November 21, 2025
Greetings!
I am Harry Agina. This is intended as A DEBATE, and I am only a moderator or anchor. I implore you to participate.
I refer to my topic above and the newspaper headlines below as I make a thought provoking commentary on alleged ethnic and regional divisiveness in Nigeria. According to the headlines, two accused Nigerian terrorists were recently convicted by Nigerian courts within the same week. Now, here is my 2-part analysis and matters arrising from the facts therein:
(1) Nnamdi Kanu, an Igbo man from southeast Nigeria was sentenced to life imprisonment. Kanu started as a “Liberation” or “Secessist” leader for southeast Nigerians known as the Igbo people of Nigeria. The Igbos have consistently cried out against marginalization or persecution by Nigeria federal government following the 1967 to 1970 Biafra-Nigeria war. Kanu and his IPOB group want or wanted to secceed the Igbo people from Nigeria to revive the defunct country called Biafra. Kanu’s IPOB was in 2018 or thereabouts prescribed as a terrorist group by the federal government of Nigeria under the now late Muhammadu Buhari as president. Buhari’s main reason was the successionist movement by Kanu’s IPOB. Buhari’s mantra was that “One Nigeria is UNNEGOTIABLE.” Mind you, Buhari was popularly alleged to be an OPEN SYMPATHIZER of Fulani extremist Muslim jihadist terrorists in northern Nigeria.
(2) On the other hand a leader of ISWAP terrorist group, Hussani Ismaila, was sentenced to just twenty years imprisonment within the same week as Kanu bagged life imprisonment. Ismaila is of the Hausa-Fulani origin in northern Nigeria. His ISWAP terror group is not fighting for any defined cause other than jihadism to terrorize Nigerians and grab land from their ancestral owners. A commonly and openly declared cause by spokes people of ISWAP and similar terrorist groups in northern Nigeria is their claim that the entire Nigeria belongs to the Fulani people, given to them by Allah. Some go further to state that they must revive and actualize the 19th century jihad of their forefather, Othman Dan Fodio. But they fail to mention that THEY HAVE BASTARDIZED DAN FODIO’S ORIGINAL CAUSE. Furthermore, it is common knowledge that such terror groups in northern Nigeria are sponsored by people in high places in federal and state governments of Nigeria, for evil religious and tribal bigotry and divisiveness, as well as self-serving political gains.
I have laid down the 2-part basic analysis above for your information, if you’re not Nigerian, or as a reminder of what you already know if you are Nigerian. Now, here’s my reason for this commentary: Based on my analysis and the facts therein, do you think that life imprisonment for Nnamdi Kanu and 20-year imprisonment for Hussani Ismaila are appropriate?
Mind you, I want to declare that the original cause of Nnamdi Kanu was reasonable because the then President Buhari clearly hated and persecuted the Igbo tribe. He did admit it himself, blaming his hatred on the so-called role of a few Igbo soldiers in the Nigeria 1966 military coup d’etat. However, I do hate some of the eventual acts of Nnamdi Kanu, including when he started to terrorize the same Igbo people that he claimed to be liberating. Having said this as my only opinion, I must declare that my role is just as an anchor and moderator of this little debate that I propose here. I decline to state any more of my own opinions or take sides. Here are my thematic questions:
(1) Do you agree with the two judgements, life imprisonment for IPOB leader, Kanu, a “Secessionist,” and 20-year imprisonment for ISWAP leader, Ismaila, a jihadist? In other words, do you agree that Nnamdi Kanu’s crimes were more heinous than those of Hussani Ismaila?
(2) Expectedly, many people of the Igbo tribe commonly describe the above comparison in the sentences for Nnamdi Kanu and Hussani Ismaila as evidence of tribal bigotry and persecution of Igbo people. Do you agree or disagree?? Whether an Igbo or a non-Igbo, I pray that you state your views sincerely and objectively, devoid of personal ethnic sentiments.
(3) Kanu is a Christian, and Ismaila is an extremist Muslim. There is currently trending and progressively escalating global allegation of genocide and persecution against Christians in Nigeria, which is championed by US President Donald Trump. Do you envisage the possibility of the Kanu-Ismaila judgements further escalating the global belief that Christians are persecuted in Nigeria???
(4) Finally, what do you think as possible reactions of the US President Trump and the US parliament if they disagree with the two judgements???
LET’S HEAR YOUR UNBAISED, OBJECTIVE RESPONSES TO THE FOUR QUESTIONS ABOVE, PLEASE.
