Election can’t hold in Anambra, I control the people-Nnamdi Kanu
Read his statements
below:
What is your
position on the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State?
There will
not be any election in Anambra on the 18th of November, 2017, and there won’t
be any going forward until they give me a date for a referendum. They know what
to do, it is very simple. They should convene a meeting, I attend or I send my
representative and they give us a date. That is very simple. That is the only
way we can have elections.
Have you
considered that your position could lead to bloodshed?
Where on
this earth have you ever found self determination resulting in any form of
conflict? Only in Nigeria, because those in the political class are not
educated enough to understand or distinguish between self determination and
war. They don’t mean the same thing. Referendum does not mean the same thing as
war. If there is war, we still have to sit round the table to discuss,
ultimately. If there isn’t any war, we still need to discuss. Things cannot go
on this way. The status quo can no longer hold. Like Evangelist Eliot Ukoh
said, if on or before October 1st nothing happens in terms of substantive
restructuring, they will support us.
Are you not
bothered that Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other Igbo leaders have distanced themselves
from your call for election boycott?
No, I’m not
because the people are with us. We control the people 100 per cent. And come to
Anambra on the 18th of November, 2017, the whole world will be amazed.
What will IPOB do to people who decide to come
out to vote in Anambra on November 18? What will happen if party members decide
to come out to vote for their candidates?
Those party
members are IPOB members as well and I can assure you that they will listen to
us and they will not vote.
But if
people come out to vote, what will IPOB do?
Nothing, we
are entirely peaceful. We are not stopping anyone from voting. If you want to
vote, you can go and vote. We are democrats.
Last week,
you went to Nri (ancient Igbo kingdom in Anambra State believed to be the first
in Igboland) and you were quoted as cursing Anambra State. It has generated a
lot of controversy. What really happened?
I couldn’t
possibly curse where I come from. People have this meaningless and senseless
dichotomy all over the place – Imo, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi. Before Abia State
was created, I came from Imo State. Before Imo State was created, we were all
from East-Central. Is that not correct? And before that, where were we? So I
cannot answer an identity or a name given to me by somebody in Lagos or in
Abuja. Only a dog can do that. I reject the compartmentalisation of my identity
or its restriction to only Abia State. I am a Biafran. I speak Igbo language.
Anambra State is part of Biafra and the capital of Biafra for that matter
because they are the first son. If Anambra doesn’t (boycott the) election on
the 18th of November, the glory of the Most High God will depart from them. I
didn’t curse them. I asked them to wake up and rise up to their responsibility
as the head of not just Igboland but Biafra and they must do that and vindicate
us come the 18th of November 2017.
While
granting you bail, the judge said you should not grant interviews. You are
speaking to the press now, granting an interview. Are you not flouting the bail
conditions?
You
(journalists) asked me a question. Do you suggest I should ignore you?
No. But
don’t you think that you are flouting the bail conditions by granting this
interview?
I am
replying you. That is what I am doing. I am not giving an interview, I am
responding to the question you asked me. The judge is a very learned fellow.
She cannot stop me from speaking. Buhari and the DSS have been in multiple
breach of court order after court order. I wish you can go to the DSS and ask
Daura, what is his name? Lawal whatever his name is, the DSS Director General,
why doesn’t DSS obey court orders? They are the ones flouting the court orders.
It’s not me. What I am doing is entirely legal. You ask me a question and I
respond because if I keep quiet, you see me as a very arrogant fellow.
You left
some people behind in prison, the people you are being tried with. What about
them?
I spend each
waking moment working hard to ensure their release. Anyone who knows me will
know that I don’t abandon people. I never let people down, so they will be out
shortly. Two days ago, we had some people released from Ogwashiuku Prison in
Delta State and we funded it. Sometimes I have to release my own personal
lawyer to go and attend to some of these matters. We are IPOB. We don’t abandon
people.
Are you
really convinced that what you are doing will eventually lead to the emergence
of a Biafran state?
I am
convinced because I am a Biafran. Anything we put our heart to, we accomplish
it. We sustained the war for three years. Under the most heinous blockade and
excommunication from the rest of humanity, we managed to survive for three
years. So when Biafrans accept to do something, people should be concerned
because we must accomplish what we are pursuing. I will accomplish what I am
pursuing because I am a Biafran. Not the fake Biafra that people bandy about
all over the place. We are very special, I can assure you.
You have not
said anything about the October 1 quit notice given to Igbo in the North by
Arewa youths.
Who gave the
order?
The Arewa
youths.
I don’t know
who they are. I don’t know who they are. Inconsequential street urchins. Badly
educated. Not polished nor cultured enough to offer any opinion on any issue of
great importance. So why should I respond to them?
But the
implication of the quit notice issued by the Arewa youths is that for Biafra to
come into existence, Igbo must abandon their property in the North and probably
other parts of the country and come back home. Is that your idea of Biafra?
Must Igbo leave the North and other parts of Nigeria for Biafra to be realised?
Should that be a condition?
That is the
issue I have with education in Nigeria. People are badly educated. You are
aware that Scotland is seeking to leave the United Kingdom? Are you remotely
implying that every person from Scotland who lives in England should now return
to Scotland? Britain just left the EU. Are you now implying that every British
citizen in the EU should come back to Britain in order to finalise that process
of extraction of Britain from the EU? It is an indictment of the education
system in Nigeria that people go through school and come out even more hopeless
than when they went into it.
You said the
Arewa youths are inconsequential, are you saying that the Igbo in the North
should also ignore them?
It is up to
them, they have been in the North, and they have been killing us (Igbos) since
1945. If you chose to live in the North, you chose to be a sacrificial lamb
because one day, they will kill you. It is a choice they have made and they
will have to live with it. They are not going to stop us. Nobody can stop us.
We are unstoppable. I can say with every ounce of confidence, Biafra will come,
no matter what people do. If you like, go and own one thousand storey building
in Kafanchan, that is your business. It has nothing to do with us. We are
fighting for our freedom. Look at these kids here, they are paying fees to go
to school. They are striving to survive every blessed day because of a very failed
system of governance and you want me to abandon them because you own a hotel in
Funtua? I can’t do that.
There seems
to be some confusion in Igboland. Some people are agitating for Biafra while
others are calling for restructuring. Which option should the people embrace?
That is why
we are calling for a referendum so that the people can actually decide, once
and for all, what they want, for themselves. Not anybody deciding for them. I
have not argued Biafra from the standpoint of absolutism. I am not saying you
must vote for Biafra. I am asking the powers that be in Nigeria to allow the
people to determine for themselves.
PUNCH
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