By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Muhammadu Buhari’s blatant nepotism in appointing his Fulani and Northern kinsmen into all major senior federal jobs, including as heads of military and paramilitary forces, fuels agitation for self-determination in the country.
The point, which reasonable people have made since Buhari became President in 2015, has just been reiterated by the kinsmen of Nnamdi Kanu, the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), who seeks a nation for the Igbos.
Isiama Afaraukwu Development Union President General, Obioma Ebeogu; and his Vice, Benjamin Ohaeri; bared their minds in an interview with Vanguard.
Obioma insisted that Kanu did not commit any crime by simply complaining about the marginalisation of the Igbos.
He said if Buhari in his political appointments had given a sense of belonging to other ethnic groups, particularly Ndigbo, many people would not bother to seek independence from Nigeria.
He argued that the glaring disparity in the distribution of political offices and other appointments by Buhari is the reason the agitation for self-autonomy by different sections of the country is on the increase.
Obioma urged him to consider the issues raised by Kanu and other proponents of separation instead of clamping them into detention.
Both Obioma and Ohaeri expressed concern over Kanu’s health and appealed to the federal government to grant him access to his personal physicians.
“Agitation for self-determination is never a crime,” they insisted, and told the federal government “to stop treating Kanu as a common criminal.”
They likened Kanu to Martin Luther King Jr who vigorously fought for the emancipation of Blacks in America and urged Buhari to stop seeing him as a terrorist but a heroic freedom fighter seeking the good of his people.
“Our son is like Martin Luther fighting for the liberation of his people. The federal government should release him and engage him with a view to addressing the issues he is raising,” Obioma and Ohaeri told Vanguard.
They demanded that Kanu’s family be granted unfettered access to him.
They also urged Buhari to tell the Department of State Services (DSS) to allow Kanu sign the consent form for consular services and diplomatic assistance by the United Kingdom.
In their view, preventing Kanu from signing the form as alleged by his lawyer is a huge infringement of his fundamental human rights.