Reno Omokri, a former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan and a well-known social media commentator, has issued a stark warning to Nigerians. As a vocal critic of Peter Obi and the Obidients, Omokri is no stranger to controversy. In a recent statement, he expressed his concerns about the current state of affairs in Nigeria and the attempts to undermine the government of President Bola Tinubu.
“They did it to Jonathan, and we suffered under Buhari. We must not let history repeat itself!” Omokri warns, drawing parallels between the current situation and the challenges faced during the Jonathan administration. “Nigeria hit rock bottom under Buhari in every aspect,” he adds.
Omokri highlights the dire security situation under Buhari, citing the terrorist attacks on the Brigade of Guards in Bwari, Abuja, and the Kuje Prison. “On Sunday, July 24, 2022, terrorists attacked the Brigade of Guards in Bwari, Abuja. That was unprecedented in Nigeria’s history,” he notes. “On Wednesday, July 6, 2022, five hundred terrorists in motorcycles attacked Kuje Prison and freed 900 of their colleagues.”
According to Omokri, “Nigeria under Buhari was the third most insecure nation on Earth. Only Somalia and Afghanistan were worse. War-torn Syria was more secure than Nigeria.” He also points out that “we had never heard of anything like ‘bandits’ in Nigeria until Buhari came along.”
Omokri criticizes the financial dealings of the Buhari administration, stating that “we owed our highest debt ever under Buhari.” He notes that “if you take all the monies borrowed by Tafawa-Balewa, Ironsi, Gowon, Murtala, Obasanjo military government, Shagari, Buhari military regime, Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo civilian administration, Yar’adua, and Jonathan, and combine it, it is not up to what Buhari borrowed in eight years.”
Specifically, Omokri mentions that “in 2015, Buhari met a total foreign debt of $10.7 billion, of which the Federal Government owed only $7.35 billion and states owed the rest. By the time Buhari left in 2023, our foreign debt had ballooned to $42 billion.” He questions, “What did Buhari do with the money?”
Omokri also highlights the issue of corruption, stating that “according to Transparency International, Nigeria under Buhari was more corrupt than it was under the previous administration, having moved 13 places backwards in the CPI, from 136 in 2014 (our best outing ever), to 149 in 2021 (our worst performance ever).”
Furthermore, Omokri notes that “the reckless financial dealings had consequences for the welfare of the Nigerian people. According to the Global Hunger Index released annually by the International Food Policy Research Institute, hunger and malnutrition in Nigeria reached its highest level under Buhari after steadily reducing under Jonathan.” He cites the report, which states that “the proportion of the population affected by undernutrition rose from 11.5% in 2015 to 18.7% in 2020.”
Omokri also condemns the human rights abuses under Buhari, including “the massacre of 347 Shia men, women, children, and infants on Saturday, 12 December 2015.” He also mentions “the hundreds of Nigerian youths allegedly killed by the FSARS under Buhari” and “the Southern Kaduna Genocide under el-Rufai, in which over 10,000 people are suspected to have been killed.”
Omokri questions the rationale behind criticizing Tinubu’s government when things are “gradually improving.” According to Omokri, “Tinubu has been abroad for only two weeks, and Pastor Tunde Bakare is giving a sermon making it look like the President is derelict in his responsibilities?”
The former Special Adviser emphasizes that Nigerians must not be swayed by “desperate politicians who cannot exist outside power.” He warns that “they are being driven by the Machiavellian Nasir el-Rufai, and is based on their belief that Nigerians are emotional people with short memories and low attention spans; who can be gaslit to turn against a performing government.”
Omokri concludes by urging Nigerians to learn from the past and not allow history to repeat itself. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!” he cautions, emphasizing the need for accountability and fact-based criticism.