Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has expressed his opposition to the suggestion that President Bola Tinubu should declare a state of emergency in the southeast.

Omokri believes that such a measure would not yield the desired outcomes, but instead worsen the situation and inadvertently benefit the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in terms of public relations.

Instead, he proposes that Tinubu establish a Southeast Development Commission and allocate the funds that would have been used to deploy soldiers to the region towards promoting rapid infrastructural development in the southeast. Making a statement on his verified Twitter account, the social critic recommends that efforts be made to persuade Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of IPOB, under the condition that he renounces violence and pursues his agenda through peaceful means.

While advising Tinubu against inheriting the adversaries of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Omokri asserts that Kanu is a product of the circumstances created by Buhari’s administration.

He wrote, “I am not sure the request for President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the Southeast will achieve the desired results. In my opinion, it will only aggravate issues. Let’s look at the challenge holistically instead. 

“What lovers of Nigeria ought to do to bring peace to the Southeast is to convince President Tinubu to release Nnamdi Kanu on the condition that Mr Kanu will give up violence as a means of pursuing his agenda and that he would promote any political or social policy he has peacefully and democratically.

“But if a state of emergency is declared, and soldiers and other security forces are deployed in the Southeast, it will lead to clashes with Mr Kanu’s supporters, who are not cowards and recreate and entrench the type of atmosphere that led to the emergence of Nnamdi Kanu, and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra movement in the first place. 

“The state of emergency will be a massive public relations success for IPOB, and recruitment into the group will increase, along with anti-Nigeria sentiments amongst moderate Southeasterners.

“But if, instead, President Tinubu sets up a Southeast Development Commission and spends the money he would have used to send soldiers into the zone to ensure the rapid infrastructural development of the Southeast, not only will he reduce anti-Nigeria sentiment amongst the Igbos to the barest minimum, even he can expect massive votes from that region in future elections.

“If President Tinubu accedes to the request of those wanting a state of emergency, he could open a Pandora’s Box. And after repeating history, we will accuse history of repeating itself.

“President Tinubu should inherit General Buhari’s friends, but not his enemies. Nnamdi Kanu was a victim of the circumstances Buhari created. To solve the situation, President Tinubu should thus simultaneously create different and better circumstances.”