OPINION

BEAMING THE SEARCHLIGHT ON NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA AND FOREIGN NATIONALS WITH NIGERIAN ROOTS

• Spotlight On Nnamdi Kanu, Simon Ekpa, Sunday Ighogho and Kemi Badenoch.

By: Dr Uche Diala 

As the ongoing debate surrounding Kemi Badenoch continues, I would like to put the searchlight on the conduct and antecedents of some Nigerians in Diaspora as well as some Nigerian born or linked foreign nationals.

A significant number of Nigerians in Diaspora get actively involved in politics both of their host or adopted nations and of Nigeria. 

While there is nothing wrong with that, the motivations for that appear varied and often not altogether altruistic, in my observed opinion. 

Contrary to the belief by many Nigerians of some of these individuals fighting for the cause of Nigeria, that might not necessarily be the case. I want to x-ray this using a few examples.

Many of these our compatriots, usually start off as well intended and activists of some sort, getting involved in movements and activities claiming to be concerned about issues at home here in Nigeria.

Some of them equally get involved in the local politics of their host or adopted nation. A few of them go on to achieve varying degrees of success in that, often benefitting from and riding on the back of their Nigerian or black heritage. Many on the other hand, fail or do not achieve the same degree of success, often leading to frustration. 

In both cases, their true character and motivation eventually rise to the surface, sooner or later, driven either by their success or their frustration.

Unfortunately, for many of these individuals, being in Diaspora, no matter for how long, does not seem to significantly alter their world view or remove the more primordial instincts in some of them, key of which is tribalism or a clannish mentality.

So, you have a significant population of Nigerians in Diaspora who inspite of their aquired foreign accent and in many cases top class educational qualifications, their thought processes and actions are still controlled by a clannish and ethnic mindset. They only work towards or wait for an opportunity to unleash what they truly are and believe. 

I will give 4 examples in attempt to buttress my points.

1) KENNY OKWU KANU 

More popularly known as, Nnandi Kanu, Kanu was born in September 1967 in Isiama Afara Ukwu, Umuahia in Abia state to the royal family of Eze Israel Okwu Kanu (JP).

He attended Library Avenue Primary School Umuahia and Government College Umuahia. He later attended the University of Nigeria, Nsukka but moved to the United Kingdom before graduating.

Kanu was a relatively obscure figure until 2009 when he assumed the role of director and anchor of Biafra awareness on 'Radio Biafra', an online station that broadcast to Nigeria from London originally under Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

Many Nigerians may not know that Nnamdi Kanu started out as a 'pro-Nigerian activist', taking part in meetings of some Nigerian groups in the UK with a stated goal of fighting for good governance and a better Nigeria.

Nnamdi Kanu even partook in some pro-Nigeria and anti-government protests in the, especially during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. 

However, soon after the exit of the Jonathan administration, he made 180° turnaround and launched into a ethnocentric movement that has had severe and ongoing consequences for him, the Igbo ethnic nationality and the Nigerian nation at large.

2) EKPA SIMON NJOKU 

Simon Ekpa, for short, was born in March 1985, in Ohaukwu, Ebonyi State. Not much is known about his educational background. He claims to hold a Master of Law (LLM) degree from the Welsh Aberystwyth University, but upon inquiry by Yle, a Finnish newspaper, the university didn't give any information about the degree.

Since 2007, Simon Ekpa has lived with his family in Lahti, Finland where he learned Finnish, became a citizen and did military service in the Finnish military in 2013 as well as a reservist in the Finnish Army. He joined the Finnish politics in 2012 and has been active since then.

Ekpa ran as a candidate in the 2017 Finnish municipal elections and was also a candidate in the 2022 Finnish county elections under the National Coalition Party of Finland. As of 2023, he serves as a public transport officer for the Lahti region of Finland.

Simon Ekpa had won the 100 meters silver medal for Nigeria at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships in Cameroon but left athletics because of a knee problem.

In September 2021, Ekpa denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships. He renounced his Nigerian citizenship in 2004.

Obviously inspired by Nnandi Kanu's activities, Ekpa became increasingly involved in anti-Nigerian activities and rhetoric from the safe confines of his Finland base. 

He saw an opportunity in the IPOB leader's detention and tried to exploit it to gain fame, some say also wealth, and assert his authority over the Biafra cessation movement with tragic consequences to the South East geopolitical zone. 

3) SUNDAY ADENIYI ADEYEMO 

Nicknamed Sunday Igboho after his hometown, he was born in October 1972 in Igboho, an old Oyo town, of Oke ogun in Oyo State. 

His father relocated the family to Modakeke in Osun state, where he grew up. He started off as a motorcycle repairer and then ventured into automobiles where he sells cars and was able to start his current Adeson business.

Thereafter he relocated to Ibadan where he met former Oyo state Governor, Lam Adesina through a courageous step while trying to defend the rights of the people at a fuel station. He also went on to work with former Governor, Rasheed Ladoja and became one of his most trusted aides.

He gained social media attention in January 2021 when he gave an ultimatum to Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa to vacate the land after the killing of Dr. Aborode and enforced same.

He started agitating for the creation of an independent Yoruba nation from Nigeria.

In October 2023, he was released from detention in Benin Republic where he had been arrested after fleeing the police in Nigeria in 2021. Thereafter, he returned to his base in Germany.

On 12 October 2024, Igboho submitted a petition to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging him to consider the Yoruba Nation's bid for self-determination. The petition was filed on behalf of Yoruba leader, Professor Adebanji Akintoye.

4) OLUKEMI OLUFUNTO ADEGOKE BADENOCH 

Kemi (she shortened it) Badenoch was born to Nigerian parents in Wimbledon, London, in January 1980. 

Born Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke, she was one of the 'last batch' of foreigners who benefited from automatic birthright citizenship for those born in the United Kingdom before the British Nationality Act of 1981 abolished it. Her mother, a professor of Physiology had travelled from Nigeria to the UK to give birth to her and returned to Nigeria shortly thereafter.

 

Kemi who describes herself as a "first-generation immigrant" spent her childhood living between Nigeria (Surulere Lagos) and the United States) attended privately owned International School of Lagos and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 16 where she went ahead to study Computer Systems Engineering at the University of Sussex, also acquiring a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in 2003.

Kemi from a privileged background, with well educated parents (a medical doctor father and a professor mother) and by no means a poor background (compared to many other Nigerians) appears to bear a grudge, not just against the Nigerian system but also against the UK system.

When she moved to the UK, she studied A Levels in biology, chemistry and maths, from Phoenix College, a further education college in Morden, South London where she achieved a B in Biology, a B in Chemistry and a D in Maths. 

Apparently, as a way of explaining her grades, she said that she was let down by the British education system, claiming that “no one at the school (Phoenix College) had pushed [her] to fulfil [her] potential” despite being a “straight A student” while in Nigeria. According to her, being let down by the British education system pushed her to become a Conservative.

Kemi whose father went on to become an activist for the rights for the Yoruba people, joined UK politics as a Conservative MP and has clearly done well for herself, rising to become the first black leader of the UK Conservative Party in November this year.

Kemi over time, even though she had a better childhood by far than many Nigerian kids, has been highly critical of  the Nigerian system, but she has doubled down, almost recklessly in recent times. 

Her last effort to address remarks made by the Nigerian Vice President over her increasing acerbic comments on Nigeria revealed a probably hitherto hidden part of her when she essentially declared that her loyalty was to her native Yoruba ethnic nationality and not to the Nigerian state, while at the same time stating that she had nothing to do with Northern Nigeria. 

That comment overshadowed her maybe legitimate complaints against the Nigerian system and surely calls to question, if her vituperations have been altruistic or driven by other more sinister motives.

Surely Kemi's latest misadventure has caused a few raised eyebrows in some quarters about the re-emergence and resurgence of the self styled Yoruba nation secessionist, Sunday Ighogho, who is known to he based in Germany. 

After his release from detention in Benin Republic, as a fallout of his run with Nigerian security authorities, he appeared in the United Kingdom and at No. 10 Downing street, to submit a letter addressed to the UK Prime Minister, seeking the UK government's support for the cessation of the Yoruba nation from Nigeria.

Is there any connection between Kemi Badenoch's new status in UK politics, her recent unguarded utterances on the Nigerian nation and its composition and Sunday Ighogho's renewed push in the UK for an independent Yoruba nation? Time will tell.

In Closing ...

Some may say the adventures or misadventures, deepening on what side of the argument you are on, of these spotlighted individuals, were/are circumstantial. 

However, I believe that whether driven by ego, quest for validation, search for fame and or wealth, political mileage, or a combination of one or more of these, it feeds squarely into the inert and deep rooted ethnic inclination of many Nigerians.

It clearly feeds into the pattern of overbearing tribal motivation and inclination of many Nigerians in Diaspora and it is important that we, the Nigerian government and citizens alike, keep a keen eye on them.

It is unacceptable that individuals who have elected, for whatever reason, to chart a different destiny away from Nigeria and Nigerians should seek to undermine and destabilise the nation under whatever guise, while holding onto whatever leverages the nation offers them.

God Bless Nigeria.