Reuben Abati, a former media aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has said that the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, may well inflict more harm on the country than Boko Haram insurgents.
Reuben Abati also blamed the Federal Government for arresting Nnamdi Kanu when he came to Nigeria, saying that he was just having talks on the internet but became larger than life when he was arrested.
In an article, “The Nnamdi Kanu Phenomenal,” the former media aide noted that the emergence of the IPOB leader is a product of years of denial which could potentially throw the country into turmoil.
“Fifty years after the outbreak of the civil war, we now have a man called Nnamdi Kanu. He may well end up as Nigeria’s nemesis,” Abati said.
“He is the most frightening product of our many years and acts of denial and he may well throw the country into a nightmare worse than Boko Haram, if care is not taken.”
Speaking further, he noted that, Nnamdi Kanu “…started out as the leader of a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra and as director of Radio Biafra. He and those who bought into his rhetoric of secession and the renewal of the Biafra dream organized protests across the world, and they looked, from afar, like a group of disgruntled Nigerians in diaspora.
“In the foreign lands where most of the members lived, they looked like persons over-enjoying the freedom of speech from a safe distance. They didn’t appear to have the force of MASSOB, which is locally based and seemingly more malleable.
“The renewed struggle for Biafra that Kanu and his crowd talked about could have been nothing more than an internet and television revolution. But everything went wrong the moment Nnamdi Kanu chose to visit home and he was arrested, detained and taken through a court trial.
“Whoever ordered Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and prosecution did this country a bad turn. Kanu is a character that could have been better ignored. His trial and travails have turned him into a hero and a living martyr among Igbos. And the young man so far, understands the game. Since he was released on bail, he has been taunting the Nigerian state and government.”
Also, Abati, said that no politician or leader can command the kind of influence Kanu has on the youths, revealing that they may condemn him in daylight but beg him for support at night.
He said, “Daily, he dares those who granted him bail and he laughs at the conditions they gave him. He associates with more than 10 persons. He moves about Igboland freely, like a spirit. He addresses rallies and grants interviews.
“He has been busy issuing statements. On May 30, he ordered a shut-down of the entire South Eastern region and that order was obeyed not only in the South East but also in parts of the South-South, and Abuja.”