{"id":7809,"date":"2025-10-10T13:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=7809"},"modified":"2025-10-10T13:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T13:45:07","slug":"7809","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/10\/10\/7809\/","title":{"rendered":"HURIWA Blasts Onanuga as Tribal Bigot, Declares Support for Sowore\u2019s Protest*"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By George Mgbeleke<\/div>\n
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The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has slammed President Bola Tinubu\u2019s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, describing him as a \u201ctribal bigot\u201d whose utterances are not only divisive but dangerous to Nigeria\u2019s fragile unity.<\/div>\n
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The Association said Onanuga\u2019s recent statement that detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, \u201cwill get what he deserves\u201d is a clear reflection of the dysfunction and double standards that have long defined Nigeria\u2019s justice system, where individuals from certain ethnic backgrounds are persecuted for dissent while others are rewarded for incitement.<\/div>\n
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In a statement made available to journalists on Friday, HURIWA said Onanuga, who openly threatened the Igbo people during the 2023 general elections, ought to be in the DSS underground cell instead of occupying a powerful seat in Aso Rock.<\/div>\n
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\u201cBayo Onanuga is the one who deserves to be in DSS custody, not Nnamdi Kanu,\u201d HURIWA declared. \u201cIn 2023, he incited ethnic hatred when he warned Igbos to stay out of Lagos politics. He said, \u2018Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics.\u2019 That was hate speech at its worst; a direct assault on the Igbo nationality. Yet, he roams free and enjoys presidential privileges.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The rights group said Onanuga\u2019s comments are not just an attack on Kanu but an affront to the entire Igbo-speaking population of Nigeria, adding that Kanu\u2019s agitation represents the cry of a people who have long suffered systemic marginalization and exclusion.<\/div>\n
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\u201cNnamdi Kanu\u2019s message, though sometimes delivered in strong language, was rooted in the call for equity and justice for the Igbo race. Anyone who denies that the Igbo people are systematically marginalized in modern-day Nigeria is either dishonest or an outcast among his people,\u201d the association said.<\/div>\n
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HURIWA noted that Onanuga\u2019s renewed attack on rights activist Omoyele Sowore and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for supporting Kanu\u2019s release was both hypocritical and arrogant. \u201cIt is ironic that Onanuga accused Atiku of commenting on a case before the court while he himself is making inflammatory pronouncements on the same issue,\u201d the group said.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOnanuga is not the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He has no right to sit in Aso Rock and pass judgment on Kanu. What gives him the moral or legal authority to pre-judge a matter in court while pretending to caution others?\u201d HURIWA queried.<\/div>\n
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The Association announced that it would join and fully support the peaceful protest being organised by Omoyele Sowore to demand Nnamdi Kanu\u2019s release, saying the time has come for Nigerians, especially the Igbo people, to rise against selective justice.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLet the heavens fall, we will come out. Enough is enough. Every right-thinking Igbo person should join this protest. We cannot continue to be intimidated by people like Bayo Onanuga who should be behind bars for hate speech and ethnic incitement,\u201d HURIWA said.<\/div>\n
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The group recalled that Onanuga\u2019s ethnic tirade in 2023 was not an isolated incident, pointing to similar threats made by the Lagos transport union leader,, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, who warned non-Yoruba voters to stay away from polling units unless they were voting for the APC.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMC Oluomo said, \u2018If you no wan vote for APC, stay at home o!\u2019; a clear call for voter suppression and ethnic violence,\u201d HURIWA recalled. \u201cThat reckless statement was followed by brutal attacks in Lagos, including the case of Mrs. Idowu Owohunwa, who was stabbed and bloodied while trying to vote. Yet, no one was arrested or prosecuted.\u201d<\/div>\n
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HURIWA argued that Onanuga, MC Oluomo, and others like them who made hate-filled comments before and during the 2023 elections are \u201cfar guiltier\u201d than Nnamdi Kanu, whose words from abroad never directly led to election-day killings or assaults.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe truth is that Onanuga and MC Oluomo are the real symbols of hate speech in Nigeria. They are worse than Nnamdi Kanu because their words caused bloodshed, while Kanu\u2019s words were calls for justice,\u201d HURIWA said.<\/div>\n
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The rights organisation condemned the apparent ethnic imbalance in the country\u2019s justice system, where anti-Igbo bigots walk free and even hold federal appointments while the leader of a movement calling for equality is treated as a felon.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIf Nnamdi Kanu were a Yoruba man, he would not have been held for this long. The Nigerian justice system is skewed, weaponised, and openly biased against the Igbo people,\u201d HURIWA said.<\/div>\n
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The Association called on the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to immediately investigate Onanuga for incitement and ethnic hate speech, stressing that his conduct poses a real threat to Nigeria\u2019s unity.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe government cannot continue to protect people like Onanuga who are capable of setting this country on fire. Before Tinubu rewarded him with an appointment, Onanuga made a statement worse than what Nnamdi Kanu ever said. Yet, he is in Aso Rock while Kanu is in chains. That is not justice,\u201d HURIWA concluded.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By George Mgbeleke The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has slammed President Bola Tinubu\u2019s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, describing him as a \u201ctribal bigot\u201d whose utterances are not only divisive but dangerous to Nigeria\u2019s fragile unity. The Association said Onanuga\u2019s recent statement that detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7811,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7809\/revisions\/7811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}