Reno’s response to Kanu’s attack on Jonathan: Ndigbo should go, learn diplomacy

By now, I am sure my readers have read the
very disparaging comments against former
President Goodluck Jonathan which were
credited to the leader of the Indigenous People
of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

So pedestrian are those comments that I will not
repeat them here. You can Google them on your
own if you have not read them but I will not
stain my writing space by republishing them.



Ndi’Igbo needs friends and support. No one can
win in life if they walk solo.
Ecclesiastes 4:11 says ‘if two lie together, then
they have heat: but how can one be
warm alone?’
It was for lack of friends that Ndi’Igbo were
defeated between 1967-1970. Is history about to
repeat itself? You do not alienate the few friends
you have and expect to attract more friends.
This is the advantage the North has over
Ndi’Igbo. They know their friends. If with all
Jonathan did for Ndi’Igbo someone can dismiss
him with the wave of the hand so casually and
accuse him of doing nothing for Ndi’Igbo and
Ndi’Igbo would applaud such a person instead
of calling him to order, then do not expect those
who are watching Ndi’Igbo acquiesce to this
mistreatment of Jonathan to do anything for
Ndi’Igbo when or if they get into power.
If Jonathan can be so treated, then who is
sacrosanct?
There are those who have said Jonathan lost the
2015 elections because his fondness for
Ndi’Igbo alienated him from other sections of
Nigeria. Today, people who hold such opinions
are laughing at Jonathan.
The fact that not even one prominent leader
amongst Ndi’Igbo has stood up to condemn the
hate speech against Jonathan is telling.
This is a man who was the first person since
the end of the civil war to make Ndi’Igbo
Secretary to the Government of the Federation
and Chief of Army Staff. For 41 years before
Jonathan, not one Ndi’Igbo came near such
position.
Alas, none of the many Ndi’Igbo who benefited
from appointments under Jonathan could stand
up to defend him against those very mean
words from Nnamdi Kanu.
What a lesson to anyone who may be planning
to toe the path of Jonathan! What a lesson.
My advice to you and the Igbo race, go and
learn diplomacy. It will help you more than
physical strength and academic intelligence.
Only a month ago, In my widely published
article ‘Hegemony: What the Igbo can learn from
Yoruba and Fulani about power’, I advised
Ndi’Igbo, saying that the Igbo often mistake
discretion for weakness.
Nnamdi Kanu proves my point! Calling Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan weak is just a manifestation
of what I wrote about.
Nnamdi Kanu needs to understand something
about leadership. Leadership is a platform that
gives you the opportunity to increase your
influence or reduce it until it is eliminated.
Upon his release, public sympathy for him
increased his influence. The successful sit at
home further increased it. However, his
utterances since then have been steadily
reducing his influence.
I know Chief Femi Fani-Kayode very well. He
will soon hear the things Nnamdi Kanu said
about the Yorubas. He has already heard about
the things Nnamdi Kanu said about Jonathan. It
will not be very long before Nnamdi Kanu loses
one of his most valiant non Igbo supporter.
Apparently, what the Nigerian government
couldn’t do to Nnamdi Kanu, Nnamdi Kanu is
using his own mouth to do to himself!
Why does this keep reoccurring? Anytime I read
or hear about Madiba Nelson Mandela, I have
bittersweet memories. Why? Because we could
have had our own Mandela in another Nnamdi!
Nnamdi Azikiwe was at one time known all over
Africa as Zik of Africa. It was a thing of pride
and joy to pre-independent Nigeria. Everyone
was proud of Zik including Northerners. This is
a fact.
But the story ended tragically. No matter what
may have happened to him through his political
choices and alliances, it was a very great
disappointment that a man who reached the
peak of his political career as Zik of Africa ended
up allowing himself to be known as the Owelle
of Onitsha, not even of Nigeria, or Igboland or
even Anambra, but of Onitsha.
The new Nnamdi ought to learn from this
tragedy. When he was released, believe it or not,
he was hailed and celebrated far beyond the
borders of Igboland.
On social media, every Wale, Dakolo and Nosa
sang his praises. He was Nnamdi Kanu, the
hero of the oppressed.
But the more he talked, the more the Wales had
a rethink and shrunk away from him, leaving
only the Dakolos and Nosas.
Then he talked some more and both the Dakolos
and the Nosas felt unwelcome and beat a hasty
retreat.
Today, it is only Chukwuma and Ikechukwu that
are singing his praises.
Nnamdi Kanu was created by President
Muhammadu Buhari because before he was
arrested, I had heard nothing about him.
Absolutely nothing.
But just like President Buhari has squandered
whatever goodwill he had left by choosing to
give his national Sallah message to Nigerians in
a sectional language, so too has Nnamdi Kanu
wasted away the considerable adulation he had
outside Igboland by his Igbo supremacy
tendencies.
I hope with Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB does not end up
with a case of me and Ndi’Igbo against Nigeria,
me and Abia state against Ndi’Igbo, me and
Isiama Afara against Abia state and finally, me
and my father’s house against Isiama Afara.
From what we are seeing, the omens are not
encouraging at all!
Shaka Momodu, an editor with ThisDay
newspapers, taught me a lesson 26 years ago.
We both had a mutual friend who turned out to
be something of a nasty piece of work.
When I discovered this, I quite naturally
withdrew from this person and although almost
all our other friends badmouthed this individual,
Shaka would not.
One day, I asked Shaka why he refrained from
talking down this man. Shaka’s response was
telling and has stuck with me for decades
He said Reno, one day I had nowhere to sleep
and ……..allowed me sleep in his room for that
day. I cannot find it in me to fight someone who
accommodated me even if it was for just one
day.
From that day till the day I die, and even when I
am in God’s kingdom after death, I will respect
Shaka Momodu for having such sterling
principles. I can only wish that Nnamdi Kanu
had such high principles.
Ndi’Igbo should remember the proverb: If you
want to walk fast, walk alone.
But if you want to walk far, walk with friends.
And now let me address the issue of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s unwise decision to
address the nation in a sectional language.
In a country whose official language is English,
President Muhammadu Buhari broadcasts his
Sallah message in Hausa! Would Trump (whose
origin is German) address America in German?
So what about all those Nigerians who can’t
speak Hausa? Ideally, the President should have
spoken in English first, then if he feels like it, he
may also speak in Hausa.
The way he has now spoken only in Hausa
makes it seem as if he is only concerned with
those who gave him 97% of the votes while
those who have him 5% can take a hike!
How would the rest of the country have felt if
President Olusegun Obasanjo had released a
Christmas broadcast to Nigerians in Yoruba of if
President Goodluck Jonathan has done so in
Ogbia?
How can a NATIONAL leader address Nigerians
in a SECTIONAL language? Nigeria has never
had a leader as divisive as Buhari! There is no
difference between President Buhari and Nnamdi
Kanu.
President Buhari is the President of all Nigeria.
He is not the President of only those who can
speak Hausa! This is an outrage! President
Yar’adua also spoke to the BBC News by phone.
He is Fulani, like President Buhari. Yet he spoke
in English because he was President of all of us!
At this stage, permit time to digress and say
something about a loss I suffered.
Eight years ago I cried as if I had lost my own
brother. You gave me so much joy from my
childhood to now. I thank God for giving the
world the opportunity to benefit from your
creative genius, Michael Jackson! You were the
most consistently brilliant music star the world
ever knew. Your dedication to your craft was
matchless. You outshone Elvis, The Beatles, and
even in death you continue to outshine
contemporary stars. I love you Michael. Rest in
the bosom of The Lord!
Reno’s Nuggets:
If you knew how quickly your boss will replace
you if you die, you will pay more attention to
your family rather than your job. How many
burials have you been to? Do you ever see the
dead man’s boss there? Yet most men slave
away at their work and prioritize it over their
family who will be the one to bury them, mourn
over them and carry on their legacies.
Remember, your company has its own name,
but your children bear your own name forever.
Be wise. You are replaceable at work. You are
irreplaceable to your family. Don’t work for your
salary. Work for your family #RenosNuggets
Reno Omokri is a Christian TV talk show host
and founder of the Mind of Christ Christian
Center and the Helen and Bemigho Sanctuary for
orphans. He is the author of the worldwide
amazon bestseller Facts Versus Fiction: The
True Story of the Jonathan Years: Chibok, 2015
and Other Conspiracies and three books,
Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, Why Jesus
Wept and Apples of Gold: A Book of Godly
Wisdom