Dear Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,
I come with a sincere heart devoid of prejudices and biases. I am morally pressured to make this intervention of advice or counsel. Please, please, know when to maintain strategic silence. As much as we have all castigated Wike for supervising gruesome murder of Igbo youths in Obigbo, You, Kanu played into Wike’s bloodletting hands with your inciting broadcast. It is moronic to provide your adversaries the right pretext cum decoy to hide under, to unleash mayhem on our people. This was exactly what you did, albeit unknowingly, with your ill-fated broadcast.
You should have remained silent through out the #EndSars crisis in order not to rope in Ndigbo and make us sacrificial lambs, again. You knew that enemies would always misconstrue your statement—then why went ahead to utter those words at a trying time like that, when you didn’t have monopoly of propaganda to control the narratives? The best thing you should have done for the interest and safety of Ndigbo across Nigeria, was to keep mute. This is not a big sacrifice for you to have made, for the sake of the people you’re fighting for.
Your tactless broadcast endangered lives and properties of Ndigbo across the country. Ndigbo in the media—me inclusive, had to sweat profusely to damage-control what your egomaniac utterances caused. We rallied round in the media to dilute the anti-Igbo rhetorics your ill-timed broadcast ignited. Gov. Wike’s sadism and cruelty visited on Igbo youths in Obigbo could have been avoided if you were more strategic in thinking. There’s a time when silence is golden.
We are surrounded by enemies, out of jealous, are secretly baying for our blood; we have to be very strategic in our actions and utterances. You’re already aware that we have spineless cowards and opportunistic nitwits as majority of political leaders of Igbo land, who take others from the caliphate north at the expense of Ndigbo. Kanu, you’re very popular today because of leadership vacuum in Igbo land. You should know that whenever IPOB is mentioned, what comes to the minds of other Nigerians; is “Ndigbo”.
A lot of youths, especially in Igbo land see you as role model—this is the very reason you have to guard your utterances, going forward. You’re a leader today in Igbo land with huge following cum influence—God knows why it is so. And leadership comes with responsibility; and part of that responsibility is to know when to talk and when not to talk. You have to learn how to manage your emotions. Emotions are like hysterical dusts that always die down but rationality endures forever.
This is my candid advice.
My regards,
Chidiebere Nwobodo.
