Opinion
Has the South-East Traded Kanu and Obi for Political Access? By Mohammed Bello Doka
When Nnamdi Kanu was handed a life sentence, expectations were clear and historic. Across Nigeria, many anticipated a decisive political reaction from the South-East: emergency meetings, coordinated resistance, forceful statements from governors, and a re-assertion of the region’s long-held grievance narrative.
What followed instead was something far more revealing — a loud, deliberate silence.
No collective pushback by South-East governors.
No political reprisal.
No price imposed on the centre.
And in that silence lies a deeper story — one that goes beyond Nnamdi Kanu alone.
For the first time in Nigeria’s political history, all five South-East governors are aligned — directly or indirectly — with President Bola Tinubu and his re-election project. This is not speculation. Public statements and political signaling from the zone confirm that the governors have closed ranks around Abuja. Some openly endorse Tinubu; others maintain strategic silence while cooperating fully with the centre. Either way, the outcome is the same: regional power has moved away from confrontation to accommodation.
This alignment explains much more than the silence after Kanu’s sentence. It also explains the quiet abandonment of Peter Obi’s presidential ambition by the same elite class that once benefited from his momentum.
For years, the South-East sustained a dual political narrative:
Nnamdi Kanu represented resistance — a symbolic struggle against marginalisation.
Peter Obi represented reform — a constitutional path back to relevance at the centre.
Today, both pillars have been set aside.
Unlike previous moments in history when South-East elites distanced themselves from regional causes out of weakness or isolation, this time is different. This retreat did not happen in defeat. It happened from a position of leverage:
The region had unprecedented national sympathy after 2023.
It commanded a powerful youth-driven political movement.
It had emotional capital across Nigeria and the diaspora.
Yet, despite this strength, the elite chose survival.
South-East governors — the true controllers of the political system — have clearly decided that confrontation carries higher costs than alignment. Federal access, security cooperation, budgetary relevance, and political protection now outweigh symbolic struggles. In plain terms, Kanu became a political risk, Obi an electoral uncertainty.
This raises unavoidable rhetorical questions.
If the South-East remains as marginalised as long argued, why was Kanu’s life sentence not treated as a regional emergency?
If injustice still defines the regional condition, why has no political consequence followed?
Or has political access softened the meaning of marginalisation itself?
Even more unsettling is what this silence suggests about the future.
Will there be consequences from the people?
Governors may control the machinery, but history shows that South-East grassroots sentiment does not always move in sync with elite calculations. Suppressed anger, when ignored, rarely disappears — it mutates.
Has the South-East finally been subdued?
Or is this only a strategic pause — a recalibration before another political rupture?
And perhaps the most dangerous question of all:
What becomes of the Biafra agitation in a post-elite world?
If the political class no longer carries the banner — and the state believes resistance has been neutralised — the struggle may not end. It may simply lose its intermediaries and become harder to predict, harder to control, and more radical in form.
For now, the facts are clear.
South-East elites have chosen power over protest.
Access over agitation.
Survival over symbolism.
Whether the people follow — or resist — that choice will define the region’s political future far more than any endorsement ever could.
And until then, the silence after Kanu’s sentence remains the loudest statement the South-East political class has ever made.
The Platform for Cooperation on Mixed Migration (PCMM) has appointed Innocent Duru, an Assistant Editor (News) with The Nation Newspaper as the mhairman of its Working Group on Regular Pathways and Trafficking in Persons.
The appointment, which took effect on June 18, 2026, was conveyed in a letter signed by PCMM Director, Aihawu Victor.
According to the organisation, Duru’s appointment is in recognition of his experience, commitment, and contributions to migration discourse, human rights protection, and advocacy for vulnerable persons.
PCMM expressed confidence that his leadership would provide the strategic direction and coordination needed to strengthen the activities of the thematic working group.
“As Chair of the Working Group on Regular Pathways/Trafficking in Persons, your role will include providing strategic leadership and coordination for the activities of the group, facilitating meetings and consultations among members, and supporting PCMM in identifying key issues, gaps, and emerging trends relating to migration and trafficking in persons,” the appointment letter stated.
The organisation outlined several responsibilities for the new chair, including leading the development of policy recommendations, advocacy messages, and position papers; promoting collaboration among civil society organisations, government agencies, development partners, and community actors; and encouraging knowledge-sharing and coordinated responses to migration challenges.
Duru will also be expected to support awareness campaigns on safe, orderly, and regular migration pathways while contributing to efforts aimed at preventing trafficking in persons and protecting survivors.
Other responsibilities include providing periodic updates and reports to PCMM leadership, representing the working group at meetings and advocacy engagements, and upholding the organisation’s values of promoting rights-based and humane responses to mixed migration.
PCMM noted that it expects the working group, under Duru’s leadership, to make significant contributions to the protection of migrants, the promotion of safer migration options, and the fight against human trafficking.
In accepting the appointment, Duru pledged to discharge his responsibilities in line with the vision, values, and objectives of the organisation.
The Platform for Cooperation on Mixed Migration is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on addressing migration challenges through collaboration, policy engagement, and the promotion of rights-based approaches to migration management and protection.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the restructuring of the appointment of Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, confirming him as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Enlightenment.
Abdulaziz disclosed the development after receiving his renewed appointment letter via his verified Facebook page, describing the decision as both an honour and a demonstration of the President’s confidence in his contributions to government communication efforts.
He explained that the restructuring aligns his responsibilities with his official designation as earlier approved by President Tinubu, thereby clarifying his role within the presidency’s media architecture.
“This is a great honour and a demonstration of the President’s confidence in my contributions within the Presidential Communications Team,” Abdulaziz said.
He expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for the opportunity to continue serving in the administration, pledging to bring greater dedication and commitment to his responsibilities.
Abdulaziz also commended leaders and colleagues within the communications team for their support, cooperation and guidance, which he said had contributed significantly to his work.
He further thanked friends, associates and stakeholders in the media sector for their encouragement and contributions to his professional journey.
Describing the confirmation as a fresh challenge, Abdulaziz said the new responsibility would require greater commitment and diligence in service to the nation.
“This is a new challenge that requires greater commitment, dedication and diligence in serving the nation,” he stated.
The special adviser on media to Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo, Ejimofor Opara, has criticized Peter Obi over his recent remarks concerning the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, describing the comments as “careless and self-serving.”
Opara made his remarks known in a statement posted on Facebook and titled “One Statement Too Many — Peter Obi Slaps Finland and Nigeria’s Judiciary.”
Opara argued that the presidential flagbearer of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) comments are a direct insult to the judicial institutions of both Nigeria and Finland.
The backlash follows Obi’s recent declaration made from Maryland, USA, claiming that there is no valid justification for Kanu’s continued detention.
Opara pointed out the irony in Obi’s position, reminding the public that the former Anambra governor has historically been a significant beneficiary of the legal system.
He stated that “Peter is a product of the Nigerian Judiciary,” referencing how the courts restored Obi’s gubernatorial mandate in 2006 and intervened again in 2007 after political maneuvers threatened his office. According to Opara, Obi should be an ambassador for the judiciary rather than attacking it to pander to criminal elements, warning that “for a man going into a major election, pandering to terrorists is not an advantage.”
The Governor’s aide further emphasized that Obi’s criticism completely undermines the painstakingly transparent legal processes carried out by international and domestic courts. He noted that the judiciary intentionally permitted a live broadcast of Kanu’s final proceedings “precisely to avert careless statements like the one Obi made.”
Opara added that Obi is willing to jeopardize institutional integrity solely to advance a “futile personal ambition,” asserting that the presidential hopeful now owes an open apology to both the Nigerian judiciary and the courts in Finland.
His words, “Even if the judiciary pretends not to have seen Obi’s gaffe, history books will not forget that persons like Obi existed solely to destroy institutions and individuals who made them, just to advance a futile personal ambition. Peter owes both the Nigerian Judiciary and the courts in Finland an open apology.”
It can be recalled that in September 2025, a Finnish district court sentenced Simon Ekpa, Kanu’s protégé to six years in prison for using illegal means, weapons, and explosives to promote the independence of the purported Biafra region.
Shortly thereafter, in November 2025, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced Nnamdi Kanu to life imprisonment after convicting him on seven terrorism-related charges, ruling that his broadcasts explicitly incited deadly violence against security forces and citizens in the region.Nigerian investment opportunities
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