Your Excellencies,
Permit me to write you this passionate and urgent letter, not simply as a British-Nigerian veteran journalist and keen observer of the goings-on in my native Nigeria, but as one who feels deeply concerned about the fate of our people, our region, and our children’s future. The people of Southeast Nigeria, both at home and in the Diaspora, have continued to watch with growing anxiety as the fate of one of their own, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, remains uncertain, weighed down by continued detention, in spite of valid court orders demanding his release.
I do not seek to provoke by this missive, but rather to awaken your collective conscience and leadership responsibility. You, as the elected voices of the people of Southeast Nigeria, ought not to remain spectators in a crisis that cuts deep into the emotions, identity, and future of the Igbo nation. Silence in the face of injustice has never led to peace; it can only lead to deeper resentment and social instability. And so, this letter comes at a time when silence is no longer golden, when history demands the courage of our leaders, because the very essence of your leadership is being challenged to the core.
As Governors of the Southeast geopolitical zone, you hold a sacred trust from the people who elected you into public office. You are not just administrators of state affairs, you are custodians of the Igbo identity, advocates for justice in Nigeria, and symbols of our collective dignity. That trust compels you to act, especially in moments like this, when the liberty of one of your own, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is being trampled upon with impunity, in open defiance of court orders and international human rights principles.
For about four years now, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has remained a polarizing figure in Nigerian discourse. While his methods and rhetoric have stirred controversies, no one can possibly deny the truth that his passion touches on deeply rooted ethnic grievances, long-standing marginalization, and the unhealed wounds culminating from Nigeria’s history. To many Igbo people, Kanu is not merely a man, he is the symbol of resistance, the cry for equity, and the reflection of bottled frustrations among the cream of Igbo young-adults.
The question, indeed, is not whether you agree with his ideology. It is not even whether you are aligned with his methods. The issue at hand is the flagrant disregard for the rule of law, the continuous detention of a British-Nigerian citizen despite court orders granting him freedom, and the implications of such acts for every citizen’s fundamental human rights. At the end of the day, Kanu was first a Nigerian before he became British. And nothing can change that.
Nigeria’s Federal High Court, and even the Appeal Court, have made it clear in more than one ruling that Kanu’s arrest, extradition, and continued detention violate both domestic laws and international conventions to which Nigeria is signatory. Yet, he remains in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), with his health reportedly deteriorating, and with no clear roadmap toward resolution. This is not just a legal travesty, it is man’s inhumanity to man.
Now, the fundamental question is this: Why have you, the political leaders of the South East, remained largely passive in the face of this prolonged injustice? Why has there been no coordinated, legal, and moral campaign from the Governors’ Forum to secure his release or, at the very least, to ensure that due process is followed?
When Sunday Igboho, the equally famous Yoruba-nation activist, was arrested and detained in the Benin Republic, Yoruba leaders rose in unity and spoke with one voice to the world. Lawyers, politicians, traditional rulers, and state governments mobilized resources, issued statements, and made legal appeals to ECOWAS and international courts. That unified response sent a message to the world: “We may not all agree with his method, but we will not abandon our own.” That, Your Excellencies, is leadership.
In contrast, the response from the Southeast Governors’ Forum has been, to put it mildly, disappointing. You have the power to challenge the illegality of Kanu’s continued detention at the ECOWAS Court of Justice. You have the moral authority to petition the African Union, the United Nations, and other relevant international human rights institutions. You have access to legal experts who can frame a regional, rather than an individual, approach to this injustice. Why, then, have you not acted?
There are those who say that the Southeast Governors fear being branded as sympathetic to separatism. But advocacy for justice is not advocacy for secession. Ensuring that the rights of your citizen are respected does not equate to endorsing their political ideology. In fact, your silence creates the dangerous impression that you are complicit in a systemic agenda to silence dissenting voices from the East.
Therefore, this letter also serves as a wake-up call for Southeast Governors to consider the long-term implications of inaction. Every day Nnamdi Kanu remains in custody, disillusionment grows among the youth of the Southeast. They are beginning to believe that their leaders cannot protect them, that the system is against them, and that perhaps the only language Nigeria will understand is militant agitation. This is a dangerous path. A generation that loses hope in democracy and dialogue is bound to become fertile ground for criminal tendencies and social instability.
If your concern is the political risk involved, I ask you to consider the greater risk of losing the trust of your people. You were elected to lead, not to play safe. True leadership is not found in the comfort of the status quo but in the courage to challenge injustice, even when it is unpopular.
Governor Uzodinma addressing Southeast leaders
You have a constitutional duty to protect the lives and rights of your citizens. You also have a cultural responsibility as Igbo sons to uphold the dignity of our people. The Igbo have come a long way in Nigeria. From the ashes of civil war, we rebuilt with resilience. From marginalization, we rose to become industrialists, scholars, and innovators. But today, that dignity is at stake. When the federal government flouts its own laws and targets one of our own without recourse to justice, and our leaders say nothing, it signals to the world that we are a people divided and unprotected.
The time to act is now. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been in detention since June 2021. That is nearly four years of prolonged legal battles, health scares, and psychological torment —not just for him, but for his family and followers. Every day he remains detained despite court rulings to the contrary, the Nigerian justice system loses credibility, and our democracy suffers. Our people are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for fairness. We are asking that the rule of law be respected. We are asking that you, our Governors, initiate a formal case at the ECOWAS Court of Justice, demanding that Nigeria obey its own laws. We are asking you to engage constitutional lawyers to demand implementation of judgments already given in Kanu’s favour. We are requesting you to engage your peers in the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, and indeed across the continent, to bring moral pressure on Abuja to do the right thing. There is still time to act. But it looks like that window is closing fast.
Let it not be said that during your tenure, injustice prevailed and the Southeast looked the other way. Let it not be said that when the moment called for moral courage, our leaders were too precautious to act in defence of justice. Let it not be told that the burden of liberating our people fell solely on the shoulders of the oppressed.
Use the instruments of diplomacy. Use the power of collective voice. Use the platform of ECOWAS, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other regional bodies. Make this case, not just about Nnamdi Kanu, but about the future of the Southeast in the Nigerian Federation.
Your Excellencies, the Igbo nation is watching. The African continent is watching. The world is watching. Do not miss this opportunity to write your names in gold in the history of a Nigeria where no one is oppressed. May posterity remember you as leaders who stood up for justice when it mattered the most.
Sincerely,
EMEKA ASINUGO, KSC
