Omokri backs relocation of FAAN, CBN, says it’ll develop Nigeria’s economy

Adebayo Adenrele


A social media activist, Reno Omokri has thrown his weight to the relocation of some departments of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from Abuja to Lagos state, saying it’ll develop Nigeria’s economy.

Omokri stated this via his X handle, formerly Twitter.

He wrote, “Arewa people know I am indigenously yan kudu, but socially and mentally Dan Arewa. I will never deliberately go against the interest of Arewa.

“Therefore, let me say that moving specific departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, to Lagos in no way harms Arewa politically or economically.

“It is in Nigeria’s economic interests that this happens. Money that is made in Lagos does not stay in Lagos. It circulates from there to other states. Especially Northern states. VAT taxes and other sources of revenue collected from Lagos and shared with other states readily come to mind. Let us be our brother’s keeper and make sacrifices for our unity.

“We can subjugate other institutions to politics, but not our economy and military. What should be of utmost concern to Nigeria, and especially Arewa, is how to end banditry and kidnapping, ensure that Northerners do not have to pay astronomically more for fuel than Southerners, end or at least arrest the desertification of the core North, reduce the alarming rate of out of school children, get Internally Displaced Persons safely back to their cities, towns and villages, and see to a federal character in the civil service.

“This policy of citing a limited number of federal agencies outside the political capital is not peculiar to Nigeria. South Africa does it. As does the United States and the United Kingdom. No wise nation can afford to concentrate all its vital institutions in one city. It is not pragmatic.

“What such an unwise policy means is that to decapitate that country, all you need to do is suffocate the capital. If, God forbid, some disaster occurs in Abuja, such as the Ibadan explosion, Nigeria should still be able to function.

“Aso Rock is still in Abuja. The National Assembly is unshakably in the FCT. The Supreme Court dey kampe for the Three Arms Zone. As well as the Ministry of Defence.

“No state or city can compete with the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. However, if we fail to make pragmatic decisions, Nigeria will not be able to compete favourably in the world economy.”