Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has opened conversations on the release of the self-acclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu requesting President Bola Tinubu to give the matter utmost consideration to extend hand of fellowship to the South-East people.
Mbah told State House correspondents after a private meeting with the President on Thursday that among the issues discussed was the possible release of the secessionist agitator who has had series of favorable court judgement over his prosecution.
The governor said Kanu’s release will engender national healing process, already begun by the President.
He expressed the hope that the President would give a favorable consideration to the request.
Mbah also disclosed that he also appealed for the assistance of the Federal Government to explore the abundant mineral resources in Enugu State for the benefit of the people.
Addressing State House correspondents after his meeting with the President, the Enugu governor said, “We have a number of dominant assets in Enugu which we believe partnering with the Federal Government, we’re able to transform them into productive assets.
“A lot of people do not know but we have huge mineral resources in a new group. And these resources are sitting under our ground not being productive. So, we believe with the partnership we’re trying to basically build with the Federal Government, we’re able to transform these assets into productive assets.
“Of course, you know that the growth level we have proposed is one that is going to be driven by private sector and private sector want the ease of doing business and one of the core indicators of the ease of doing business is security and infrastructure.
“So, we also had that conversation with Mr. President. We have made a very strong announcement. We’ve banned sit-at-home on Mondays in Enugu. And obviously, what that means is that we will, of course, need to, you know, heighten our security, tackle the challenges that would flow from that, and, you know, essentially that’s what I have come to do.
“And finally, we also of course, talked about the release of Nnamdi Kanu. You know, that the South East has made a collective demand to have Nnamdi Kanu released. And we basically identified with that and request Mr. President, who in his inaugural address promised the people that he’s going to engender national healing and he’s going to serve with compassion.
“So, we’ve basically informed him that this would serve as a pointer to his administration’s extension of hands of fellowship.”