In the past few days, Nigeria has been thrown into really tumultuous times following the End SARS protests which took the country by storm in October and the resultant Lekki Toll Gates shootings which escalated the breakdown of law and order in the Country.
Amidst the protests, many individuals, groups and organisations have taken up the opportunity to push their own personal agendas and vendettas against other individuals, groups and the government at large. This phenomenon is illustrated in the political uprisings these past few days, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) laying blames and accusations on each other, the arson being committed by hoodlums who have taken to looting shops, markets, warehouses, torching amenities like Police stations, Government councils, jail breaks and murder. Amongst these social vices, one individual who is well known for using situations like this to his own personal advantage is Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra.
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The IPOB organisation and their activities are prominent in the five Southeastern States and some other South-South states which include Rivers State, Delta State and Bayelsa State. Their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a well-known progenitor of violence against government authorities and other groups or individuals who do not conform with their seccessionist views and agendas. Over time, he and his group has had many encounters with the authorities, some of which ended fatally with loss of lives on both side. It came as no surprise to hear Mazi Nnamdi Kanu instigating the members of the IPOB to cause mayhem and do damage to Government properties while taking sole responsibility for the destruction of properties in some parts of Lagos and Southeastern Nigeria which he claimed belonged to Yorubas and Hausas.
In a viral audio message on Tuesday, Nnamdi Kanu called on protesters to ambush and kill all governors, soldiers, policemen and destroy properties belonging to the government and Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos. To further butress his point, he made a Facebook post lambasting the APC leader:
‘Does Bola Ahmed Tinubu think that people are dumb? In order to deflect attention from his sponsorship of Mushin thugs attacking innocent protesters, they released this junk of a headline to confuse the gullible,’
‘Tinubu, you cannot be the sponsor of End SARS because you are a corrupt beneficiary of a corrupt system our youths are fighting to dismantle.’
‘Such subterfuge or flipping of the narrative may have worked in Nigeria in the past, this generation are now sufficiently enlightened to see through these childish media games.’
‘This is generation 2020, they are smart, intelligent and savvy. Try your media tricks somewhere else.’
He had also allegedly instigated more violence by asking Igbos to take arms and rise up against the government to further push the narrative of the secession of Biafra from Nigeria while praising the destruction of the Oba of Lagos’ palace and TVC news station in Lagos.
His statements and utterances were met with a lot of disdain and disapproval from a lot of individuals who dissociated themselves from his movement. The Ohanaeze Ndigbo an Igbo socio-cultural group, had unequivocally denied being a part of the statements while positing that Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB were trying to ruin the good relationships between the Igbos and the Yorubas which have been set up by their founding fathers. Other groups and individuals have also come out to lambast and discourage Igbo youths from heeding to Nnamdi Kanu’s crafty antics at trying to instiagate more violence to his own favor. Already the Rivers State government headed by Governor Nyesom Wike has banned and outlawed all IPOB-related activities in the state while slamming a 50 million naira bounty on their Rivers State leader in lieu of their ethnic-related squabbles in Oyigbo, Rivers State which led to the death of some Hausa-Fulani, policemen, military officers and the destruction of vehicles, businesses and police stations.
Nnamdi Kanu is a well-known talkative who has mastered the art of deception, propaganda and sympathetic priorities which he has used and is currently using among his very gullible followers. To this day, many are only getting to know the sort of person, Nnamdi Kanu is, his gimmick and his grand modus operandi. Over the years, Nnamdi Kanu has shown that he has little or no regard for the Igbos, their states and the welfare of the Igbo people. Many have seen through his lies and falsehood and have dissociated themselves from him and his fraudulent movement which only leads to death and anguish.
His taking advantage of a reputable movement to further his personal vendetta against the Government and his personal enemies without minding the loss of life and property associated with it only shows how callous and inconsiderate he is. His unguarded statements are a truculent blend of falsehood filled with incitements, childish insults and tendentious rubbish which consist of gossips and trivialities that resonate with his deluded followers. They nauseate discerning minds who know that with an agitation like his, the way forward is to embrace peaceful relations and diplomacy instead of violence.
Kanu’s leadership style, no matter how appealing it might be to his gullible followers is nothing but cluelessness in reality, and unfortunately will never actualise the Sovereign State of Biafra to many who have been brainwashed by his incessant rants on social media instead Kanu’s loquaciousness and unnecessary vituperation in the name of liberation recently will only plunge Ndi Igbo into another unprepared war where innocent lives would be wasted while he hides in his plush Swiss Cottage residence in England, and enjoying the proceeds of his cut from the arms deal from his Western Paymasters who would be selling arms and ammunition to different warring factions.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK