Bestselling author and politician, Reno Omokri, has reprimanded former Big Brother Naija housemate, Pere Egbi, and lectured the latter on patriotism.
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While narrating a story about his trip to Ghana, Omokri made comparisons between two oil producing states; Ghana and Nigeria. He wrote:
I just returned from Ghana. They are an oil-producing nation, like Nigeria. Yet, they don’t have cheap petrol like Nigeria. Petrol (Premium Motor Spirit) in Ghana is GH₵13.2 per litre at the official rate, which is ₦550. Ghana does not subsidise petrol. That is why they have enough money left to put other things in place, like power plants for 24/7 uninterrupted electricity, good schools and hospitals, etc.
We can’t be pissing away our national wealth on an unsustainable fuel subsidy, which is mainly consumed by city dwellers who have multiple cars, and be surprised why we have infrastructural deficits.
Lagos, Kaduna and Abuja now have trains and commercial buses. Other states should follow suit. Nigerians who cannot afford the new fuel prices should be encouraged and helped by the government to acquire environmentally friendly alternatives, like bicycles.
And let us trek some more. It is even good. Our population is exploding. We have one of the fastest-growing populations on Earth. Our population is growing faster than our economy. If we are too busy walking from point A to B, we will also be too busy to make babies we have challenges raising.
In his reaction to the post, Egbi claimed that politicians in Ghana are more people oriented than those in Nigeria.
“Ghanaian politicians are not as callous, self centered, evil, big time thieves, manipulative and disgusting like Nigerian politicians. I’m sure they pilfer money every now and then in Ghana but they get the work done,” he wrote.
Omokri, who reminded Egbi that he won a made-in-Nigeria car as a BBN participant, cautioned and advised him to use his status as a celebrity to positively project the country. He wrote:
Dear @PereEgbi,
Thank you for your feedback. It might be a good idea if you use your celebrity to project Nigeria positively. Nigeria is not as bad as you paint it. I urge you to view the World Misery Index, published by The Hanke Index. Ghana is in the Top 20. Nigeria, according to the Index, is far better than Ghana in terms of Human Development.
Lagos State alone, with just half of Ghana’s population, has a GDP that is more than that of the entire Ghanaian nation.
As a participant of #BBNaija, you won a made in Nigeria car. Made in Nigeria mind you, not assembled in Nigeria. I believe it was an Innoson. Does Ghana have a made in Ghana car?
If you had been Ghanaian, would you be as big a star as you are today? Does Ghana even have its own version of Big Brother?
After Big Brother, you have become a Nollywood star. Would that have been possible if you were Ghanaian? Even Ghanaian actors are fleeing to Nigeria to make it big. Probably Ghana’s biggest music star, Shatta Wale, has publicly said NIgeria treats her stars better than Ghana does. Please Google it.
Ask Senator Ben Murray-Bruce. He and I just returned from Ghana, where we met with John Apea, the Ghanaian Africa Movie Academy Award winner, who was frustrated out of acting because the Ghanaian movie industry is depressed, like the rest of their economy.
Who got their economy depressed? Certainly not the Nigerian politicians and leaders that you are insulting here. Ghana’s economy is on the brink of collapse. Research it. They are begging the IMF for $3 billion bailout. If not, the government can’t even pay salaries.
Was Ghana able to evacuate ALL her citizens willing to leave war-torn Sudan even before Britain and America, like Nigeria, did? We not only evacuated them for free, we even gave each evacuee ₦100,000 cash, ₦25,000 airtime, a SIM pack, and food provisions.
Was Ghana the first country in the world to overcome the Wild Ebola outbreak even before the U.S. and UK? Yes, Nigeria did it in 2014 under Jonathan. Please research it. If I lied, I would pay you $10,000.
Pere, Nigeria has given you so much. To whom much is given, much is expected. Respectfully, would it be asking too much if you could be Nigeria’s brand ambassador rather than her brand de-marketer?
I urge you to be patriotic and never undermine your country and elevate a neighbouring nation over her.
Thanks again, and may God bless you.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
