Professor Explains Failure To Meet With Kanu

Elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze has given reasons why he did not attend last Friday’s meeting scheduled to hold between Governors of the South- East geo political zone of Nigeria  and  the controversial leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
The Tide  recalls that  Nwabueze and Evangelist  Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko,  who is the secretary of Eastern Consultative Assembly, (ECA), and president of Igbo Youth Movement, (IYM), accompanied Kanu, to  the first meeting he held with the governors in Enugu.
But the trio who were to meet with the governors during their meeting held last Friday in Enugu as a follow up to the first one, shunned the meeting,  during which the chief executives  proscribed all the activities of IPOB.
Our Correspondent gathered that the governors were said to have been infuriated over the absence of  Kanu during the meeting, hence they had no option than to ban activities of the rebellious group.
Meanwhile, in a statement signed by Professor Nwabueze and made available to newsmen weekend in Enugu he said, although he made all arrangements to participate in the meeting, he changed his mind having discovered that the essence had been defeated.
The constitutional lawyer , who is also chairman, Igbo Leaders of Thought, however, made reference to reported invasion of Nnamdi Kanu’s residence by the Nigerian Army, in Umauhia, Abia state, South East Nigeria.
He  therefore, demanded that the Governors should reschedule the meeting for a later date.
According to the statement,  “On 30th August, 2017, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko and I met with the South-East Governors Forum.
“The meeting was chaired by the current chairman of the forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr Dave Umahi, who, in his conduct of the meeting, exhibited his characteristic sagacity, candour and forthrightness tempered with friendliness.
“Perhaps charmed by the things said by the chairman and the way he conducted the meeting, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, on his part, showed an accommodating disposition for an amicable resolution of the crisis, and more specifically a disposition to reconsider the threat to stop or disrupt the 2019 elections and the Anambra State governorship election on 18 November, 2017, but emphasised that the decision does not lie with him alone and that the leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) must be carried along.
“Accordingly, it was agreed to meet with the leadership of IPOB in order to try to secure their agreement and support.
“Regrettably, while the follow-up meeting was being arranged, the attack on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s home in Umuahia by soldiers of the Nigerian Army on 10 September, 2017 occurred, as reported in the news media, which, expectedly, triggered clashes between the IPOB supporters and the Army in Aba, Umuahia and other places, resulting in the death of, or injury to, several people.
Reacting to this sad development, the IPOB leadership indicated its intention not to attend the planned meeting.
“Despite all this, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu made it known that, in the spirit of a search for amicable resolution of the crisis, he personally would still attend the planned meeting, now fixed for Friday 15 September, 2017.
“However, a day or so before that date another attack on his Umuahia residence by soldiers, armed with guns and armoured vehicles, involving serious causalities, was reported in the media, which caused Nnamdi Kanu to renounce his intention to attend the planned meeting, even despite all the provocation that led to its repudiation by the IPOB leadership.
“It seems unreasonable and unfeeling to expect him to attend the meeting when the causalities included two of his cousins.
“I had arrived Enugu from Lagos for the meeting on Thursday 15 September. But without the IPOB leadership, especially without Nnamdi Kanu, it seems to me that the essential purpose of the meeting had been defeated. So I went back to Lagos.
“The meeting should be reconvened when the tension caused by these developments had quietened down.” Nwabueze opined

 Canice  Amadi, Enugu