanu, for taking credit in the release of Orji Kalu, I can categorically liken your action to that of a shepherd who cowardly abandoned his sheep when the wolves came knocking. There are hundreds of families who lost their loved ones because of you. Some lost their businesses while many have been rendered perpetually incapacitated all in the name of, ‘I Nnamdi Kanu will restore Biafra’. I could remember in 2017 how a poor widow whose only son was arrested during Trumps rally in Port Harcourt city tasked me to beg IPOB central command to push for the son’s release. This helpless widow recounted how she sold every valuable in her possession in other for the son to regain his freedom from Port Harcourt prison after he was abandoned by the organisers of the rally.
What an irony! A man whose house has been gutted by a grave inferno is somewhere chasing shadows. Charity they say begins at home but to you Mr Nnamdi Kanu, it is obvious that charity begins in abroad. Moreover, what even gave you the false impression that it was your constant rant that pushed for the release of Orji Kalu? If you don’t know, it wasn’t your radio onslaught. Only Kalu can tell what led to his freedom. If you still insist it was your broadcast on radio Biafra that eventually cemented the sudden release of Orji Kalu, I challenge you to use the same platform to fast track the immediate release of IPOB members suffering unjustly in the numerous prisons in Nigeria. My request is not too much for you to do. If you can do it for Orji Kalu who almost boxed IPOB to a corner, why won’t you replicate the same magic for your ardent worshippers? Or has it not occured to you that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.
Mazi, many of your admirers maybe scared to tell you pointblank that you goofed over the issue of Orji Uzor Kalu. And don’t forget that not everyone will fall prey to your Mumbo-Jumbo. Time and events have reinforced the fact that radio Biafra London has been clandestinely hijacked to hatch all forms of political patronage for it’s proprietors. Don’t get it twisted because the whole saga is already playing out.
However, I know that a lot of your emotionally unstable followers will defiantly misconstrue the essence of this letter. And I am also aware that some of them who are mentally wanting will resort to all kinds of unprintable abuses as their own way of responding to my lofty message but does really count? It doesn’t! What matters most is that the content of the letter has been laid bare without minding whose ox is gored.
In conclusion, whatever that goes on in your franchise radio is none of my business. The major thing that prompted the drafting of this letter is your double standard attitude. It is unbecoming and outright misplacement of priorities for you as a leader to fight for the release of an unremorseful political looter who is a part and parcel of the catalyst that fuelled the present Biafra agitation while on the other hand, abandoning your followers who are perishing in the hands of Nigeria security agencies.
My passionate appeal is that, as you are enjoying a breath of fresh air wherever you maybe hibernating right now, the same should be extended to these men and women that are suffering because they swallowed your questionable rhetoric of freedom hook line, and sinker. Their families are in dire need of them. Please, use the same magic wand you used for Orji Uzor Kalu for them. When you do this, I won’t hesitate to write another round of letter praising you for the feat.
Warm regards!
Kalu Nwokoro Idika is a political analyst, investigative and freelance journalist
Kalunwokoroidika@yahoo.com