An Open Letter to the President of the Nigerian Senate on the nomination of Mr Reno Omokri as Ambassador
President of the Senate,
National Assembly Complex,
Abuja,
Nigeria.
Your Excellency,
Re: The Unsuitability of Mr Reno Omokri for Ambassadorial Appointment
With utmost respect to your office and in recognition of the critical role of the Senate in screening and confirming nominees for high offices, I write as a concerned citizen, compelled by conscience and guided by patriotic duty, to draw your attention to the troubling nomination of Mr Reno Omokri for an ambassadorial position.
Let me be clear: this is not about partisan affiliations or the individuals Mr Omokri has supported in the past. In a democracy, freedom of association and political expression is a cherished right. However, there are lines that, when crossed, make a man unsuitable for certain dignified offices – especially one that requires him to be a representative of our nation before the world.
Mr Omokri, in the very recent past, launched a sustained, venomous campaign against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In his own words, Mr Omokri described the President as a “drug addict,” a “drug pusher,” “an invalid who has lost his faculties,” and “the grandfather of corruption.” These statements were not made in private or in the heat of a distant youth. They were published, repeatedly and deliberately, for the world to see.
What message do we intend to send to the host country if such a man is confirmed to represent Nigeria there? How will their officials interpret the character and credibility of our diplomacy when our chosen envoy has publicly declared the very man who appointed him a criminal and a moral wreck? How will Nigeria be respected when our ambassadors are seen as people whose personal convictions can be bent for convenience, or who are rewarded despite undermining the dignity of the state?
If President Tinubu, for reasons best known to him, finds Mr Omokri useful and insists on appointing him, let it be to a domestic role – perhaps as an aide or minister, where the embarrassment remains local. But an ambassador is the face of the nation abroad. It is a role that demands not only capacity but honour, consistency, and a modicum of decency.
Our nation is already struggling to build an image of credibility and cohesion. We must not compound it by sending a man whose public record will haunt his diplomatic mission from the moment he lands.
I trust that the Senate, under your watchful and distinguished leadership, will act in the interest of Nigeria’s dignity and reject this nomination.
Yours sincerely,
Valentine Obienyem.
■ Valentine Obienyem is the spokesman of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi.
