In my essay titled “Head Bloodied But Not Bowed And The Ascension Of President-Elect Donald J. Trump” (Part 1) I wrote the following:
“When I went to visit the great and brilliant freedom fighter, Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of IPOB and easily the most courageous, powerful and credible Igbo leader in Nigeria today in his cell we had a very instructive and long discussion.
I had never met Nnamdi before and I was amazed at his depth of knowledge, his immense courage and his deep convictions.
There is no doubt in my mind that that man is going places and in him the Igbo have an Ojukwu and a Nnamdi Azikiwe all rolled into one. He is destined for greatness”.
Apparantly my words have created quite a stir amongst those who believe that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Azikiwe or Ojukwu, both of whom, in my view, are also great men.
Yet despite their reservations I believe that we must give honor to whom it is due. Consequently I have no regrets for what I have said.
Those that are upset at the fact that I spoke highly of the IPOB leader are misguided and, worst still, they lack vision, foresight and insight.
They not only lack the ability to perceive individuals and events accurately but they also lack the gift of discermment. They may see the man but they cannot assess or recognise the spirit that is in him and that motivates him.
Worse of all they are suffering from good old fashioned envy and they have been afflicted with the worst form of ignorance.
Most of them have never even met Kanu let alone know him. I sat next to him for three solid hours in the most challenging and difficult circumstances.
We discussed our respective views about Nigeria, our collective history, the suffering and marginalisation of our respective people, the Nigerian civil war, the reptilian and violent nature of the Nigerian state, the present dispensation, the Buhari government and the way forward.
I have associated with, met and worked with many men of influence and power since I entered the combustible fray of politics thirty years ago but this one was different.
This was a man that had what I would describe as a Mahatma Ghandi-like quality. That is to say he is one that is prepared to sacrifice everything and anything for his beliefs, his people and his cause.
Like the great Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace I have no doubt that if he deemed it necessary he would go as far as to sacrifice his very life in the struggle for freedom and independence for his Igbo people from the Nigerian state and from our internal colonial masters and for the establishment of his beloved Biafra.
Not all may agree with him on that course but they must respect his determination, passion and courage.
Very few Nigerian leaders have that level of selflessness and commitment to any cause and, simply put, I admire it.
I looked deeply into his eyes as we spoke and I touched and weighed his soul.
I can tell you, without any fear of contradiction, that he is a profoundly good man who loves his Igbo people deeply.
He is also well-educated and widely-read and he is a formidable intellectual.
We may not have agreed on everything but I can tell you this much: we share an aversion to the spread of radical Islam and terror in Nigeria and indeed throughout the world.
We also share deep concerns about the oppression of our people by the state, the vicious persecution and desperate attempt to silence all the voices of the opposition in our country, the marginalisation and suppression of the good people and ethnic nationalities of the south and the Middle Belt, the implementation of a plainly racist and apartheid-like agenda by our government, the regular and consistent practice of genocide by our security forces, the rise in power and increasing callousness and brutality of the Fulani miltias and herdsmen in our midst, the not so hidden agenda to Islamise our nation and violate the secularity of our state, the violation of court orders, the brazen intimidation of the Judiciary and the resort to the most barbarous and hideous form of gestapo tactics, tyranny and human rights abuses by the Buhari administration.
I can also tell you that he feels and shares the pain of the Igbo and he yearns for their liberation and emanciption from an increasingly hostile and oppressive Nigerian state.
He is not a politician in the true sense of the word but rather a freedom fighter and a charissmatic leader who has managed to inspire millions of Igbo youth all over the world to once again have faith in themselves and their collective cause and aspirations. In my view that is a good thing.
I can also tell you this: he is a man of great faith and conviction and his rise to prominence is not ordinary but instead prophetic.
He cannot be destroyed or silenced by any government or man born of woman because the Lord is with him and He is using him. He is using him to say and do the things that many believe but that are too scared to say or do.
