Kemi, a daughter of a former governor of Oyo State, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, is taking her social media support for the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of the outlawed Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, overseas.
The activist, who is popularly known as Controversial Kemi in the social media circle, last year, unveiled an online campaign aimed at seeking support for the release of Kanu and advancing the cause of IPOB.
The 51-year old shocked her fans when she said she would adopt Biafra should it get a sovereign status. She, however, warned that IPOB would only continue to enjoy her support if those behind it stayed away from violent means.
On Tuesday, Omololu-Olunloyo’s pro-Biafra campaign was highlighted by International Business Times, a global media, in an article published on its online platform.
The article entitled “Journalist uses ‘social media poll’ to challenge government but President Buhari not worried” highlighted results of the online poll conducted by the activist on the issue. It raised questions on why President Muhammadu Buhari continued to ignore the demands of Kanu’s supporters
The President, during his maiden media chat explained the reasons Kanu could not be released. He said the activist’s actions had done much damage to the country.
“Omololu-Olunloyo said she would use the poll results to engage with the Federal Government and start a dialogue. She added that she did not expect many people to take part in the social media voting, as many living in the Biafra territories do not have access to social media,” the online report said.
The social media influencer, whose parents are Yoruba, has adopted an Igbo name – Nkem – in solidarity with the IPOB cause. In many of her Twitter and Facebook posts, she describes herself as a Biafran.
On Thursday, she continued her tweets on the issue, which she now sees as her burden, “I launched an international campaign for Kanu release because he has not committed any act of treasonable felony. That Kanu uttered ‘threatening’ words on a British radio does not constitute an act of treason. You have to commit it.”
On Facebook, she said the coup d’état that brought Buhari to power in 1983 was more of a treasonable offence than what Kanu has done so far.
“If we were to look at treason, then the President committed it when he killed democracy in 1983. The President ended the same democracy he is enjoying now, yet he does not want to listen to Nigerian youths.
“He has to negotiate the release of Kanu and organise a referendum for the Eastern Nigerian youths. He must listen.
“We are in the middle of the revolution Chief Olusegun Obasanjo predicted. The President has to deal with it. The executive must not continue to disobey the judiciary,” she posted on Thursday.
“I support Biafra because I am a Biafran,” she tweeted earlier.
Omololu-Olunloyo had been involved in several campaigns that many people described as controversial in the past. She lived in the United States and Canada for about three decades before she was deported by government of the latter for her pro-gun victim cause.
The Canadian government perceived his cause as anti-government, reported Toronto Sun; hence, a legal war that led to her return to Nigeria.
Recently, she took up leading Nigerian pastors on sundry issues, accusing them of hobnobbing with the government and defrauding their church members.
Just a few days ago, she attacked Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, who she alleged had received a bribe from the Presidency.
Her Twitter handle and verified Facebook page are now dedicated to the cause of IPOB, a body she called on the President to meet for negotiation.
Each time she goes online, she makes both friends and foes. Expectantly, her pro-separationist assignment has ‘earned’ her critics, from all walks of life, who think she is on a failed cause.
But the Ibadan, Oyo State-based activist who was nominated for the African Social Media Top Influencer of the Year in 2014 by the Social Media Awards Africa, is, perhaps, IPOB’s strongest social media voice today. (Punch).
