Mr. Reno Omokri, a former presidential adviser, has advised Mr. Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, not to politicize the recent deadly stampedes in several regions of the nation, claiming that doing so would equate to politicizing the tragedy of the people.
Following stampedes at food-sharing gatherings to kick off the Christmas celebrations, approximately 39 people were thought to have died on Saturday in Okija, Anambra State, and Maitama, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. Following an earlier catastrophe in Ibadan that claimed the lives of 35 children, both incidents occurred.
In a tweet posted on his X profile last week, Obi denounced the high number of children who died in Ibadan during the pre-Christmas fair, citing it as evidence of the country’s structural shortcomings.
Innocent children were apparently crushed to death during a Christmas celebration in Ibadan, which is heartbreaking and a clear example of the structural flaws that still exist in our country today, he said.
He emphasized that in order to prioritize policies that address poverty, inequality, and equitable resource access while guaranteeing the greatest safety standards for public events, particularly those involving children, leaders must reflect deeply on the tragedy and take decisive action.
On his X handle, Omokri responded, however, by accusing Obi of being indifferent to the suffering of the victims. He claimed that the Labour Party candidate ought to have shown sympathy for the families who lost loved ones instead of trying to capitalize politically on the tragedy.
He stated, “One would have thought Mr. Peter Obi would have expressed his condolences to the families and gone on.”
The former presidential assistant claimed that the former flagbearer of the Labour Party was being hypocritical in blaming the federal government for the rush, given that it was a worldwide phenomena that had recently taken place in the US, South Korea, Israel, and other European nations.
Additionally, he noted that on November 3, 2013, a similar incident occurred in Anambra State during Obi’s leadership as governor, resulting in the deaths of 28 people. “Interestingly enough, survivors claimed that Peter Obi, who was there at the scene of the tragedy, started the stampede,” Omokri said.
“For a man who oversaw these incidents to now use the Ibadan tragedy to demonize the Tinubu administration is hypocritical,” he remarked.
Offering different approaches to problems is a component of true opposition politics, to passively wait for disasters to happen and then try to make money off of them is an abuse of the concept of opposition, that is not politics; that is wickedness.
Given that the Labour Party’s presidential candidate did poorly when serving as the governor of Anambra State, Omokri questioned the morality of Obi’s constant criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“This is unfortunate coming from a man who, as governor of Anambra State, nearly doubled poverty, as both the current governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and his immediate successor, Mr. Willie Obiano, have disclosed,” he stated.
“The poverty rate in Anambra was 41.4% prior to Peter Obi becoming governor. However, it increased to 53.7% under Mr. Obi, in part because Peter Obi preferred to park the state’s funds in his bank to earn interest that he kept for himself rather than using them to construct infrastructure.
“Mr. Obi did not establish, begin, finish, or commission a single nursery, primary, secondary, or university during his eight years as governor.”
Obi removed his tweet shortly after receiving harsh criticism from Omokri.
In addition, word of a similar stampede in Okija, a well-known town in Obi’s home state, which was reported to have killed dozens of people, surfaced mid-Saturday. Another took place in the country’s capital, Maitama, Abuja.
The former advisor to President Goodluck Jonathan responded to this tragedy by expressing sympathy to the victims. He urged state governments to improve crowd management measures and take note of the frequent occurrences.