Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the jailed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), has been conferred with Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia, USA, and designated as a Goodwill Ambassador to be “accorded every courtesy” during his travels.
The proclamation was issued by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on behalf of the Republican-led state. The official letter, dated January 16, 2026, was presented on Friday, January 23, in Milledgeville, Georgia, by State Representative Gab Okoye.
The certificate of citizenship was received on Kanu’s behalf by Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, former Nigerian Consul General in South Africa, who described Kanu as “Africa’s most famous political prisoner and a global prisoner of conscience.”
In the proclamation, Raffensperger wrote:
“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 in Sokoto Prison following his conviction by Justice James Omotosho of an Abuja Federal Court. He was tried for treasonable offences, which he continues to deny, insisting that he was convicted under a non-existent law. He has vowed to appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
Kanu was abducted in Kenya in 2021 and extradited to Nigeria under the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
