Why the British Government may not pressure the Nigerian Government to release Nnamdi Kanu

A spokesman of the British High Commission in Nigeria, Mr Joe Abuku has said that the British Government has been rendering assistance to detained Radio Biafra Director Nnamdi Kanu, who is charged by the Nigerian Government with Treason.

This was contained in an email response to a letter written by Punch to the High Commission. According to the statement, the assistance they have rendered Nnamdi Kanu includes visiting him and attending his court appearances in an observatory capacity.

But Nnamdi Kanu, through his lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had recently written a letter to them asking themt not to abandon him, since he is a British citizen. So, it is clear that Nnamdi Kanu considers the level of assistance so far rendered by the British Government to be grossly inadequate. In fact, from his letter, it is clear that Nnamdi Kanu would prefer the British to negotiate his release.

Western Governments have been known to spring to the vigorous defence of their citizens being held in foreign countries – when they are Whites, but have been known to ignore the plight of their citizens of African origin on occasion.

For instance, the  first person to have died of Ebola in Nigeria, Patrick Sawyer, was a Liberian-American who scurried all the way from Liberia to Nigeria to die, even after he knew he had the deadly virus. The US Government did not lift a finger to save him, even after it knew that he had the deadly virus, but when White American doctor, Dr Kent Brantly, contracted the same virus, he was immediately airlifted from Liberia and given a previously secret drug that saved him.

So, we are saying, that the British Government may not listen to Nnamdi Kanu’s plea for assistance to get him released, and may continue to render barebones assistance like attending his court appearances and visiting him in jail because he is an African-British man.

The British Government will only give a free Mandela treatment to Nnamdi Kanu if there is sustained media pressure for that. A simple letter from Kanu’s lawyer won’t do a thing.