Bianca Ojukwu Unveils Igbo Christmas Engagement Plan on Nnamdi Kanu

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has urged Igbo people across the South-East to use the Christmas season to personally engage their National Assembly members and state governors on the pressing need to secure the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Speaking during the 14th Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Memorial Day held on Wednesday at the Ojukwu Memorial Library in Owerri, Ojukwu stressed that the continued imprisonment of the IPOB leader should be addressed through peaceful and coordinated engagement rather than anger or violence. She noted that the Christmas period offers an ideal opportunity for constructive dialogue between citizens and their elected representatives.

Ojukwu pointed out that although Kanu was convicted by a court of first instance, the matter is not beyond remedy. She maintained that a peaceful, political pathway remains open — but only if Igbo people unite and mount deliberate pressure on their lawmakers and governors to act in their interest.

“This coming Christmas, all of us should make it a priority to meet our National Assembly members and our governors,” she said. “Ask them the way forward. Tell them we need their leadership to ensure Nnamdi Kanu is freed. Let us come together and plan how to pursue a peaceful resolution, including meeting with President Bola Tinubu.”

The memorial, instituted by Chief Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASOB), attracted participants from across the South-East. During the event, Ojukwu also led a minute of silence for the late British-born BBC journalist Frederick Forsyth, whom she praised for resigning from the BBC to document the events of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).

In her remarks, she urged the South-East to revive its long-standing culture of dialogue, lamenting the surge in violence, kidnappings, and self-inflicted insecurity which she described as uncharacteristic of Igbo society. She recalled how her late husband, Dim Ojukwu, eventually received unconditional pardon from former President Shehu Shagari through negotiation rather than violence.

Ojukwu further expressed concern over the declining fluency of the Igbo language among children. She appealed to parents to teach their children their mother tongue, emphasising its importance in cultural identity and proper upbringing.

She warned that insecurity and the Monday sit-at-home directive had severely crippled economic activities in the region, driving both local and foreign investors away.

Chairman of the event, Chief Ugwunna Ajaelu, also echoed Ojukwu’s call for diplomatic engagement, stressing the need for intensified collective efforts across the South-East to secure Kanu’s release.