By Ata Ukuta

A few years ago, I was present in the Abuja office of Dr. Sam Amadi when the key members of Our Mumu Don Do movement visited the Harvard scholar for counsel on how to make their movement more effective. During the meeting I had misgivings about the motives and motivations of the members, and I voiced my concern to them while the meeting was on. A few months after this meeting Deji Adeyanju who was present in the meeting with Charlie Boy announced his resignation from the movement and took to Twitter to make some allegations against Charlie Boy. Adeyanju alleged that one of the reasons for his resignation was that Charlie Boy confessed to collecting money to support President Muhammadu Buhari through Festus Keyamo while he (Adeyanju) was languishing in detention. His detention gave him his needed activist badge of pseudo-legitimacy. 

Activism in any part of the world is not a call for the chicken-hearted. But most importantly and especially in Nigeria, it is not a call for the hungry. Even the somewhat well-fed like Keyamo – a Gani Fawehinmi mentee, can be easily enticed into swallowing their vomit or someone else’s vomit. This is the story that is becoming the history of Festus Keyamo, a serving minister in the administration of the worst ruler in Nigeria. A Festus Keyamo, who ordinarily should have inherited the mantle of Gani, is now the spokesman for a man who is allegedly one of the most corrupt politicians in Nigeria. Deji Adeyanju’s fame as an activist is probably the shortest in the history of activism in Nigeria because he is a very open book that presently reads – compromised, unethical, intellectually shallow, and probably a Tinubu and APC stooge.

Among the many Nigerians who know what Nigeria needs to come out from our present nightmare and avoid the impending disaster yet are still drinking the vomit of those who were and are part of the problem, Reno Omokri stands out. It is difficult for me to wrap my thoughts around the fact that a Reno Omokri who is one of the few Nigerians that commendably has not given up on Leah Sharibu, will support an Atiku whose complexities as a Fulani man and show of shame in deleting his criticism of the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel by Islamists, is still the one Omokri supports, amidst also his unexplained source of wealth. Reno Omokri has demoted and denigrated himself from the post of unofficial spokesman of one of the best humans in Nigeria – Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, to the attack dog of Atiku Abubakar. The love of money is indeed the root of all evil. As we draw near to the 2023 presidential elections, I beseech Nigerians not to be swayed by ethnic, religious and money politics as practised by the likes of Keyamo, Omokri, and Adeyanju. This election might just be the last hope for the entity called Nigeria. Hence, we must be vigilant on happenings preceding the elections. We must not allow the activities of INEC, RECs and other stakeholders to leave our gaze. Our lives and that of our families, even if they are abroad, depends greatly on the outcome of this election. 

Ata Ukuta, Editor – Towncryyers