Wife of Nnmadi Kalu, the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has spoken out about recent developments. Uchechi Okwu-Kanu, who recently granted an interview to IBTimes UK, claimed that her incarcerated husband is a prisoner of conscience.
She claimed that Nigeria was a jumble of heterogeneous people with different inclinations and that it is best the different tribes separate and govern themselves.
“It is the British who laid the foundation of Nigeria… And these people [ethnicities and tribes of Nigeria] are of different culture, different religion, different belief, different understanding of life.
“So we all are different in several ways, in every way. So, we are not actually meant to be together. You must have heard about the Biafran war. My mom was born then, a few years before the war. We sort of defended ourselves. We defended ourselves for over a long period of time,” she said.
She said that her husband was bothered by the sufferings of the people of Biafra who have been often victimized in Nigeria. She also commented that Biafran states have the worse roads and schools in the country.
“We don’t have better schools, we don’t have better roads, we don’t have anything, not even jobs.
“So that is why what they are doing is to leave. So, I would say referendum is not a bad idea, it is not a bad option, but the people need to understand why we want Biafra.
“And that’s what Nnamdi Kanu is doing, sanitising his people, creating awareness. And you can see that a lot of people have woken up from their slumber. Most people who are sleeping have come to realise that this is really what it should be. I mean, if he is released and then he stops, it means he’s been defeated or he doesn’t know what he wanted in the first place.
“But if you know the reason why you are asking for something: you are asking for bread because you are hungry, and then you are thrown into jail. Then you released from the jail, but still didn’t receive your bread, you are still hungry. So he would continue, he will, yes,” Kanu’s wife concluded.