“I will never support violence, silencing Nnamdi Kanu won’t solve the problem – Dele Momodu
Media entrepreneur and publisher, Dele Momodu, has joined growing calls for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), describing his prolonged detention as counterproductive to peace in the South-East.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Momodu shared one of Kanu’s past broadcasts, reflecting on the roots of the Biafra agitation and the socio-political factors that have sustained it.
“Shortly before his abduction from Kenya by the Nigerian government, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made this thought-provoking broadcast in which he philosophised about the reasons he and his supporters became radicalised,” Momodu wrote.
He criticised those who condemned Kanu and his followers without understanding the deeper issues behind their agitation, stressing that the movement was born out of “years of marginalisation and deprivation” suffered by the Igbo.
“I have taken time to listen to his critics and discovered most of them only jumped to conclusions without proper analysis of why agitation for Biafra became reignited, attractive, and fanciful after the pogrom that wasted millions of lives and destroyed unimaginable properties in the 1960s and ’70s,” he said.
Momodu argued that attempts to silence or eliminate Kanu would not end the crisis, adding that what the region needed was a “serious political reconfiguration,” not repression.
“I will never support violence. But any sensible government will keep the geniuses of the South-East very busy with productive engagements, instead of this rabid hatred,” he added.
