David Achonu: Squandered stage: How Nnamdi Kanu lost his moment

Nnamdi Kanu’s recent courtroom conduct represents more than a mere protest; it was a catastrophic forfeiture of a golden opportunity. Regardless of his grievances, he had a platform to cement a legacy of principled defiance. Instead, he will be remembered for a spectacular failure of judgment.

His antics in court were profoundly counterproductive. While vocally demanding the rule of law, his actions—disrupting proceedings and showing contempt for the court—completely undermined his own cause. This hypocrisy was starkly illustrated when he reportedly told his own lawyers to be silent and even assaulted one of them. Such behavior reveals a temperament that is dictatorial and delusional, existing in a bubble that cannot tolerate any dissent, even from his own team.

Kanu’s moment was after the judge’s pronouncement. A calm and dignified acceptance of the verdict would have granted him the moral high ground. He could have seized that moment to frame himself as a political prisoner, delivering a passionate speech that would have resonated across Nigeria and beyond. It was his chance to say, “I dissent, and history will vindicate me.”

Instead, his disgraceful final act is what echoes. He chose petulance over principle, and in doing so, he ensured that his last image for many Nigerians is not that of a revolutionary, but of a man who could not command respect because he showed none.

History may yet judge that the people of the Southeast were spared a volatile leader, and for that, they might one day be grateful to the very court he defied.

Mr David Achonu, a public affairs analyst, writes from Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria.