Controversial media personality Reno Omokri, known for his wild takes, has recently taken to the X-platform to remark on the current presidency.
He expressed that the president flying his children out on a business trip overseas, especially with the current economy, was a wrong move. He further went on to disclose why he would not do such.
He revealed that the reason he would not do it is because the optics would look bad, and that he would also be playing into the hands of not just political opponents, but also the hostile media.
However, he further stated that legally there was nothing wrong with it, and that some other presidents had been able to do it. He went on to remark on the current division in Nigeria, and that the president should not have tried to add to that fire by flying his children overseas.
“If I were President of Nigeria at this time when the country is bitterly divided as a result of the #NigerianElections2023 and the removal of fuel subsidy, as well as the flotation of the Naira, I would not take my children on an official business trip overseas.
The only reason I would not do that is because the optics would look bad, and I would be playing into the hands of my political opponents and hostile media, which have taken a business decision to oppose my administration to appease their base in preparation for the next election.
Having said that, legally, there is nothing wrong with it. Please fact-check me: As Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher took her son, Mark Thatcher, to overseas UK Business summits. Sir Mark Thatcher is a businessman, as is Seyi Tinubu.
Also, fact-check me: President Obasanio similarly took his son, benga, on a business summit while he was President. benga is also a legitimate businessman.
The current U.S. President, Joe Biden, took his son, Hunter Biden, on a business summit in China while he was vice President. And President Trump even made his daughter and her husband his advisers, who frequently travelled with him to business and political summits.
The trip to Qatar was publicly billed as a business summit, for which Nigerian businesses were meant to collaborate with Qatari companies. In fact, some critics even mocked the Tinubu administration when a letter leaked that the
“Business Summit” aspect of the trip had been cancelled. Which turned out to be a lie.
I was surprised that one journalist today asked on live TV what Seyi Tinubu does for a living. I may or may not like Seyi Tinubu. That journalist himself may or may not like Seyi Tinubu. But to ask what Seyi Tinubu does puts a question mark on your status as a journalist. This is a young man who is involved in multiple known businesses.
And to the President’s credit, he very publicly kicked Seyi Tinubu out of a Federal Executive Council meeting and warned him never to attend again, because that was not a business summit.
That was a government meeting.
Other than the fact that Nigeria is currently very divided, and the President should have avoided fire, being that he is covered in petrol, what he did is not wrong at all.
You may now insult me, since you cannot fruit me on the facts.”