By Steve Oko
The detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been conferred with Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia, United States of America.
Kanu was also adopted as an “Outstanding Citizen” to be “accorded every courtesy as a Goodwill Ambassador from Georgia.”
The proclamation was made by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, on behalf of the Republican-controlled U.S. state.
According to the proclamation letter dated January 16, 2026, the honour was presented on Friday, January 23, 2026, in Milledgeville—one of Georgia’s capital cities—by a State Representative, Gab Okoye.
Former Consul General of Nigeria in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, received the certificate on Kanu’s behalf and acknowledged the gesture by the State of Georgia. She described the imprisoned Biafra independence activist as “Africa’s most famous political prisoner and a global prisoner of conscience.”
The proclamation reads in part: “I, Brad Raffensperger, Secretary of State of the State of Georgia, do hereby proclaim Nnamdi Okwu Kanu as an Honorary Georgia Citizen.
“May this Outstanding Citizen be accorded every courtesy as a Goodwill Ambassador from Georgia in his travels to other states, to nations beyond the borders of the United States of America, or wherever he may hereafter travel or reside. Thank you for your service to our state.
“In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of my office, at the State Capitol, in the City of Atlanta, this 16th day of January, A.D. 2026.”
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at a correctional facility in Sokoto following his conviction by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He was tried and convicted on charges of treasonable offences, which he has consistently denied. Kanu has challenged both the prosecution and the court to cite the law he allegedly contravened, insisting that he was tried under a non-existent law. He has vowed to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
Kanu was arrested in Kenya and subsequently returned to Nigeria in 2021 during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Abia State-born Biafra activist continues to enjoy significant global followership despite his incarceration. He has received visits from several high-profile individuals and members of the Igbo diaspora on solidarity visits.
Among those reported to have visited him in Sokoto are Abia State Governor Alex Otti; the Eze Nri, revered as the custodian of Igbo ancestral heritage in Anambra State; and the National President of the Igbo Women Assembly, Lolo Nneka Chimezie.
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