1. A Historical Pattern of Suppression
Every generation in Nigeria seems destined to produce a prisoner of conscience—someone whose only “crime” is daring to challenge the forces that dictate our collective destiny. From the colonial era to today’s neo-colonial governance under the All Progressives Congress (APC), the pattern remains chillingly familiar.
When Herbert Macaulay was jailed in 1929 for defying colonial injustice, it was not about crime—it was about conscience. Nnamdi Azikiwe faced repeated detentions in the 1940s and 1950s for advocating African self-rule. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was imprisoned in 1962 on dubious treason charges, while Anthony Enahoro was hounded into exile for daring to propose true federalism.
And when Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed in 1995 for defending his Ogoni people against environmental genocide, it was clear that Nigeria’s rulers—colonial or indigenous—share one fear: truth spoken boldly.
Today, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu joins that long lineage of conscience. His only weapon is the microphone. His only offense is the insistence that Nigeria must be just, equitable, and free. Yet, he is called a terrorist.
2. The Mind Game of Neo-Colonial Control
The British perfected a system of domination that outlived colonial rule—psychological colonization. Their brilliance was not in their armies, but in their ability to create an elite class conditioned to defend the very chains that bind them.
That legacy thrives today. Nigeria’s political establishment functions less as a government and more as a colonial outpost managed by local surrogates. These “house elites,” to borrow Malcolm X’s phrase, mistake servitude for patriotism.
Kanu’s ideology disrupts that control grid. His demand for self-determination, justice, and equality challenges the architecture Britain left behind—a system built on division, dependency, and docility.
3. Microphone Terrorism vs. Bullet Terrorism
The Nigerian state’s hypocrisy could not be starker. In this country, “terrorism with a microphone” attracts detention and death threats, while terrorism with bullets attracts negotiation and political appointment.
If fiery rhetoric for freedom is terrorism, then every nationalist—from Macaulay to Azikiwe—was a terrorist.
What truly unsettles the establishment is not Kanu’s voice, but the awakening of consciousness it inspires. They fear not his words, but the questions those words provoke: Why must injustice endure? Why must one region dominate others?
That is why he must be silenced.
4. The Legal Farce and the Politics of Fear
Since his illegal rendition from Kenya in 2021, in clear violation of international law, Kanu has faced a carousel of politically motivated charges—fifteen in total—ranging from treasonable felony to incitement, all anchored on his Radio Biafra broadcasts.
Despite multiple court orders for his release, including a binding judgment of the Court of Appeal in October 2022, the state persists in its defiance. On October 8, 2025, the Federal High Court again adjourned the case, awaiting a “medical report” from the Nigerian Medical Association.
Meanwhile, the man’s health deteriorates, and justice is suspended indefinitely.
As Omoyele Sowore aptly put it, this is no longer a trial—it is a judicial hostage situation. The courtroom has become a stage for political intimidation, not a forum for law.
5. The Atiku Intervention: Cracks in the Wall
A rare note of courage came on October 9, when Alhaji Atiku Abubakar joined Omoyele Sowore in demanding Kanu’s unconditional release.
Atiku described the ongoing detention as “an open sore on our nation’s conscience and a stain on our belief in the rule of law.” His statement, the boldest yet from a leading northern politician, signals a moral shift—an acknowledgment that peace and unity are impossible without justice.
His intervention has reignited public discourse, inspiring a planned #GreatMarchForMNK on October 20, where Nigerians across ethnic and political divides are expected to demand freedom for the detained Biafran leader.
6. History Repeats Itself
It is an irony of history that the Tinubu administration, which only recently acknowledged the colonial injustices suffered by Nigeria’s founding fathers, now perpetuates the same injustice against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Yesterday, they jailed Herbert Macaulay. Today, they jail Nnamdi Kanu.
The story remains the same; only the actors change.
But history has a long memory. Those once branded rebels often become heroes when truth finally catches up with time. Kanu will not be the exception.
7. A Broader Struggle for Liberation
The peaceful movement now coalescing around Sowore and Kanu may well evolve into something far greater than either man—a national awakening that transcends ethnicity and geography.
For the first time, Nigerians from Kano to Calabar, Enugu to Ekiti, may find a shared cause: liberation from a system that thrives on inequality, corruption, and fear.
If this happens, Kanu’s voice will have achieved what decades of military coups and civilian betrayals could not — a rebirth of national conscience. His microphone may yet prove mightier than the gun.
Conclusion
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s persecution exposes more than the fragility of Nigeria’s democracy; it reveals the moral bankruptcy of a system terrified of truth.
But in that fear lies the seed of change.
As history has always shown—from Gandhi in India to Mandela in South Africa—the prison gates built to silence one man can become the doorway to a nation’s rebirth.
If Nigeria is to survive, it must first learn to listen to its prophets before it buries them.
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