Reason Tinubu must ignore calls for state of emergency – Reno Omokri

Reno Omokri, a former advisor to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has spoken out against President Bola Tinubu’s plans to establish a state of emergency in the southeast.

Omokri insisted that declaring a state of emergency would do more harm than good, and that it would be a huge PR win for IPOB (the Indigenous People of Biafra).

He suggested that Tinubu establish a Southeast Development Commission and use the funds intended for sending troops into the area to instead fund the region’s rapid infrastructural development.

On Monday, the social critic issued a message via his verified Twitter account, urging people to lobby Tinubu to free Nnamdi Kanu, the imprisoned leader of the IPOB, provided that Kanu renounces the use of violence to advance his cause.

Omokri said that Kanu was an innocent bystander of President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies while warning Tinubu not to inherit Buhari’s opponents.

He expressed doubt that the requested emergency declaration by President Tinubu in the Southeast will have the desired effect. In my view, this will only make things worse. Let’s take a more global view of the problem.

“What lovers of Nigeria ought to do to bring peace to the Southeast is to convince President Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu on the condition that Mr Kanu will give up violence as a means of pursuing his agenda and that he would promote any political or social policy he has peacefully and democratically,” the article reads.

However, if a state of emergency is declared and soldiers and other security forces are deployed in the Southeast, it will lead to clashes with Mr. Kanu’s supporters, who are not cowards and will recreate and entrench the type of atmosphere that led to the emergence of Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra movement.

There will be a spike in IPOB membership and anti-Nigerian feeling among middle-of-the-road Southeasterners as a result of the state of emergency.

But if President Tinubu instead establishes a Southeast Development Commission and uses the money he would have spent on sending soldiers into the zone to ensure the rapid infrastructural development of the Southeast, he will not only drastically reduce anti-Nigeria sentiment among the Igbos but also gain massive support from the region in any future elections.

President Tinubu may be opening Pandora’s Box if he grants the emergency declaration requested by some. And then, having done so, we’ll say history is merely repeating itself.

President Tinubu need to take on General Buhari’s allies but not his detractors. Nnamdi Kanu fell prey to Buhari’s oppressive regime. President Tinubu should therefore make better and varied conditions happen at the same time to fix the problem.