6 Of The Many Times Nnamdi Kanu Has Lied To Nigerians -By Victor Enengedi

It sometimes amazes me how a man like Nnamdi Kanu became a very popular figure in Nigeria. Since emerging in public space, Kanu has been nothing but a threat to the unity of Nigeria. Not only is he divisive in his views, but militant in his attempt to achieve secession.

While in the United Kingdom, Kanu got involved with the pro-Biafra movement, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) led by Ralph Uwazuruike where he took charge of Radio Biafra and operated from his flat in London. When Kanu and a set of disgruntled members of MASSOB formed a splinter group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the roadmap to actualize Biafra Republic took a different turn.

Kanu used the radio to spread a message of hate, tribalism, ethnicism, violence and war coupled with lies and propaganda. Here are a few of his recent lies:

1. Buhari As Jubril From Sudan

Perhaps, this might be Kanu’s biggest lie that has gained the most attention. In September 2018, while broadcasting on his Radio Biafra, Kanu shocked Nigerians when he claimed Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari was dead from one of his many medical visits to London. He claimed that the man in Aso Rock was an impostor, a clone by the name Jubril-Al-Sudani put together by an alleged cabal in the Presidency to deceive Nigerians.

Even though Kanu’s claim initially seemed laughable at first, but it soon got the approval of fellow anti-Buharists, Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation under President Olusegun Obasanjo and Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan who along with Kanu have shared photos on social media suggesting a change in the physical features of President Buhari.

2. Kanu At The United Nations General Assembly

Days before the commencement of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held last year in New York, the media was awash with the news that Kanu would be leading a delegation to the Assembly to plead the cause of the Biafra secessionist movement. A press statement released afterwards by IPOB boasted that Kanu was a speaker at the meeting.

As at today, there is no evidence to prove Kanu was at the UNGA. Checks, however, suggests he was nowhere near New York, as no single report, picture or video, real or photoshopped has emerged. Besides, all the speeches delivered at the meeting have been made public on UNGA’s website, but none of Kanu or IPOB.

3. Nnamdi Kanu At Parents’ Burial

Following the burial of his parents, Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and Ugoeze Sally Kanu in his hometown of Isiama Afaraukwu community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, Kanu publicly declared that he was in attendance as the first son in accordance with the customs and traditions of the community. He claimed that the burial was not his first time visiting Nigeria since he escaped from the country in September 2017 after soldiers invaded his hometown.

Soon afterwards, IPOB members began to brandish a blurry photo showing a Kanu lookalike to confuse Nigerians into believing Kanu was there at the burial.

How possible would it have been for Kanu to have attended the funeral and not one photo or video could show him. Not even the governors, lawmakers and other dignitaries in attendance could testify to his attendance. Let’s assume, he chose to hide from security agents to avoid being arrested as the government had declared him a fugitive, why has no photo or video to suggest his presence been released by his propaganda machinery till date?

4. Buhari Broadcasting From Cuba

Soon after President Buhari’s Coronavirus live television broadcast, Kanu emerged again with another claim that the broadcast was done in a basement of an unnamed hotel in Cuba. Kanu claimed that a branch of his group uncovered plans by an alleged cabal in Aso Rock to create “a replica of the basement of the hotel in Havana Cuba where alleged Buhari impostor, Jubril Al-Sudani recorded a poorly scripted video that aired on NTA.”

A week earlier, following the revelation that Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari had contracted the novel Coronavirus, Kanu had claimed that both Kyari and Buhari had been flown to Cuba for treatment. Not even the photos and videos showing Buhari receiving the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire and the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu who had arrived to give him situation report on the Coronavirus pandemic could dissuade Kanu from continuing with his lies.

5. Abba Kyari Was Cremated In Cuba

Moments after Abba Kyari’s death was announced, Kanu resumed his usual theatrics by claiming that Kyari had died two weeks prior, and his body was cremated in Cuba. A week earlier, Kanu had claimed that both Buhari and Kyari were flown to Cuba where they were to receive treatment for Coronavirus.

The truth is, Kyari only died last week Friday, April 17, 2020, First Cardiology Consultants in Lagos where he was receiving treatment from Coronavirus. His body was transferred to Abuja where he was buried with the attendance of top government officials.

6. Osinbajo Sick With Coronavirus

Kanu returned again to claim that Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo President Buhari’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina had become seriously sick after contracting the Coronavirus from Kyari.

Osinbajo who chairs both the Economic Sustainability Committee and NEC’s Special Committee on COVID-19 has been busy round the clock. His recent meeting with Buhari to discuss the country’s economy concerning COVID-19 and his briefing of journalists after the meeting dismisses Kanu’s allegation.

In continuity of his false claims, the self-styled separatist claimed that the presidential office has been inaccessible since Kyari’s death as unlocking the door required Kyari’s fingerprints. He also claimed Bill Gates and wife, Melinda want to kill Africans by forcing their Coronavirus vaccine on them.

Kanu’s shenanigan knows no ends. In an era when fact-checking is becoming common Kanu continues to use his Radio Biafra and social media platforms to spread falsehood and disinformation. He keeps making these spurious claims with no single shred of evidence to support them, but even more worrisome is that some people believe him.

The Governor of Ebony State, David Umahi has described Kanu as “the greatest scammer in Igboland, using deceit to cause confusion in the Igboland and not considering their adverse effects.” Ogbonna Chigozie, a human relations expert and the Secretary-General of Igbo-United in the United Kingdom has reiterated a countless number of times that “Kanu only speaks for his personal enrichment and not for Biafra.”

His core followers/supporters include a new generation who never witnessed the civil war but only read about it in history books or word-of-mouth from their parents and grand-parents. For them, Nnamdi Kanu is the new messiah that will lead them to achieve Biafra Republic.

It is understandable if the blogs and social media platforms patronise Kanu’s propaganda and lies, but it saddens me that the mainstream media would give attention and publicity to the utterances of a figure who frequently engages in deceptive and destructive propaganda.