Our Reporter, New York
The World Igbo Congress (WIC), through its chairman, Dr. Festus Okere, and vice chairman, Mr. Basil Onwukwe, has decried the continued detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by the Federal Government, calling it a slap on Igbo people everywhere.
They made the position of the Igbo global advocacy group, which was founded in 1994 as the umbrella organization that caters to the collective interest of Igbo people in the diaspora known during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday.
During the interview, Dr. Okere and Mr. Onwukwe discussed sundry issues relating to the interests of Igbo people at home and in the diaspora. The chairman of WIC revealed that the organization had written several letters to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu calling on him to release the pro-Biafra agitator, but to no avail.
“The greatest slap that Nd’igbo has gotten from the Nigerian government is the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu,” the chairman of WIC disclosed.
“I don’t want to issue a warning to anybody, but if Nnamdi Kanu dies in detention, only God knows what the consequences would be. We cannot continue to fold our arms. We call on President Tinubu to explore political solutions to free Nnamdi Kanu, just like has been done for other Nigerians from other ethnic groups.
“We believe that the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu is a challenge to all Igbo people, as there is no valid excuse for his continued incarceration. Every court, both within and outside Nigeria, has ruled that his rendition from Kenya was illegal. President Tinubu should please release him,” they insisted.
The leaders of WIC said the organization is working to return the South-East to the leadership style of Dr. Michael Okpara, the First Republic premier of the South-East region, who laid a solid foundation for the region’s industrialization.
“Dr. Okpara was a transformative leader. His time as the premier of the Eastern Region was regarded as the golden era of the region. He was a disciplined leader with a desire to make life better for everybody,” the WIC chairman explained.
They eulogised the leadership qualities of the late premier, whom they described as a man who never tried to enrich himself in government, unlike the current set of leaders in the states of the southeast zone. Going further, the vice chairman of WIC said the people in the southeast must determine their political fate by ensuring only those who believe in the Michael Okpara leadership philosophy come to power in the zone. He described the political leadership in the zone today as a “bastardised leadership,” where “leaders that don’t have the good of Nd’igbo at heart are imposed on Igbo people.”
He therefore called for a return to Dr. M.I. Okpara’s leadership style.
