Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-President Good Jonathan, on Saturday justified the decision of Kogi State governor-elect, Usman Ododo, to kneel before Governor Yahaya Bello.
PlatinumPost reports that Ododo had while presenting his certificate of return to Bello on Thursday publicly knelt before the Kogi governor, prompting several reactions.
Reacting to the viral video of the incident on Saturday, Omokri said there was not wrong with Ododo’s action, adding that late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua alongside his mother did same to appreciate ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He said : “Why is it such a big deal that a Governor kneels to his godfather? Why are people getting all worked up? How many of you get worked up when Nigerians honoured by the British Crown kneel to King Charles III and his son, Prince William?
In terms of gratitude, what Yahaya Bello, who I don’t particularly like, has done for Ododo is more than what the British government did for those Nigerians honoured by the British Crown. I see nothing wrong with it. It is just appreciation done to your benefactor the way any well brought up Omoluabi would do.
I have done it once in politics when I begged my boss to give a political appointment to my friend after he appointed me and left my friend empty-handed, and while it was not easy, I understand the necessity.
After Obasanjo almost single handedly delivered Yar’adua as President, Yar’adua felt he was even too small to kneel to Obasanjo. He brought his own mother and his wife, and they knelt to Obasanjo publicly. No big deal in Ododo kneeling to Bello. It is a trait of a well brought up person. You give honour to whom it is due. If it is in Yoruba land, he will even prostrate flat. If you are walking by and a benevolent breaks a palm kernel that you could not break by yourself, should you not be grateful?