Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State has made it clear that he does not support the Biafra secessionist movement, stating that the Igbo people need Nigeria as much as Nigeria needs them.
Speaking during an interview on ‘Sunday Politics’, a Channels Television programme, Soludo said while every citizen has the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest, he personally does not share in the vision of a separate Biafra state as advocated by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
“I am of the view that the Igbo man needs Nigeria, and Nigeria needs the Igbo man,” Soludo stated.
“We are an itinerant people who cannot afford to be intolerant. Do we need Nigeria? Absolutely! And Nigeria needs us.”
The governor stressed that Nigeria’s diversity is a divine arrangement, and that the focus should be on unity and national development, not division.
Soludo also addressed the Monday sit-at-home order that once disrupted business and movement across the South-East, describing it as largely defunct in Anambra. According to him, residents now go about their normal activities without fear.
“Anybody sitting at home now is doing so out of his own preference, not because of insecurity,” he said.
“Everywhere is secure on Mondays.”
He noted that even IPOB and its detained leader Nnamdi Kanu have disowned the sit-at-home directive, blaming criminal gangs for hijacking the idea and using it to terrorise innocent people.
“Even Nnamdi Kanu himself and his IPOB are on record to have said they did not support the Monday sit-at-home. It was some criminal elements doing that. And we thank them for their word,” Soludo said.
The governor warned that such actions only harm the region and its people, stressing that development cannot thrive in an atmosphere of fear and violence.
“You are holding yourself down by killing your own people under the pretext of Monday’s sit-at-home,” he added.
While acknowledging the rights of those calling for protests or agitating for political change, Soludo said his own focus remains on governance and delivering development to the people of Anambra.
“In a democracy, everybody has freedom of expression. But mine is to govern,” the former Central Bank Governor said.
“While social activists do their job, I will do mine.”
He revealed that he had previously advised Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other regional leaders to engage Nnamdi Kanu in dialogue once he is released, stressing that no one person holds the ultimate authority over the destiny of the Igbo people.
“I said, why don’t they tell Nnamdi Kanu to come and sit with everybody else? Because nobody has a greater right than the other. We are all Igbos, and we are all entitled to our views,” Soludo said.
Soludo’s comments come amid growing calls from opposition leaders and civil rights activists for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in June 2021.
Opposition figures such as Atiku Abubakar and Omoyele Sowore have publicly backed a peaceful demonstration tagged #FreeNnamdiKanuNow, scheduled for October 20 in Abuja, demanding the Federal Government end Kanu’s prolonged detention.
While Soludo did not speak directly on the planned protest, his remarks underline a pragmatic approach to regional issues—highlighting peace, dialogue, and national unity over confrontation and separatism.
“I canvass it with no apologies and hold on to that. I’m prepared to debate this with anyone on the future prosperity of the Igbos,” he concluded.
