Former Labour Get together presidential candidate within the 2023 common elections, Peter Obi, has reacted to the conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment of the chief of the Indigenous Individuals of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
In a put up on his verified X deal with on Saturday, Obi mentioned the sentencing is coming at a time when Nigeria is going through extreme financial hardship, insecurity, and the results of poor governance, including that relatively than lowering stress, the unlucky improvement could effectively solely worsen it.
The previous Anambra state governors said that Kanu’s arrest, detention, and now conviction signify a failure of management and a misunderstanding of the problems at stake.
“I’ve at all times maintained that Mazi Kanu ought to by no means have been arrested. For years, I’ve constantly argued that dialogue, constructive engagement, and inclusive governance supply the trail to lasting peace. Coercion turns into vital solely when purpose has been exhausted.
“On this case, I submit that the rationale was not solely not exhausted, however was most likely not explored in any respect, or not absolutely explored. The issues Kanu raised weren’t exceptional. The problems for which he demanded options weren’t insoluble.
“It solely required knowledge, empathy, and a willingness to pay attention. In any useful society, such grievances are met with dialogue and reforms aimed toward strengthening unity.
“The federal government’s strategy has solely deepened distrust and created an avoidable distraction at a time when residents are overwhelmed by harsh financial realities and insecurity.
“Whereas some could insist that the regulation has taken its course, management typically calls for greater than a strict, mechanical software of the regulation. Nations all over the world resort to political options, negotiated settlements, and even amnesty when authorized processes alone can not serve the broader curiosity of peace and stability. Nigeria is just not an exception.
“The dealing with of Kanu’s case mirrors the federal government as a person trapped in a gap however who, as an alternative of in search of a approach out, retains digging deeper. It worsens not solely the federal government’s predicament but additionally the nation’s collective situation.
“If we really want a brand new Nigeria – a united, peaceable, and progressive one, our leaders should select therapeutic over hostility, reconciliation over retaliation, and dialogue over division. Solely by addressing grievances with justice, equity, and compassion can we transfer in direction of a future the place each Nigerian feels heard, valued, and protected.
“My final name at the moment, with out prejudice to how anybody feels in regards to the choice of the court docket, is for us to be optimistic for peace and reconciliation which can come ultimately.
“I’m additionally saying, thereby, that the Presidency, the Council of State and credible statesmen who love this nation and who’re fascinated about cohesion and inclusivity, ought to rise to the event, for an enduring answer.”
