By Fred Chukwuelobe
Reno Omokri was once captured on video calling then–candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu a drug baron. He hurled unprintable insults at the man who would later become President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He questioned Tinubu’s character, competence, and work ethic, speaking with absolute certainty, even vowing never to work for him.
At some point—no one knows exactly when—Omokri swallowed his words. Perhaps he realised principle does not always pay the bills. Perhaps survival kicked in. Whatever the trigger, he made a dramatic U-turn and reinvented himself as Tinubu’s most eager defender.
Having recanted, he graduated into an unofficial attack dog, turning his venom on the President’s perceived enemies—Peter Obi and, more broadly, Igbo people. His disdain was so consistent it sounded scripted, as if redemption required an assignment. In time, the reward came: ambassadorial nomination, smoothly confirmed by a Senate famously allergic to opposing presidential wishes—except, of course, in the case of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
Ironically, at the trial of another loquacious and reckless figure—the SaharaReporters publisher—Omokri’s own past outbursts resurfaced as court exhibits. Since then, he has tried, rather clumsily, to repudiate those videos. He now claims he “misspoke” and has suddenly discovered that the man he once vilified was innocent of all allegations—just a breath away from sainthood.
Why President Tinubu found Omokri worthy of appointment remains a mystery. Perhaps they share an understanding the rest of us are not privy to.
What is clear is Omokri’s defining trait: ambivalence. Call it survival instinct, call it moral malleability, or call it a malfunction of judgment. Whatever it is, it does not reflect well on him—personally or publicly. Sadly, in our political climate, such characters thrive, polluting the landscape whenever leaders burdened with their own baggage hold the reins of power.
NB: Fred Chukwuelobe, was a Special Assistant to former Governor of Anambra, Chris Ngige on Media and Publicity.
