NIGERIA: Obi Cubana Urges Tinubu To Free Nnamdi Kanu

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

Prominent Nigerian businessman Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to release detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu.

He warned that no Igbo person will have peace until Kanu regains his freedom and that “Ala Igbo will never be the same again.”

In an emotional post shared on social media Thursday, Obi Cubana expressed profound worry over Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation, citing a string of recent tragedies that have left the nation “perplexed and downcast.”

He listed the U.S. designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Kebbi State, the abduction of churchgoers in Kwara, the killing of a brigadier general and other officers, the sentencing of Kanu to life imprisonment, and the latest kidnapping of over 50 students from a Catholic school in Niger State.

Obi Cubana revealed that in the past three months, he and other well-meaning Nigerians have held discussions with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and the son of the President on critical issues including insecurity, the new tax regime’s impact on businesses, ease of doing business, customs and FIRS challenges, NAFDAC regulations, and political solutions for Kanu’s release. He assured that numerous behind-the-scenes efforts are underway to secure Kanu’s freedom, with many devoting time and resources to the cause.

While acknowledging high tempers and heated exchanges, the Cubana Group chairman stressed unity, declaring that “we all want MNK out, and we will never rest till MNK is out.”

He appealed directly to President Tinubu to heed the cry of the Igbo people and free Kanu.

Obi Cubana also advocated for a Nigeria where citizens can live and operate freely without fear, regardless of ethnicity, religion or culture, emphasizing that constructive agitations are the bedrock of great societies but that solutions lie on the negotiation table.