A former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Reno Omokri, has rebuked the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for allegedly making defamatory comments against the people of Southern Nigeria.
Omokri in a statement issued yesterday said el-Rufai allegedly made such derogatory remarks last weekend “while speaking at the Northern Youth Summit organised by Northern Hibiscus Initiative in Kaduna”.
He quoted the Kaduna governor as saying that “You hardly can find someone from northern Nigeria convicted of 419 or being a Yahoo boy.
That is something we should be proud of. We are generally considered to be more honest and less-corrupt than other Nigerians. That is something we should be proud of’”.
Omokri said: “I was shocked when I saw the headlines. To be sure I was not a victim of sensationalised news coverage, I went and read his comments in detail.
“While speaking at the Northern Youth summit organised by Northern Hibiscus Initiative in Kaduna this Saturday, July 6, 2019, Mr. El-Rufai said, inter alia, as follows: “We still have a lot to be proud of. We should be proud of our culture and tradition, as well as unity. You hardly can find someone from northern Nigeria convicted of 419 or being a Yahoo boy. That is something we should be proud of. We are generally considered to be more honest and less-corrupt than other Nigerians. That is something we should be proud of”.
“In response to the above comments, I say to Nasir El-Rufai that before you label Southerners as Yahoo Yahoo people and fraudsters, do note that the biggest thief in world history is Sani Abacha. Yet, a stadium is proudly named after him in Kano. This is a man who stole in excess of $5 billion. 21 years after his death, Abacha is still
sending credit alert to Nigeria, though General Buhari said ‘Abacha never stole’.
“Thieves do not have a particular tribe or religion. Eight years ago, I said “The difference between Nigerians is not north and south. The difference between Nigerians is between the good and the bad”. It is left to Nigerians to decide in which category you, Nasir El-Rufai, a man who paid herdsmen after they killed his people, fall.
