Headline

The Deification of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

Published

5 years ago

October 23, 2021

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The world woke on June 29, 2021 to the shocking news of the re-arrest of the leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, after over three years of verbal crossfire with the Federal Government of Nigeria. Kanu, who had been in London since he escaped the military invasion of his house in Afaraukwu, Umuahia, was arrested in Kenya by the Nigerian security operatives, said to be working in tandem with the International Police (INTERPOL). The details of his arrest, and who was involved have remained sketchy till this day.

Prior to Kanu’s escape from Nigeria in September, 2017, he had remained a frequent visitor to the courts, from his base in prison, which later granted him bail. He was serving his bail period when the invasion, which stakeholders described as deadly, forced him to abscond. There were varying stories of his whereabouts until he was spotted in Israel praying. That put paid the insinuations about his death and possible location anywhere around the globe. It would be recalled that the likes of former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzo Kalu, had claimed he was in Malaysia in addition to so many theories propounded by diverse groups.

Observers have noted that since the saga of Nnamdi Kanu erupted with his ambitious desire of creating a new Biafra state from the South East and South south out of the existing Federal Republic of Nigeria, his image has grown large as a result of the government’s inability to toe the path of dialogue. He had continually received the accolades of a deity as the Nigerian government continued to hound him.

This accolades have emboldened the Afaraukwu prince, who remained in the business of making statements after statements, authenticating the existence of Biafra, and more recently, the Eastern Security Network, a military wing of the IPOB.

Kanu’s radical demand for the state of Biafra kicked off two years after the death of Biafra’s main agitator, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, in 2014, with the founding of the Radio Biafra, where he served as its director. The radio station, which was subsequently labelled illegal by the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC), was known to frequently air pro-secessionist programmes and sentiments, and later banned. He became a fugitive thereafter, and was arrested a year later on October, 14, 2015 at a hotel in Lagos by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and placed in detention on grounds of terrorism and treasonable felony. His influence grew, and created in him a man-god when the DSS blatantly refused to release him in spite of several court orders in December 2015 for his release.

The General Muhammadu Buhari-led administration neither heeded court instructions to release him nor engaged him in dialogue for one and half years where he remained incarcerated without trial.

However, his image continued to grow larger with large number of South east youths joining his cause, and made IPOB a movement and Nnamdi Kanu a revered supreme leader. On April 28, 2017 however, a Federal Court released Kanu on bail, with stiff bail conditions including a sum of N100 million bond through a Senator, a Jewish leader, and a highly respected Nigerian. The conditions were met as the senator representing Abia Central, Enyinnaya Abaribe, supported the cause, and Kanu was released on bail.

But the damage obviously must have been done as Kanu had already become very popular, commanding followers, who were willing to go with him the whole yards. He quickly re-ignited his old sentimental secessionist agenda and making statements that re-echoed across the length and breadth of the Nigerian nation including the fact that President Buhari died in Saudi Arabia, and had been cloned with a man he described as Jibrin from Sudan. Not a few believed him. It will be recalled that Buhari had been away on medical pilgrimage for an accumulated 150 days thereby creating avenue for the speedy spread of Kanu’s allegation.

His popularity and growing spread of the Biafra awareness led the Nigerian Army to launch the Operation Python Dance in September 2017. The Military raided Kanu’s home and declared IPOB a terrorist organisation. But Kanu escaped, and re-appeared a year later in Israel to announce that he was forced to escape Nigeria and that the Nigerian Army killed 28 IPOB members in its attempt to arrest him.

His trial continued in his absence a month after his disappearance, and he was never in court.

“I don’t know where my client is. Since that time (the forced Army entrance into his home) I have not heard from him. I cannot tell whether he is alive or dead.” His lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor told the court:

That remained the situation until the Federal Government on June 29, announced his re-arrest. It was believed that he was arrested two days before it was made public, and then an 11-count charge including treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms were slammed on him.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Muhammed has said while promising that Kanu would be given a fair trial that he would be “…facing an 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms, among others, jumped bail in 2017 and left the country. On Tuesday, Kanu was re-arraigned in court and ordered to be remanded in the custody of the DSS, while the case was adjourned till July 26-27, 2021.

“The Federal Government wishes to commend the Nigerian security and intelligence agencies, who collaborated to re-arrest the proscribed IPOB leader in one of the most classic operations of its type in the world.”

After few attempts by the DSS to bring him to court failed, Nnamdi Kanu, finally appeared in court on Thursday, October 22, 2021, approximately six years since his ordeal started, amid heavy security, and pleaded not guilty to the Federal government 7-count amended charges bordering on alleged terrorism and treasonable felony with the Department of State Security (DSS) as the lead prosecutor. It will be noted that even journalists were barred from accessing the courtroom.

He was re-arraigned at an Abuja division of the Federal High court before Justice Binta Nyako, who adjourned the case to November 10, 2021 after refusing his application to be transferred to Kuje Prison.

Attached to the amended charges filed by DSS, is a seven paragraph affidavit of completion deposed to by Loveme Odubo, a prosecutor in the Federal Ministry of Justice. Kanu’s Counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor said they are challenging the fresh 7 count charges.

Kanu’s deification was very visible in the court premises as a large of supporters had stormed the environment chanting solidarity songs.

In an attempt to prove that he did not jump as massively propagated by the Nigerian government, Kanu said if he had not escaped, he might have been killed like other members of the group. The judge therefore encouraged him not to feel discomfited while standing his trial.

A day after the court proceedings, the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami held a press conference, where he alleged that Kanu was responsible for almost all the carnages that have happened in the country in recent times, especially the massive destructions of October 2020, occasioned by the #EndSARS protests across the nation, with massive emphasis to the Southeast, Southsouth and Southwest regions.

The Federal Government through a committee set up by the President Buhari to investigate Kanu, blamed the IPOB leader for the murder of Dr Chike Akunyili, the husband of a former Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, the late Prof Dora Akunyili in Anambra and the murder of a former presidential aide, Ahmad Gulak, and over 184 others in the South-East as well as burning down the palace of the Oba of Lagos.

The 24-member committee comprised members from the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Information, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

The committee, headed by Malami, said consequent upon the instigating directives of Kanu, members of IPOB and the Eastern Security Network carried out massive attacks on democratic institutions, especially facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission to hamper democratic process in Nigeria.

Across many reports, it has been established that “Kanu, who had been on the run before his recent arrest, has been sort of an enigma since he jumped bail, creating a personality cult so strong that his tweets elicited mass sit-outs in the southeast.”

It must be noted that every Monday, in addition to everyday Kanu appears in court has been designated as compulsory public holidays in the Southeast, and no pronouncement of five sitting governors of the region has made any significant effect to the contrary. That is how respected the IPOB has come to be.

The young man by all intent and purposes has become a deity among his large professed and silent followers, and it is clear that the federal government has helped in no small measure to his deification.

The world awaits November 10 for continuation of his trial.

Headline

Parties’ Deregistration: ADC, Not NDC, is the Target

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

As the 2027 presidential election draws closer, intrigues, manipulations and maneuvers have continued to be the order of the day as political parties engage in one gimmick or another to outdo and undo one another.

While some are playing politics of numbers and conviction, others are engaging tendencies that tend to question the status quo and established principles under which genuine democracy is formed. As a matter of fact, fingers have been pointed at the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government as the brain behind all machinations that have attempted to derail multi-party democracy, and institute a one-party state, which is alien to the Nigerian democratic roots. This is as a result of the constant imbroglio that has consistently engulf almost all the major political parties in the country.

Fresh facts have however, emerged to prove that every act of frustration thrown at the opposition has been indirectly aimed at the main opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

According to reliable sources, the recent deregistration of parties, especially the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), was actually targeted at the ADC.

Recall that the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on June, 26, set aside its earlier judgement directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register the NDC as a political party. A ruling that put a question mark on the eligibility of the party presenting candidates in the forthcoming 2027 elections

The presiding judge, Isah Dashen, held that all relevant parties must be heard before any substantive decision can be made in the matter.

The court upheld the application filed by a certain organization, the Peace Movement Party (PMP), ruling that the party was a necessary party to the suit.

According to the judge, the earlier judgement was constitutionally defective as it was delivered without hearing from all interested parties.

He declared that such an omission rendered the entire process null and void.

Mr Dashen further ruled that the status quo be restored to what it was before the December 10, 2025 judgement, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

He also observed that certain material facts were suppressed in the earlier proceedings, which justified the decision to set aside the judgment.

Consequently, the court ordered that the substantive suit should begin afresh, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PMP and the NDC as parties to the case.

According to NAN’s reports, the applicant’s lawyer, Chikezie Ekeocha, told journalists that the PMP approached the court after discovering that NDC’s registration was based on a logo it had previously submitted to INEC before the commencement of the suit.

According to Mr Ekeocha, the court agreed that the applicant’s rights had been affected and consequently vacated the earlier judgement.

“The court has ordered all parties to return to the position they occupied before the judgment of 10 December 2025, and directed the claimants to join all necessary parties to ensure the issues in dispute are effectually and completely determined,” he said.

He explained that the implication of the ruling is that every action taken by INEC in compliance with the now-vacated judgment stands reversed.

“The recognition of the NDC, the issuance of its certificate of registration, its inclusion in INEC’s records, and any appearance on ballot papers arising from that judgement must be withdrawn pending the final determination of the substantive suit,” Mr Ekeocha stated.

He, however, clarified that the substantive case remains before the court and has not been decided.

“The matter has not been concluded. The court merely set aside its previous judgment and directed that the party whose interests were affected be joined so that all sides can be heard before a fresh decision is reached.”

Mr Ekeocha also dismissed suggestions that the court merely ordered parties to maintain the status quo, insisting that the ruling specifically directed a restoration of the position that existed before the 10 December 2025 judgement.

The ruling effectively returns the dispute over the registration of the NDC to the Federal High Court for a fresh hearing, with all relevant parties expected to participate before a new determination is made.

It would also be recalled that a few weeks earlier, the Federal High Court in Abuja, had ordered the deregistration of five political parties including the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The others are Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Accord Party.

However, on June 16, the Court of Appeal in Abuja halted the enforcement of the judgement, ruling that it violated its earlier ruling staying proceedings before the Federal High Court.

While INEC awaits the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment to deregister the NDC, the NDC has reacted, rejecting the judgment as travesty of justice.

Lending credence to the notion that the President Tinubu-led administration is basically targeting the establishment of the ADC as a party, and the candidature of its presidential flagbearer, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is also the presidential candidate of the ADC, has stated categorically that there are plots to prevent the party from participating in the 2027 general election.

Atiku’s position is stated in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu on Monday, notifying the public that he had received credible information suggesting that political and legal manoeuvres were being deployed against the ADC, stressing that the persecution that has been thrown towards the NDC was a clear distraction as the main target is the ADC.

Atiku alleged that anti-democratic elements within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were working to ensure that the ADC is excluded from the ballot.

“We are fully aware of their plots. While they seek to sow confusion within the opposition, we know their real target is the ADC because it represents the most credible alternative,” he said.

Atiku called on Nigerians to reject any attempt to determine which opposition parties participate in the election.

“We therefore call on all Nigerians — not just ADC members and supporters — to rise in defense of democracy and reject any attempt by the ruling party to cherry-pick which opposition parties are permitted to participate in the next general election,” he said.

“Our message to the APC and the hooded men plotting in dark chambers is simple: you may conspire, but you will not succeed.

“If the APC is truly confident in its popularity, why is it so terrified of the ADC?”

He said he hoped the information available to him would not materialise but argued that recent political developments made such concerns difficult to dismiss.

“The pattern has become all too familiar. First, institutions that ought to be neutral are drawn into partisan contests,” he said.

“Then, frivolous litigations suddenly gain unusual momentum. Administrative powers are selectively deployed.

“Political pressure is mounted behind closed doors. Before long, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”

Atiku alleged that the ruling party has focused more on weakening the opposition than addressing the country’s economic and security challenges.

“The obsession with silencing the opposition has become so consuming that governance itself has taken a back seat,” he said.

“At a time when Nigerians are battling hunger, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, and collapsing purchasing power, those entrusted with public office appear preoccupied with political survival rather than national survival.”

Nigerians recall that ever since the official rejuvenation of the ADC in June/July of 2025, where the duo of Senator David Mark and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola emerged as the party’s chairman and secretary respectively, the party has not known moments of peaceful coexistence as litigations from corners unknown have sprang up in a bid to destabilize the party and deprive it of the opportunity of featuring on the ballot paper come 2027.

ADC, as a child of circumstance emerged from the rumbles of the litigation-ridden former main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where two factions have consistently remelained at loggerheads over leadership. While the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is working assiduously to ensure the reelection of Bola Tinubu, leads one faction, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, who became a defacto head, leads the other faction. In all, PDP appeared to have no direction, forcing many of its members to jump ship, thereby birthing the ADC, and to a large extent, the NDC, which is presenting Peter Obi as the presidential candidate, with former Kano governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as his running mate.

Sources also informed The Boss that the hasty reading and passage of the Electoral Act 2026 by the Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly, with many great areas left unattended to, were also part of the grand design to deprive the ADC the constitutional rights of presenting candidates for the 2027 elections.

But both the ADC and the NDC has vowed that they would follow every process to ensure that the crackdown on opposition parties by the Tinubu administration comes to an abrupt end.

But beyond the intrigues, Nigerians are gearing up to participate fully in the forthcoming election with cross sections of the population either hailing Tinubu for his policies or knocking him for the untold hardship in the land.

Headline

South Africa Nothing Without Africa – MTN Boss, Mcebisi Jonas

Published

4 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The MTN Group Chairman, Mcebisi Jonas, has condemned the ongoing anti-foreigner sentiment in South Africa, describing it as a symptom of State failure being cynically exploited by politicians with no interest in genuine solutions.

The speech is seen as one of the most substantive interventions by a senior business figure into xenophobic crisis currently plaguing South Africa.

Delivered during the funeral service of Zimbabwean-born activist and public servant, Thokozani Damasane, Jonas’ words have sparked a wave of discussion across South African civil society.

“I was thinking, what is home to Damasane?” he said. “Because I understand, and I understood very early in life, that home is where humanity is. Home is about humanness. It is about the good of humanity and striving for the good of humanity.”

Thokozani Damasane was born and educated in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa during the post-apartheid transition period. Jonas described him as arriving “as an outcast” into a country still finding its post-liberation footing – and choosing, nonetheless, to commit himself entirely to its struggles and its people.

“He immersed himself deeply into the struggles, into the pains of South Africans, and he became one of us,” Jonas said.

“In Damasane’s strength, our strength as South Africa and South Africans is reflected. And in his weaknesses, our own weaknesses are reflected.”

Speaking further, Jonas blamed the state for the failure being witnessed, emphasising that if foreigners leave South Africa today, the country’s problems will still persist.

“Foreigners can leave tomorrow – inequality will be with us,” he told the congregation.

“Foreigners will leave tomorrow – unemployment will be with us. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our police will remain corrupt. Foreigners will leave tomorrow – our politicians will still be concerned with one thing: being elected and re-elected.

“The problem is the failure of the state. The State doesn’t manage immigration. It doesn’t manage its borders. It doesn’t enforce
law enforcement. It doesn’t manage education. What are you expecting?”

Jonas argued that this failure created fertile ground for political manipulation. “When people feel the burn, they become vulnerable to politicians whose sole purpose is to be elected and re-elected. Some of them have no credibility whatsoever. But they lead marches and tell our people that the problem is not us – it is foreigners.”

Jonas recounted a conversation he had witnessed between Damasane and a young man who had challenged the right of foreigners to be in South Africa. Damasane’s response, Jonas said, had stayed with him ever since.

“Damasane said to this guy: Just wait fifteen or twenty years. You will also want to leave your country.”

Jonas told mourners those words now carry a weight Damasane may not have anticipated. “As I stand up today, I look at South Africa. The level of oppression and inequality, the level of exclusion of our people, the level of corruption, the betrayal of the dream of liberation – those words of Damasane ring very loud in my ears.”

South Africa is nothing without Africa

Jonas closed with a call for what he described as a return to “national consciousness” – one rooted in continental solidarity and economic interdependence rather than ethnic exclusion.

“We are a nation embedded in Africa,” he said. “And without Africa, our growth as a country – economically – our fortune is intertwined with the growth of Africa. South Africa is nothing without Africa. And Africa is nothing without South Africa.”

He also reframed the question of legacy and identity for Damasane’s children, who were present. “Sometimes this thing called meritocracy is measured in wealth. No. It is values, it is principles, it is integrity. And your father had all of that.”

“We cannot judge people by their origin,” he told mourners. “We cannot determine the legal status of people by their origin.”

Headline

NDC Rejects Court Ruling on Party’s Registration, Heads to Appeal Court

Published

4 days ago

June 27, 2026

Eric

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Friday, vowed to challenge the judgment nullifying its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisting that it would exercise its constitutional right of appeal.

Reacting to the ruling on Thursday, the party’s spokesman, Osa Director, said the NDC was still awaiting the certified copy of the judgment before making a comprehensive statement on the court’s decision.

He, however, confirmed that the party had resolved to head to the appellate court.

“We are still waiting to obtain a copy of the judgment. After reading the comprehensive judgment, we will make a detailed statement,” he said.

The spokesman added: “For now, what is certain is that we will exercise our right of appeal.”

Insisting that the party would challenge the ruling, he said: “It is our constitutional right to appeal, and we intend to exercise that right.”

When asked specifically whether the NDC would appeal the judgment voiding its registration, the spokesman replied: “Yes, the party will appeal the case.”

The party’s reaction came shortly after a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, in a judgement that nullified its registration by INEC, a development that could have significant implications for the NDC’s participation in the country’s political process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The NDC, however, maintained that it would refrain from making further comments on the substance of the judgment until it had studied the full text of the court’s decision.

The party’s planned appeal is expected to set the stage for a fresh legal battle over its status and continued existence as a registered political party.