The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has been conferred with Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia in the United States and appointed a Goodwill Ambassador.
The recognition was granted through a proclamation issued by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, on January 16, 2026.
The proclamation was formally presented on January 23, 2026, in Milledgeville, Georgia, by State Representative Gab Okoye.
Former Nigerian Consul General to South Africa, Uche Ajulu-Okeke, received the certificate on Kanu’s behalf.
Ajulu-Okeke described the IPOB leader as Africa’s most famous political prisoner and a global prisoner of conscience.
The proclamation stated: 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.”
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at the Sokoto Correctional Centre following his conviction for treasonable offences by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
He has consistently denied the charges and has vowed to challenge the judgment on appeal, insisting that he was tried under a non-existent law.
The IPOB leader was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and extradited to Nigeria under circumstances that sparked widespread controversy during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
