A NATION’S INTEGRITY LIES IN ITS HONOUR FOR JUSTICE AND ELDERS By Ichie Ifeanyi Ndulue

 

‎anyimega65@gmail.com
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‎On November 19, 2021, a group of Nigeria’s most revered elder statesmen walked into Aso Rock with one thing on their hearts,  peace.
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‎They did not come with threats.
‎They did not come with protest.
‎They came with wisdom, humility, and hope.
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‎At the helm of that historic delegation was Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, a towering nationalist and one of the last surviving patriots of Nigeria’s First Republic. At over 90 years of age, his steps were slow, but his voice was strong, strengthened by decades of service to a nation he loved, even when the nation did not always love him back.
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‎Their mission was simple but profound: to plead for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, not through the barrel of a gun or in defiance of law, but through the sacred African principle of elder intervention, the wisdom of age prevailing where legal technicalities fail.
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‎With Chief Amaechi were other dignified sons of Nigeria:
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‎Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Governor of Anambra State
‎Bishop Sunday Onuoha, spiritual father and peacemaker
‎Chief Goddy Uwazurike, a voice of cultural and legal advocacy
‎Mr. Tagbo Amaechi, and other eminent Igbo elders
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‎In that meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief Amaechi did not beg for a favour.
‎He made a moral appeal.
‎He spoke as a father of the nation, pleading with another father.
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‎"I don't want to leave this planet without peace returning to my country. I believe in one big united Nigeria, a force in Africa.Mr. president, I want you to be remembered as a person who saw Nigeria burning and you quenched the fire."
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‎There was no deceit in his voice. No self-interest. Just a last-ditch effort to see his country heal before he breathed his last, In response, President Buhari, visibly moved, replied;
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‎"You have made an extremely difficult demand on me... The implication of your request is very serious. But the demand you made is heavy. I will consider it."
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‎But he didn’t.
‎And shortly after that meeting, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi died, heartbroken, still waiting for a response, still believing that justice would prevail.
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‎It did not.
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‎Instead, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) to this day, despite multiple court orders granting him bail or discharging him outright.
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‎Most notably, in October 2022, the Court of Appeal in Abuja discharged and acquitted him. Yet rather than honour the ruling, the federal government sought refuge in the Supreme Court, which, in December 2023, overturned the discharge,  not by proving guilt, but by insisting that the trial must continue.
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‎So we ask again:
‎What does justice mean in Nigeria?
‎Is it a tool for unity, or a weapon of selective enforcement?
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‎Compare this to the case of Sunday Igboho, a Yoruba agitator who was released following diplomatic negotiation. Why was the law flexible in one region and immovable in another?
‎Why does it feel like some regions of this country are more entitled to justice than others?
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‎We must speak the truth:
‎This is no longer about Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as an individual.
‎This is about national conscience.
‎It is about respect for the rule of law, for elders, and for the very soul of Nigeria.
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‎The continued detention of Kanu is a betrayal,  not just of court rulings, but of the sacred African tradition that reveres elder statesmen like Amaechi, whose dying wish for peace now echoes as a cry from the grave.
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‎It is a betrayal of the values we claim to hold dear:
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‎Respect for elders
‎Obedience to lawful authority
‎Justice without bias
‎National unity built on fairness, not force
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‎Kanu’s continued incarceration has done nothing to calm the East. It has not restored peace. It has only widened the gulf of mistrust, and dishonoured those who sacrificed for a unified Nigeria.
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‎Enough is enough.
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‎We must stop criminalizing dialogue and demonizing dissent.
‎We must return to the African way, where elders are not ignored, but honoured.
‎Where law is not manipulated, but obeyed.
‎Where peace is not postponed endlessly, but pursued with courage.
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‎Let the Nigerian government act now.
‎Not in fear. Not in pride.
‎But in justice. In honour. In memory of a man who asked nothing but that peace be given a chance.
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‎Let the courts speak.
‎Let our elders be heard.
‎Let justice, not politics, prevail.
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‎ *Ichie Ifeanyi Ndulue*
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‎Advocate for African Cultural Preservation and Renaissance