By Chimaobi Nwaiwu
ELDER statesman and First Republic Aviation Minister, Mbazulike Amechi, yesterday, said that left for President Muhammadu Buhari, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, would have since been released and the pro-Biafra group’s disagreement with his government would have since been given political solution.
Amechi, however, alleged that a cabal made up of non-Igbo and some Igbo politicians and a particular Governor, who are feeding fat from the disagreement and crisis in the southeast don’t want the matter to be resolved and have allegedly, blocked all the correspondence he made to the President for a way forward.
Amechi who also stated that he is very sure that President Buhari, whom he said has a lot of respect for him and personally showed it when he and some Igbo leaders met him in Abuja for a political solution to Mazi Kanu’s matter, insisted that some unseen and seen hands have been feeding the President with lies against Mazi Kanu and the agreement the Igbo leaders reached about the matter, adding that a particular South East Governor personally told him (Amechi) that he is among the people against the release of Mazi Kanu, that it was then he made up his mind to exonerate President Buhari for the continued detention of Kanu.
Speaking during a chat with newsmen, Amechi said that the security crisis in the southeast started with the arrest and rendition of Mazi Kanu and will stop with his release, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the advice of some enemies of Ndigbo and some disgruntled Igbo politicians feeding him with lies against the IPOB leader and Igbo elders who initiated the peace meeting with him.
According to Amechi: “On the 18th of November 2021, at the age of 93, I traveled to Abuja with some other Igbo leaders and a Bishop relation of Mazi Kanu to plead with the President to release Nnamdi Kanu to me and to commence dialogue to find a solution to the problem .
“The President carefully listened to me, put aside a reply which they had written for him, and spoke his mind to me. He assured me and I verily believed him that he would look into the matter, for my sake. The Presidency arranged for me to visit Nnamdi Kanu in detention and get some assurances from him. This I did in the company of Nnamdi’s relation, Bishop Onuoha and his lawyer.
” We reached an agreement with Nnamdi Kanu which could have gladdened the hearts of the government and Ndigbo and on the 6th of December 2021, I forwarded a copy to the President by DHL Mail with proof of delivery. That was the last the Presidency communicated with me but I doubt if they allowed the President to see a copy of the mail I forwarded to him. I seriously doubt if they allowed him to see it.
“Sometime last year, the Chairman of South East Governors Forum, telephoned me and told me that he visited the President and asked him about my case and the President told him that the ball was at my feet (Mbazuliki Amechi’s feet). The Governor told me he had arranged a meeting with the Attorney-General of the Federation, myself, himself and Nnamdi’s lawyer. At my age, I took the trouble and pains to travel to Abuja. The Governor was a day late and after dribbling me and the lawyer, he told us that the Attorney-General had traveled and requested me to wait till next week. I had to return home after wasting three days with my aides in a hotel.
” As for the insecurity in the southeast, the solution is simple if only the authorities and those who benefit from the situation will listen. You do not catch a fly with vinegar, you catch a fly with honey or something good and edible. You can never win peace with the gun, you gain peace by dialogue, understanding, give and take.
“The insecurity or crisis in the southeast today cannot be more than the crisis in the Delta area some years ago but former President Yar’Adua arranged a round table conference after the guns and gunboat had failed and today, everybody is happy and the area continues to lay our golden egg.
“I call upon my younger brother, President Muhammadu Buhari to recall how I met him, Aliyu Gusau, and Ango Abdullahi, at Kaduna with other religious leaders and traditional rulers from Igbo land and the North on June 20, 2006, following the crisis generated by Rushdie publication that led to killing of Igbo in the North and retaliatory killings in the South East, and we signed a memorable peace agreement that has ensured peace between the North and the East, and initiated a forum for dialogue and release of Nnamdi Kanu.
“I assure Mr. President that within four to seven days of the release of Nnamdi Kanu, and he comes to quarantine with me for counsel, admonition, reorientation, and father-son chat, all guns will go silent in the southeast except guns at festivals and funerals.
“As I lie down in my bed, meditating and navigating the quiet sea of 94 years, tears roll down my cheeks that my President, a man who has so much regard and respect for me will be diverted not to trust me and grant me the one single request which I made in my capacity as the only surviving co-founder of this great federation. Yes, the country for which I gave my youth, liberty, and blood.”
