By Sadiq Muhammed
When someone grows up believing that success can only come by any means necessary ethics and decency be damned it should not surprise us when such a person resorts to manipulation, deception, or destruction. The same can be said for those who masquerade as activists while promoting a destructive agenda under the cloak of patriotism.
Recently, Reno Omokri a man who never misses an opportunity to cloak chaos in intellectual-sounding rhetoric blamed former President Muhammadu Buhari for Nigeria’s banditry crisis. While I am no supporter of Buhari and do not absolve him of his failures, it is intellectually dishonest to assign all blame to him while sparing former President Goodluck Jonathan, under whose administration Boko Haram emerged as a force of terror unlike anything Nigeria had seen before.
Under Jonathan’s watch, Boko Haram seized and governed two-thirds of Borno, large swaths of Yobe and Adamawa, and struck at will in places like Gombe, Bauchi, and even the Federal Capital Territory. It wasn’t until the situation had spiraled out of control that the Jonathan government began to act, and by then, it was too little too late.
Let us also be clear about the controversy surrounding former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, whom Reno has accused of “paying murderers.” Anyone honest and informed knows the story. El-Rufai made payments to Fulani communities who had lost loved ones in brutal, unprovoked killings in parts of Southern Kaduna. His aim was to prevent revenge attacks and restore calm. Was this controversial? Yes. But was it a calculated move to prevent a cycle of violence? Absolutely.
Sadly, this effort was politicized particularly by some voices from the South-South, including Chief Edwin Clark who opted for ethnic blame games instead of holding their own to account. Rather than urging President Jonathan to confront Boko Haram decisively, they turned the matter into an insult contest against the North.
Fast forward to today, and we are watching history repeat itself in painful slow motion. Reno Omokri, the self-appointed custodian of conscience, has now returned to the same divisive tactics. He launches daily attacks on Northern voices that dare to criticize President Tinubu’s glaring missteps from lopsided appointments to the alarming resurgence of Boko Haram’s audacity.
Criticism, it seems, has become a tribal offense. A disturbing pattern is re-emerging: just as Jonathan’s supporters dismissed every critique as an attack on the South, some of Tinubu’s most vocal defenders especially from the Yoruba online community are branding all dissent as anti-Yoruba sentiment. The same old playbook, dusted off and used again.
And let’s talk about Reno himself. Everything he touches politically turns to dust. He campaigned for Jonathan and lost. He backed Atiku and failed. Now, with a sudden and suspicious change of heart, he is “supporting” Tinubu, the same man he once labeled a drug lord. This new embrace of Tinubu feels less like loyalty and more like sabotage. Perhaps Reno has realized that endorsing a candidate is his most potent curse. A change in tactics, not principles.
Tinubu would be wise to see through this farce. Associating too closely with a political saboteur in activist’s clothing could be costly not just to his legacy, but to the fragile unity of the country he now leads.
It is not too late for President Tinubu to make course corrections. He must move swiftly to:
Tackle the renewed threat of terrorism without denial or deflection.
Ensure inclusivity and fairness in appointments across regions and religions.
Address the rising cost of living and economic hardship affecting Nigerians.
End the culture of sycophancy and tribal protectionism that shields incompetence.
Nigeria is a nation of diverse peoples and deep wounds. We cannot afford to keep repeating the same mistakes, driven by the same characters, pushing the same narratives. When we defend incompetence because it benefits “our own,” we all lose eventually.
History is calling. The question is whether Tinubu will answer with courage or allow the same tragic script to play out once again.
Muhammed and sadiqu2013@gmail.com
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