Wife of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, Mrs Uchechi Nnamdi Kanu, in an exclusive interview with ThisDay, have said her husband is so obsessed with the Biafra that the he would gladly sacrifice her, their children and other family members for the struggle.
It’s a year since your husband was detained by the federal government, how has your family been fairing without him?
My husband’s absence is being felt in the family as would any family without the head, but we are holding up alright under the circumstance we find ourselves.
My husband’s absence is being felt in the family as would any family without the head, but we are holding up alright under the circumstance we find ourselves.
Under this circumstance, would you advise him to dump the struggle and return to you, if you had the opportunity?
No. I will not advise my husband to jettison the struggle come what may. Anybody advising him to jettison the struggle, he will despise. That is his personality. To him, freedom from oppression is the holy grail. All he thinks about is Biafra and he would always say that he can only be regarded as a complete man when he’s able to rise up in the morning as a free man with Biafran flag flying on top of our house. That is what he always told me.
No. I will not advise my husband to jettison the struggle come what may. Anybody advising him to jettison the struggle, he will despise. That is his personality. To him, freedom from oppression is the holy grail. All he thinks about is Biafra and he would always say that he can only be regarded as a complete man when he’s able to rise up in the morning as a free man with Biafran flag flying on top of our house. That is what he always told me.
Okay, your husband’s insistence on the struggle makes him come across as a stubborn man. Can you tell us about him, how he lived in the house and the fond memories you have of him?
My husband is indomitably obstinate when it comes to fighting a good cause – he abhors oppression. My husband is a kind-hearted and very intelligent man, whose witticism can crack your ribs for a very long time. When he is at home, you will know. He is a man that is obsessed with Biafra to the point of insanity and many times he has said publicly that he would gladly sacrifice me, the children and the wider family, if that is what it would take for Biafra to be free. That is the type of man Nigeria is facing, and that is the kind of man my husband is.
My husband is indomitably obstinate when it comes to fighting a good cause – he abhors oppression. My husband is a kind-hearted and very intelligent man, whose witticism can crack your ribs for a very long time. When he is at home, you will know. He is a man that is obsessed with Biafra to the point of insanity and many times he has said publicly that he would gladly sacrifice me, the children and the wider family, if that is what it would take for Biafra to be free. That is the type of man Nigeria is facing, and that is the kind of man my husband is.
How did you meet him, and what has marrying him been like?
I met my husband in my hometown but that will be a story for another time.
I met my husband in my hometown but that will be a story for another time.
Why not now?
It won’t be now. I can only tell you that being married to my husband has been ethereal even though as with every marriage it has its ups and downs. This period especially, encapsulates this feeling more than any other period. I feel down because he is not here with us but at the time I feel elated because he is fighting a noble cause – the contradictions of life.
It won’t be now. I can only tell you that being married to my husband has been ethereal even though as with every marriage it has its ups and downs. This period especially, encapsulates this feeling more than any other period. I feel down because he is not here with us but at the time I feel elated because he is fighting a noble cause – the contradictions of life.
When you first met him, did he come across to you as a freedom fighter?
Not at first, because he probably didn’t want to frighten me with it. As it turned out he kept it very close to his chest. You wouldn’t think he is because he is a softly-spoken gentleman and sometimes very reserved. The one thing that stood out from day one was that he abhors injustice against all peoples and was always complaining about how poor people were treated anytime he visited home from the UK.
Not at first, because he probably didn’t want to frighten me with it. As it turned out he kept it very close to his chest. You wouldn’t think he is because he is a softly-spoken gentleman and sometimes very reserved. The one thing that stood out from day one was that he abhors injustice against all peoples and was always complaining about how poor people were treated anytime he visited home from the UK.
He would complain about everything that is wrong with the society from poor electricity supply to inadequate housing, bad roads, check points, general poverty and every other social problem plaguing the people. It never occurred to me at the time that he would regard the liberation of Biafra as that all-encompassing solution to effect those improvements in our lives that he talked endlessly about.
What do you tell your kids about their father, do they know what he is passing through?
I tell them “daddy is home making sure our people are set free so we can all go home to Biafra and live because England is not our home”. Though our children are born in England, they are not English or British. They know they are Biafran and that is their identity and Biafra is our home and their father is making sure that it’s as good a place as England, so they and all kids in Biafraland can have all the things that children have where we are now in England when we finally move back to where we come from.
I tell them “daddy is home making sure our people are set free so we can all go home to Biafra and live because England is not our home”. Though our children are born in England, they are not English or British. They know they are Biafran and that is their identity and Biafra is our home and their father is making sure that it’s as good a place as England, so they and all kids in Biafraland can have all the things that children have where we are now in England when we finally move back to where we come from.
