WHETHER NNAMDI KANU ESCAPED OR NOT! BY KENNEDY EMETULU


I am amused by those who are mocking Nnamdi Kanu for ‘escaping’, if indeed that’s what happened. I say this because we do not know this as a fact. There are those, for instance, who believe he is being held by the Army and some who believe he might have been killed and so on. But, let’s work with the assumption that he escaped, what is wrong with that? Even some of the worst cowards around are opening their teeth mocking him!
Here’s the fact, Nnamdi Kanu is involved in a political struggle. Yeah, I don’t support him, I don’t buy his political ideas and I certainly do not like how he has conducted himself, especially his penchant for insulting other ethnic groups and people. I also do not like the way he disrespects the President and Nigeria as a whole with his comments. But I recognise that he’s exercising his right to free speech and if anyone has anything against what he’s saying, you are free as well to exercise your right to free speech in response to him. I have done that very well against him and his ideas and I have no regrets.
But, we must understand issues and not mix them up. Nnamdi Kanu’s home was invaded by soldiers on an illegal mission. It’s worse than being invaded by armed robbers! Whatever happened there which now has led to Mr Kanu’s disappearance is still a mystery. The Army says he’s not in their custody and so also the police. Mr Orji Kalu has come out to quote some Kanu family sources as saying he has left Nigeria via Malaysia to the UK. Is he still in transit? I ask because if he is indeed in the UK, the UK government would have facilitated it and they would not be asking the Nigerian authorities to provide information about Kanu and his whereabouts. And if he’s in the UK, he would have freely spoken since arriving there because it’s in his interest to so do. But, as I said, let’s assume he escaped and if we do, what is wrong with that?
You better let your silly guffaws die in your ignorant throats if you don’t get it! Many of our heroes of democracy did not even have police visit them talk less of a full army on a “show of force” before they escaped to various places outside the country far away from the claws of the murderous Abacha. We did not consider people like Wole Soyinka, Dan Suleiman, Bola Tinubu, Kayode Fayemi, John Oyegun, Professor Adeyeye and several others who escaped abroad from Abacha’s clutches as cowards. We called them heroes of democracy along with those who paid the ultimate price like Ken Saro-Wiwa, MKO Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Dr Omasola, Bagauda Kaltho and so on.
Even those of us who remained behind, in-between being threatened, captured, mercilessly beaten and humiliated, we still were hiding and escaping and going underground or even incarnating in other forms of the struggle to avoid arrest. It wasn’t because we were afraid of Abacha’s army or police, but we simply wanted to remain in circulation to continue doing what we were doing. More crucially, no one was in the struggle to commit suicide! It’s common sense that if the state arrays its forces of violence against you when you are involved in a political struggle, if you have an opportunity of escaping, do so. Every great political leader that led a struggle that at some point had the opportunity of escaping from the clutches of the state, did so! Dead men don’t tell tales! If death comes, it must not be because you invited it to yourself, but because someone actually wants to kill you and they did. Of course, I’m sure there will be some empty brains who will ask why Kanu ran away from soldiers when he actually invited this on himself by daring the Nigerian state, but to those my answer is: “Go back into your caves! You shouldn’t be in public space discussing with intelligent people because you simply have no fucking idea! Scram! Go hide under your Moma’s big skirt; this is intelligent talk, not an idiots’ conference!”
To be honest, the only problem I have with Kanu’s end is the public silence from his folks here in Nigeria. After that raid of his home, the family should have called a press conference where they should have addressed the issue head on.They should have given their account of what happened and explained whatever happened to Kanu to the best of their knowledge. It is their job to inform Nigerians publicly about his wellbeing or whatever state he’s in after such an incident. They know they are the only ones people will believe, not an Orji Kalu or anyone of the sort. Keeping silent or someone claiming they said this or that to them helps no one. Kanu has a right to flee from danger or do anything to protect himself, including leaving the country, if necessary. The bail conditions do not have in it a condition that Kanu must allow himself to be killed. So, if he has left the country for fear of his life, which everybody can see is real, let the family say. Silence is not good. But, again, to those fools mocking him for escaping (assuming that’s what happened), I say just shut up! You have no political or moral right to mock him for escaping! You have not led a struggle in your life and you know nothing beyond your small decrepit minds. If Kanu is killed today by the forces arrayed against him, it is a part of you and your family and heritage that is killed and silenced. I know you don’t get that because it’s too much for you to process. At any rate, if you can live with part of you, your family, community and heritage silenced by the bullets of the Nigerian Army in the form of killing Nnamdi Kanu, then go on and keep mocking him.
Previous Post Next Post