The jailed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has been granted Honorary Citizenship of the U.S. state of Georgia.
In addition, he was recognized as an “Outstanding Citizen” and is to be “accorded every courtesy as a Goodwill Ambassador from Georgia.”
The proclamation was issued by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on behalf of the Republican-led state. Dated January 16, 2026, the certificate was officially presented on Friday, January 23, 2026, in Milledgeville, one of Georgia’s capital cities, by State Representative Gab Okoye.
Former Nigerian Consul General in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, received the certificate on Kanu’s behalf, describing him as “Africa’s most famous political prisoner and global prisoner of conscience.”
The proclamation letter state, “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 Sokoto prison, following his conviction by Justice James Omotosho of an Abuja Federal Court. He was tried for treasonable offences, charges he continues to deny, challenging both the prosecution and the court to show the law he allegedly broke.
The IPOB leader had argued that he was convicted under a non-existent law and had vowed to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
Kanu was abducted in Kenya and extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria in 2021 during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
