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, and named an “Outstanding Citizen” to be accorded every courtesy as a goodwill ambassador.
According to a proclamation issued by Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, the honour was granted on behalf of the Republican-controlled state.
The proclamation letter, dated January 16, 2026, stated that the certificate was formally presented on Friday, January 23, 2026, in Milledgeville, one of Georgia’s capital cities, by State Representative Gab Okoye. Former Nigerian Consul General to South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, received the certificate on Kanu’s behalf and described him 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.”
Kanu is currently serving a life sentence at a correctional facility in Sokoto following his conviction on treasonable charges by the Federal High Court in Abuja, a judgment he has vowed to challenge at the Court of Appeal. Despite his incarceration, the Abia State-born activist continues to attract global attention and solidarity visits from prominent figures within and outside Nigeria.