Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, has advised the people of Southeast to utilize dialogue and peaceful means to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu from the Sokoto Correctional Centre.
Speaking at the 14th Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Day celebration in Owerri, Ojukwu’s widow acknowledged Kanu’s sentencing by the court of first instance but insisted that dialogue offered a path to overturn the decision.
Persecondnews reports that Ojukwu Annual Memorial Day was instituted by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the founder of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
The memorial event traditionally draws attendees from the five states of the Southeast and the broader Igbo community.
During her address, Mrs. Ojukwu requested a minute of silence to honor the late BBC journalist, Mr. Frederick Forsyth.
She noted that Forsyth had resigned from his position specifically to cover the events of the 1967-1970 Biafra-Nigeria civil war.
Regarding the matter of Nnamdi Kanu’s imprisonment, she cautioned against emotional or violent reactions, stating: “Nnamdi Kanu is in the prison; we should not get angry, and it is not an issue to use knives, guns or fighting ourselves in order to solve it.”
“This coming Christmas all of us should endeavour to meet with our National Assembly members and our governors and ask them the way forward to ensure that Kanu is freed from the prison.
“Also, all of us should come together and plan how to use peaceful means to settle this matter; we should plan how to meet with President Bola Tinubu and amicably resolve this matter.”
She added that the people of the South-East should imitate other zones and learn to solve any of their challenges through dialogue and peaceful ways.
Ojukwu expressed dissatisfaction that even during the Nigerian civil war, Igbo people were not killing themselves or kidnapping people for ransom, adding that what is happening in the zone presently is strange.
She urged the youths to be patient and embrace peace and dialogue as the best way to achieve progress and peace.
The minister recalled that after the civil war, her late husband, Ojukwu, was in exile for many years, but with peaceful means and dialogue, the late former President Shehu Shagari was able to grant him unconditional pardon.
Ojukwu decried the low business activities being witnessed in the zone now due to the Monday sit-at-home, adding that this was as a result of insecurity in the area.
She explained that since killing and kidnapping became common in the zone, socio-economic activities had gone down, noting that investors are now investing in other zones.
“Before, foreigners such as those from Cameroon, Ghana, and Togo, among others, were coming to invest in the Southeast, but since insecurity started, many of the investors, both foreigners and local, have withdrawn from the area.”
Chief Ugwunna Ajaelu, who was the chairman of the occasion, called on Southeast people to be patient and adopt diplomatic measures on the issue of Nnamdi Kanu’s imprisonment.
“All hands must be on deck to ensure that he is released in no distant time.”
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