Kanu, who cut a figure of a livid and exasperated character, during Friday’s court proceedings voiced his discontent and dissatisfaction over what he believed to be the court’s brazen disregard for the Nigerian constitution and Supreme Court rulings.
As it is with many incidents and happenings in Nigeria lately, the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the embattled leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, has been overshadowed and eclipsed by the hysteria and commotion that trail the purported Christian genocide in the country and the threat of military invasion made by the United States president, Donald Trump, if the alleged persecution and targeted killings of Christians do not stop.
The reaction of Nigerians and the Nigerian government to Trump’s sweeping and troubling assertion of the security situation in the country has deprived other issues, no matter how important they may be to the nation, of the attention they deserve. The latest developments in Kanu’s terrorism trial are casualties of the intemperate attention given to Trump’s narcissism and misguided narrative.
There is no doubt that the trial of Nnamdi Kanu has been fraught and characterised by moments of contrasting fortunes. The trial, which began in 2021, has underscored the Nigerian government’s weaponisation of the justice system and disregard for the judiciary. Conversely, Kanu and his team also have not demonstrated the required coordination, tact, shrewdness and pragmatism that would help turn the tide of public opinion in their favour, as seen in Kanu’s recent shocking, unexpected and unceremonious dismissal of his legal team without any compelling and cogent reason.
Kanu’s decision to let go of his counsel and take up his own defence is proving to be a poor, brash, ill-advised and imprudent move given the direction the trial has taken since then. From the announcement of a list of witnesses containing influential and high-profile figures that were supposed to testify in his trial to the abrupt withdrawal of the said list, from the expression of willingness to open his case and defend himself to backtracking and rescinding such decision, his actions have been characterised by flip-flops, poor judgment and indiscretion and not sound legal moves.
Last month, he sought the adjournment of the case for three months which the court rejected and asked him to open his defence on October 24 or risk forfeiting the opportunity provided by the law for him to defend himself. The court would later extend the deadline for Nnamdi Kanu to defend himself to November 7. Even though the Nigerian government has done way more to turn what should have been a straightforward, simple, open and closed case and turn it into a complicated, uninspiring, and embarrassing national spectacle, highlighting its impunity and lawlessness, the actions of Kanu in recent weeks have not helped his cause and further handed the government enough justification to continue his incarceration.
On Friday, after weeks of needless rigmarole and filibuster by Kanu, the presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho, announced that he will deliver judgment in the case on November 20, bringing to a close years of courtroom shenanigans and legal manoeuvring. Kanu, who cut a figure of a livid and exasperated character, during Friday’s court proceedings voiced his discontent and dissatisfaction over what he believed to be the court’s brazen disregard for the Nigerian constitution and Supreme Court rulings. He had claimed the crime for which he is charged does not exist in the Nigerian constitution, nor is there a judicial precedent for it.
Justice Omotosho had claimed he had no choice but to proceed with fixing a date for his final ruling on the case since Kanu refused to open his defence and defend the charges against him despite his best efforts to make him see reason why doing so is in his interest and the best course of action. One can only hope that, despite the unwholesome and inappropriate manner the major actors in this imbroglio have behaved and carried themselves, the words that will flow from the mouth of Justice Omotosho on November 20 will be drenched in saliva, fairness, justice and impartiality. Justice must be seen by all to have been done.