What Nnamdi Kanu Told Us In Prison – Pat Utomi

Here's a brief excerpt of an interview Prof Pat Utomi had with Punch's Tobi Aworinde on the recent trip he and others embarked on to see IPOB's Nnamdi Kanu in prison.

Can you share some of the things he (Kanu) told you?We discussed the state of the country and perceptions of levels of justice in the country and why the economy is challenged: because of policies of exclusion. We discussed what we generally called the democratisation of discontent in Nigeria. That is to say there seems to be unhappiness about Nigeria everywhere around Nigeria, and therefore, the need to change course for the country. The whole idea is to create a platform for continuing conversation, to harmonise the views of different people about what the most appropriate solution is to this challenge of malcontent.

What are Kanu’s perspectives on these things you discussed?
I don’t think it is fair to be his spokesperson. He can represent himself and speak for himself. What I took away from the meeting is that he is a very intelligent person. He clearly is not mad. He’s very strategic and focused.

The Federal Government has accused him of treasonable and inciting acts. Do you think it is fair to call Kanu a felon and a threat to national security?
From my perspective, certainly not. Freedom of expression does not constitute threat to national security, especially when you have the right to reply. The Americans have a doctrine on freedom of expression and I have been privileged to be on the US International Visitor Programme that was focused particularly on freedom of expression.

Among those that participated in that programme with me were Senator Shehu Sani and Hon. Abike Dabiri. Part of the convention on freedom of expression is, “Let a thousand flowers bloom, if there is a lie being told, enough truth will suffocate the life in the marketplace of ideas.” I think that is a very healthy way to look at expression because the converse to restrict or prevent expression drives down people’s ideas into silos with more threatening future consequences.

So, I think that there are enough outlets for a different perspective offered by any citizen that the rule of law and the ideas of freedom of expression are much more important in the order of what is good or bad for society than repressive prevention of expression.

How do you think Kanu’s continued detention could affect Biafra agitations going forward?There is a book that was published last year and at the presentation of that book, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar called for a restructuring of Nigeria. The title of that book written by Chido Onumah is We Are All Biafrans. Now, Biafra is used in that title as a metaphor to suggest that across the board in Nigeria, people feel this great discontent. In effect, all Nigerians literally have become Biafrans in the sense of discontent with the Nigerian project. If you see the statement that we made, it began with a quote from a statement made just last week by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, in which he said “Nigeria is not working.” 

So, if Nigerians are honest in expressing it (their discontent) in all kinds of different ways and the metaphor for that expression is the word that rallies a people who felt discontent with Nigeria many years ago, that word being ‘Biafra,’ I think you have to be careful with your interpretation of what people mean when they say ‘Biafra.’ Biafra essentially is a catch-all phrase for being unhappy.