By Roy Ofori, African Heritage Global Affairs Editor
Hon. (Dr.) Kenneth Chibuogwu Gbandi, Senatorial Candidate for Delta North (2023) and Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has praised Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as a symbol of courage and principled defiance, describing her recent political victory as “a triumph for democracy and a new benchmark for civil resistance in Nigeria.”
With the expiration of her suspension in September 2025 and the official unsealing of her office by the National Assembly, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s return to the Senate has sparked celebration across Nigeria. Speaking from Hamburg, Germany, Gbandi called the development a powerful reminder that democracy thrives when citizens refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. “Senator Natasha has once again proven that it is always ‘good trouble’ to stand up for truth and fairness,” Gbandi remarked. “Her assertion that the Senate President is not more of a senator than she is, and not more Nigerian than any other citizen, is more than a personal statement, it is a national call to conscience. It reminds us that we must sometimes put our institutions to the test and refuse to ‘calm down’ in the face of injustice.”
Gbandi linked Natasha’s defiance to a growing global conversation about moral courage. He recalled Nigerian literary icon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech in Germany just days earlier, where she accepted the Defiant Literature Thinking Award at the 2025 Harbour Front Literaturfestivals. Adichie urged Nigerians and the world to “refuse to normalize the abnormal” and to stand firmly for truth, justice, and empathy. “This is the spirit Natasha represents,” Gbandi said. “She has raised the bar for moral courage in public life.”
He further noted that Nigerian women are at the forefront of this political reawakening. He cited two recent examples: the walkout staged by women in Rivers State when an event meant for the First Lady was hijacked, and the respectful but firm protest by nursing students in Agbor, Delta State, who rejected political platitudes and symbolic slogans. “These are more than symbolic acts but they are tectonic shifts in Nigeria’s political culture,” Gbandi observed. “Women are refusing to be treated as second-class citizens and are demanding a system that rewards accountability and merit over sycophancy and silence.”
As Nigeria looks ahead to the 2027 elections, Gbandi stressed that these moments represent a broader national awakening. “The silent majority is no longer content with silence,” he declared. “Senator Natasha’s triumph is not hers alone, it is a victory for all who believe in a Nigeria where justice, fairness, and dignity are non-negotiable.”
Hon. (Dr.) Kenneth Chibuogwu Gbandi was the longest-serving European Continental Chairman and a member of the Board of Trustees of NIDOE Europe, NIDO, the largest African diaspora professional network in the world, backed by an Act of Parliament in Nigeria. He was the Senatorial Candidate for Delta North (2023) and is a respected chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC)
