Open Letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

Subject: On the Possible Appointment of Reno Omokri as Ambassador

Your Excellency,

I write as a concerned Nigerian – one of many who closely follow the appointments and representations that shape our nation’s image abroad. Recently, I became aware, as have others, of the growing speculation surrounding the possible nomination of Mr. Reno Omokri for an ambassadorial position.

In light of this, I have already written to the Senate President, presenting clear reasons why Mr. Omokri should not be confirmed. However, if his name has been formally submitted or is under serious consideration, I respectfully urge Your Excellency to reconsider and withdraw it.

Such an appointment, in my view, would not only raise serious questions about the judgement behind it but also further erode Nigeria’s already fragile standing in the international community. For the sake of national integrity – however diminished it presently is – I appeal to you to act with caution and uphold the dignity of the office you occupy.

Mr. Omokri is a man whose public history is stained with contradiction, immaturity, opportunism, and a pattern of betrayal that is now a matter of public record. There was a time – barely months ago – when he ridiculed Your Excellency in unprintable terms. I am not concerned about the truth or falsehood of his assertion, but they offer us the window to measure his character. He called you every name in the book, labelled you as unworthy of office, and vowed, in his own words, that he would “never work for Tinubu.”

Mr. Omokri has, in the past, referred to you in terms too offensive for polite discourse. He called you a drug addict and drug dealer, and went so far as to allege—mockingly—that Nigeria under your leadership would be governed by a man “in pampers,” whatever crude innuendo he intended by that. He publicly demanded laboratory tests on your body to determine, in his words, “the concentration of drugs in your system.”

Worse still, he accused you of looting Lagos, branding you a “highway runner” who allegedly stole 80% of the state’s resources, and warned that you would simply recreate such plunder on a national scale if elected President.

These are not isolated statements made in the heat of political debate – they are part of a pattern of calculated, sustained character assassination. And lest these words appear exaggerated or taken out of context, a few publicly available links to Mr. Omokri’s published videos and tweets will suffice to confirm them: some of them are: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bk2CVTB6V/?mibextid=wwXIfr; https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AVU5RqvQ3/?mibextid=wwXIfr; https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16bQv8PkE5/?mibextid=wwXIfr; https://www.facebook.com/share/1AaqRjfyjS/?mibextid=wwXIfr, among others.

Today, the same man is reported to be lobbying for a role as a representative of your government. If this is not audacity, then it is the cynical rebranding of deception as diplomacy. Your Excellency, Reno Omokri has said similar things – glowing, flattering things – about almost every political figure he later turned against. He once declared Peter Obi a paragon of virtue and the best man to lead Nigeria (https://www.facebook.com/share/12F9VE7AecH/?mibextid=wwXIfr). Videos of him praising Obi’s frugality and moral uprightness abound. Not long after, he not only withdrew those praises but began a campaign of relentless calumny against him.

The danger in appointing such a man is not abstract. It is real, clear, and present. As an ambassador, Reno Omokri will have access to sensitive diplomatic discussions, privileged intelligence, and official confidences. Can such a man, whose loyalties are as fickle as trending hashtags, be trusted with state secrets? Should a man so skilled in betrayal be handed the task of representing what is left of our collective dignity?

What happens when, in a bid to curry favour or secure citizenship in his host country, he trades, as he will likely do, Nigeria’s private interests for personal gain? Mr. Omokri has lived outside Nigeria for years; his commitment to the country is sporadic, driven by social media visibility and proximity to power.

Let it be known in advance, Your Excellency, that should this appointment come to pass, many of us – including this writer – will not allow his past words and actions to be buried. We will make available to the host country an archive of his own videos and articles. They will come to understand the true character of the man you have chosen to represent Nigeria—and by extension, they will interpret your decision not as a mark of seriousness or discernment, but as a troubling lapse in judgment, sending not just a flawed envoy, but a potential diplomatic liability

Let this not be one of the many errors that define your presidency. Let loyalty be earned, not begged for. Let the honour of representing Nigeria be bestowed on those who have shown consistency, character, and clarity of purpose – not those who bend with every political wind.

Respectfully,

Valentine Obienyem, Awka.