Nnamdi’s early life and trait of activism
Nnamdi’s father said the director of Radio Biafra was born
in the 70s; he was not specific, at Isiama Afara. He attended Library Avenue
Primary School (now part of Government House), Umuahia and went to Government
College, Umuahia for his secondary education. After that, he gained admission
to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), where he could not finish due to
incessant strikes before he left for London to complete his university
education.
(Nnamdi Kanu’s parents: Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and Ugoeze Nnenne Kanu)
Did Nnamdi
show any sign of activism when he was growing up?
“Yes”, the royal father answered. “He showed signs of
activism when he was growing up. I remember when he was in secondary school at
Government College, Umuahia, he was the school prefect and he did well in
leading other students. After that, when he gained admission to the University
of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), they will be in school for one month, and in the next
three months, they will be at home due to strike. One day, he called me and
said because of this thing, he would no longer go to school in Nigeria and when
I demanded to know why, he said he was tired of the everyday strike. What he
was then doing at UNN when school was in session was to boycott classes and
stayed on his own to study privately. After a time, he told me again that he
was wasting his time in Nigeria in his quest to have education and that he was
going abroad to study. I weighed the possibility and I felt it was not there.
He insisted and came in contact with somebody from my place who said I had
helped him sometime ago and that he would help my son to travel to London and
he did that. That was how Nnamdi went to London to study”.
Another thing the traditional ruler said made him believe
his son could do what he is doing today was that while in school, Nnamdi was
very intelligent and his teachers respected him for that and they kept telling
him that his son would be somebody in future.
(Nnamdi Kanu: freedom broadcaster, Radio Biafra)
Nnamdi and Biafra struggle
HRM (Eze) Kanu stated that his son was with Ralph Uwazuruike
in the early years of the formation of MASSOB but later left and started the
struggle his own way and people started following him because of his
uprightness, which he said created a lot problems for Nnamdi. According to him,
“My son’s problem started with Ralph Uwazuruike, the MASSOB leader. After my
son left him, there was a time he (Nnamdi) went for a function at Oboro,
Ikwuano, Umuahia, Uwazuruike gathered his men and scattered the whole place.
The people of Oboro arrested some of the people that came to disrupt the event
and took them to the police headquarters in Umuahia. The following morning, I
went to see them and admonished them to stop that type of behaviour, that all
of them are fighting the same cause of Biafra freedom. That if my son wronged
Uwazuruike, they should tell me and I will go and beg him. At the end, I found
out that Nnamdi did not do anything but was opposed to the way MASSOB was
collecting money from the poor and they go into the pocket of one man”.
Making of Radio Biafra
After the Oboro incident, as Nnamdi was going back to
London, he was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“When I was informed about his arrest, I rushed down to Port Harcourt, from
there, I went to Abuja. At Abuja, the men at the DSS office treated me with
respect and after explaining things to them, they asked me to take Nnamdi home.
It was when we came back that my son told me he was going to appear in his true
colour, to make sure that Biafra was realised”. To start with, Nnamdi left his
job in Britain where he is a citizen, to be fully involved in the struggle and
built the Radio Biafra/TV which has taken the country like a storm.
Arrest and detention
When asked how he feels about Nnamdi’s arrest and detention,
he has this to say: “Nnamdi is my first son. His arrest pains me a lot; it is
not when I start crying like a child before people will know that his arrest is
paining me to the marrow. That chap has no problem, he is not a noisemaker,
rather he abhors injustice. Since he was born, he had not exchanged words with
we, the parents or even the siblings, always sitting quietly when we are having
family meetings, but he always made quality inputs”.
Radio Biafra and Nnamdi’s arrest
Nnamdi’s father said he listens to his son’s voice on radio
and feels happy because he believes his son always says the truth and does not
say such for his selfish interest, but for the interest of the people. He gave
thumbs down to the Federal Government for his son’s arrest stating: “It was not
justified at all because he is fighting for the freedom of the Igbo with his
mouth and without a machete or gun. It is only that mouth Nnamdi is using to
demand the freedom of the Igbo and whether the Federal Government likes it or
not, he will continue to speak just as I used to do which made me to represent
my people three times as a local government councillor. Talking runs in our
blood stream and it will be difficult for Nnamdi to stop talking”.
Family support
Nnamdi, despite his present travail, enjoys the full support
of his family members in the pro-Biafra agitation. The father notwithstanding
the fact that he had visited Nnamdi in Abuja since his present problem which he
attributed to ill-health, but he was quick to add that he and Nnamdi’s younger
ones were in Abuja to give him words of encouragement and seek his release.
Driving further home the family’s support for Nnamdi, Eze Kanu has this to say:
“Even the younger ones are in support of what he is doing and that is why the
immediate younger brother and the mother are in Abuja because of his arrest.
This shows that they have interest in what he is doing and we are fighting for
his release.
“As for my people of Isiama Afaraukwu, they are not silent
over the matter, but the only thing is that during the [Biafra] war, Biafran army
headquarters was in our place including the famous (Ojukwu Bunker) which shares
boundaries with my palace, in fact, soldiers were living in my house and it
could be that what the people saw during the war made them to be a little
docile over this matter”.
Appeal to Nigeria and Igbo people
“I will first of all start with the Federal Government, I’m
appealing to them to release my son, he has not come to wage war against the
country and the Nigerian constitution made provision for freedom of speech and
nothing will debar him from speaking. President Muhammadu Buhari should
understand that the agitation for Biafra did not start with Nnamdi. If Buhari
has any bad plans against Nnamdi, he should hands off because all of us want
that freedom.
As for Ndiigbo, they should join Nnamdi in seeing to the
actualization of Biafra. I’m not always happy that my son is putting his all in
the struggle, the other man, Uwazuruike will be somewhere behaving as if Nnamdi
is his enemy. I’m also not happy that since Nnamdi was arrested, no governor
from this zone or a known politician for that matter has ever asked for his
release, it is not good. I don’t know whether they are afraid to speak out”, he
stated.
Standing behind his son like the Rock of Gibraltar, Eze
Kanu said if his son was released today, there is no way he would advise him to
forget about Biafra, stating that Nnamdi had told him it will be better for him
to die than abandon the cause of Biafra.
Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe
