Bianca Ojukwu urges peaceful dialogue for Nnamdi Kanu’s release

Bianca Ojukwu urges peaceful dialogue for Nnamdi Kanu’s release

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has called on residents of the South-East to embrace peaceful dialogue and constructive engagement in efforts to secure the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently serving a prison sentence at the Sokoto Correctional Centre.

Speaking during the 14th Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Day on Wednesday at the Ojukwu Memorial Library in Owerri, Ojukwu said that although Kanu had been convicted by a lower court, non-violent approaches could still create a pathway to his freedom.

The annual memorial, founded by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), attracts participants from across the South-East and beyond.

In her address, Ojukwu called for a minute of silence in honour of the late Frederick Forsyth, the renowned BBC journalist who resigned to report on the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970.

Warning against violence, she stressed that escalating tensions would only complicate Kanu’s case.

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“This Christmas, all of us should meet with our National Assembly members and our governors and ask them the way forward to ensure that Kanu is freed from prison,” she said.

Ojukwu also urged South-East leaders to collectively seek an audience with President Bola Tinubu to pursue an amicable resolution.

She expressed concern over the declining use of the Igbo language among young people, urging parents to prioritise teaching their children their mother tongue to preserve cultural identity.

Reflecting on insecurity in the region, the minister lamented the rise in kidnapping, internal violence and the impact of the Monday sit-at-home directive, describing such practices as alien to Igbo values even during the civil war.

She encouraged youths to learn from the past, recalling that her late husband, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, eventually returned from exile through diplomatic negotiations under the administration of President Shehu Shagari.

Ojukwu noted that insecurity and economic disruptions have contributed to declining commercial activity in the South-East, driving away both local and foreign investors.

“Before, foreigners from Cameroon, Ghana and Togo used to invest in the South-East, but many withdrew when insecurity worsened,” she said.

Chairman of the event, Chief Ugwunna Ajaelu, echoed the call for calm and unity, urging collective efforts to secure Nnamdi Kanu’s release “in no distant time.”

Bianca Ojukwu urges peaceful dialogue for Nnamdi Kanu’s release