Despite the assurance of the Buhari administration that the arrested leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, will be given a fair hearing, the separatist group is currently bracing for a new phase of the agitation.
New Director of Radio Biafra, Simon Ekpa, is already calling on all the members of IPOB worldwide to get ready for a total change in the face of the struggle to restore Biafra.
The call is coming even as the Buhari administration has promised to go after Kanu’s collaborators, no matter their standing in the society assuring that they will face the full wrath of the law.
Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed, made this known in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, pointing out that the IPOB leader, who was recently re-arrested and re-arraigned in Abuja, will face the full wrath of the law for challenging the country’s sovereignty and assured that he will not be denied a fair hearing.
However, Ekpa who has been announced as the new Director of the Biafran Radio vowed to show Abuja that holding Nnamdi Kanu in prison will not stop Biafra, as there are thousands of him involved in the struggle.
He promised never to disappoint all Biafrans in his new position as a replacement for Nnamdi Kanu who was recently arrested by the Buhari administration, stressing that it will be hard for anyone to fit into the vacuum created by the absence of the IPOB leader and prayed for the wisdom of 1000 men to enable him to succeed.
Ekpa is a human rights activist, a legal researcher and an advisor who is also a crown Prince of the Ancient Ngbo Kingdom in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. He has been living in Finland for a long time. He is also a Finnish citizen and was recently elected Deputy Councilor in his municipality in Finland.
Ekpa described his appointment as a call to service and called for cooperation from all Biafrans especially lPOB members stressing that he alone cannot feel in the vacuum left by Kanu’s absence, pointing out that his appointment marks another beginning in the struggle as Kanu has directed that he start broadcasting from Radio Biafra.
Ekpa said that his appointment is also a call to double whatever effort IPOB may have put in the past and also a call to put everything in line. “I’m not perfect, but with your support, we’ll pass the right message that’ll pierce the heart of everyone including all the people in Southern Nigeria.
“I’m not perfect, I don’t know it all, but with you on my side, I’ll use Radio Biafra to pass a message that’ll pierce the heart of every politician in Southern Nigeria. I’m not perfect, but with your prayers, I’ll use Radio Biafra to preach to those who never wanted to listen to the voice of Biafrans crying for freedom.
“I may not be perfect, but with your prayers, we’ll use Radio Biafra to change the wrong narratives of yesterday. The little time our leader will spend with them there, he’ll come out and be proud of what we all must have achieved.
“I ask Elohim to empower me with the wisdom of 1000 men to enable me to break every chain on the way. God of Biafrans will bestow the spirit of unity on us. I know that there’ll be oppositio, I know what’s on the way.
“That’s why I don’t need guns or ammunition to fight those who will fight us within. All I ask God is to give me the wisdom of 1000 men and I’ll handle whatever is coming from moles and enemies within”, the new IPOB chief said.
Continuing, he said every directive that Kanu will give right from detention will be carried out, and accordingly linked Kanu to the Biblical Joseph adding that his detention will bring in a paradigm shift in the Biafran struggle.
Ekpa said Kanu will always lead the struggle from wherever he is, stressing that prison cells are no barrier to freedom fighters, adding that the world had seen in the past how great leaders, great freedom fighters led the struggle for freedom of their people right from the prison cells.
Ekpa explained that Kanu’s directives, command and control of IPOB remain the same, he remains the leader of the group whether in freedom or captivity, adding, ‘’we’ve seen someone like Mandela lead the struggle for the freedom of South Africa from the prison cell, even in those days when we do not have technologies.
“We do not have the Global Village like we have today. And Nelson Mandela was able to command men and women of South Africa to fight for their freedom.”
He urged all those who doubt his abilities to come in and help, stressing that he is not perfect and is ready to listen and accommodate ideas that will move the struggle stronger.
“All I ask for you in return is your prayer and understanding. This is a time to unite and do things right. I thank all those who have not seen but believe that God will speak through me. For those who do not believe, Elohim will use my voice on Radio Biafra to speak and penetrate the hearts of all men that’ll listen, I also thank you. But my prayer is that Almighty God will give you the patience to listen and follow as things unfold.
“For those who are already putting something in place to betray, whatever move we are going to make to make sure that Radio Biafra is heard all over Biafra and Nigeria, If you are on a mission to betray and sabotage the effort of everybody, you’ll not succeed.”
He vowed to be ruthless with the truth in all his broadcasts stressing that there are a whole lot of wrong narratives that must be corrected as time goes on.
“We’re going to be ruthless with our media war with the Nigerian government because they are busy dishing out lies. We’ll respond with a new beginning to this media war. We’ll give out the truths as they are without fear or favour.
“I promise you, I will never disappoint you. I will never disappoint Biafra. I will never disappoint Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. I do not want you to give me much. The only thing I ask you is your trust, your trust is all I want. I don’t want your money, only your trust.
“It’s time we’ll tell the Nigerian government that there are so many Biafrans that have hundreds of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in them. It is time we’ll give them a ruthless media war. This ruthless media war will continue until our leader is free and Biafra is restored.”
“Our God will double my strength. From today, the media war coming from my end will be tripled. They’ve given out a lot of false narratives that we must correct.
“My advice to everyone is that it’s time we show Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that he has raised people of calibre. We must show him that he has laid a solid foundation.
“We must look after this foundation and build on it without any mistake. This foundation will never fall. It’ll be strong until he’ll be back and come with Biafra.
“I reiterate, I’m not perfect, but with you and your understanding, I’ll always by the grace of God pass the correct message out to our people.”
Ekpa cautioned against disunity and betrayal, stressing that this is the time for everyone who believes in Kanu’s preaching and teachings to stand to gather in solidarity.
“For those who are already putting something in place to betray, whatever movie you are going to make will fail. We will make sure that Radio Biafra is heard all over Biafra and Nigeria.
“If you are on a mission to betray and sabotage the effort of everybody, you’ll not succeed. You’ll encounter problems in the morning, afternoon and night. Before you finish solving your problems, we must have gone far.”
