Opinion
By Osinakachi Akuma Kalu
FOR two days now, I have struggled with yielding my voice concerning the case of Nnamdi Kanu and all I do is journal it. But then, there is something disturbing about the silence, or worse, the complicity, of some Igbos in the face of Nnamdi Kanu’s ordeal.
Let’s look at situation without bias here and also watch the attached videos without bias.
Pay close attention to this, history has documented this pattern from some Igbos before:
a. The selective amnesia,
b. The political correctness,
c. The eagerness to appease a system that has never concealed its contempt for us.
We have seen this before.
We have lived it.
And yet, some of us pretend not to recognize it.
Kanu stood in court and declared:
“This is not a court of law, this is a shrine to injustice, and I will not subject myself to it.”
That was not just an act of defiance; it was an indictment of a system that thrives on humiliating the Igbo. And yet, instead of rallying in moral outrage, some Igbos mock him, dismiss him, distance themselves from him. Well it’s your right!
Let history be clear: this is not just about Kanu. This is about what it means to be Igbo in a country that has never forgiven us for surviving.
1. In 1966, after the mass slaughter of Igbos in the North, we were told to “forget and move on.”
2. In 1967, when we refused to be slaughtered like animals, they called us rebels.
3. During the war, they starved over 2 million women and children to death and called it “a necessary evil.”
4. After the war, they looted our wealth, gave us £20, and called it “reconciliation.”
5. Decades later, when we spoke of injustice, they told us to “let bygones be bygones.”
6. Now, when Kanu speaks of injustice, they chain him like a criminal and say he “deserves it.”
This drama isn’t funny! Consider this:
1. Wole Soyinka (Yoruba), in “The Man Died”, denounced Nigeria’s moral failure during the war and spent years imprisoned for speaking out.
2. Frederick Forsyth, in “The Biafra Story”, documented how Britain and the world enabled genocide against Biafra.
3. John de St. Jorre, in “The Nigerian Civil War”, exposed the diplomatic conspiracy that doomed Biafra.
4. Chinua Achebe, in “There Was a Country”, framed Biafra as a moral wound Nigeria has never healed from.
5. Chudi Offodile, in “The Politics of Biafra”, dismantled the revisionist history used to justify Igbo marginalization.
6. Emefiena Ezeani, in “In Biafra, Africa Died”, uncovered the Western-backed diplomatic sabotage that sealed Biafra’s fate.
Kanu is not in prison because he is guilty. He is in prison because he dared to speak.
1. If he had taken up arms like Boko Haram, he would have been granted “rehabilitation.”
2. If he had been an ethnic warlord in the North, he would have been “settled” with political power.
3. If he had stolen billions like corrupt politicians, he would have been given a soft landing.
Instead, he chose to speak about injustice, and for that, he is chained like a common criminal. Yet some of us, Igbo men and women, find it convenient to distance ourselves from him.
We are quick to quote Achebe, yet ignore his warnings about Igbo disunity.
We revere Ojukwu, yet refuse to remember that he only declared Biafra after thousands of Igbos had been slaughtered.
How many times must history repeat itself before we learn?
If you are happy about Kanu’s fate, then you are part of the problem.
1. You are the same kind of Igbo man who mocked Azikiwe when he tried to mediate.
2. You are the same kind of Igbo man who called Ojukwu a warmonger, even as our people were being massacred.
3. You are the same kind of Igbo man who collaborated with the Nigerian government during the war, selling out your own people for political favor.
4. You are the same kind of Igbo man who will remain silent until history repeats itself, and when it does, you will once again ask, “How did we get here?”
Now here is the answer,
We got here because of people like you.
The British journalist Forsyth cried when he saw the starvation in Biafra.
The Irish priests who stayed behind to help the suffering wept as they buried our children.
But today, some Igbos laugh at Kanu’s suffering, as if it is detached from their own fate.
Let history record: those who side with injustice today will be remembered as cowards tomorrow.
Yes, we must move forward.
But how do you move forward without acknowledging the road behind you?
How do you pretend not to see the cycle repeating itself?
History is speaking.
History is screaming.
Will you listen, or will you betray your own yet again?
A.I
Feb. 13, 2025
Tags: Osinakachi Akuma Kalu
