A former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has condemned the backlash he received from Nigerians over his patronage of made-in-Nigeria shoes.
In a statement on his X page on Thursday, Omokri, a staunch advocate for buying Nigerian-made products in order to grow the Naira, bemoaned the insult geared at him for using shoes made in the southeastern part of the country.
Omokri mentioned that his shoe is a made-in-Aba shoe he bought to “help promote the local economy in Abia State.”
Omokri made the remark in his reaction to a post by one Chrispraise Chidozie, who berated the self-acclaimed table shaker’s brand of shoes.
In his reaction, Omokri said, “Thank you for your feedback. That is a made-in-Aba shoe that I bought to help promote the local economy in Abia State.
“I appealed to the public to help me get an Aba-made cobbler. It went viral. And the man made this for me.
“However, if you and the many people from that part of Nigeria feel the shoes are useless, as they said in your comment section, I will defer to your knowledge about your own workmanship and discard them and purchase made-in-Kano shoes.
“I am 100% certain that Nigerians from the Northwest will not mock me for patronising their products as part of my #GrowNairaBuyNaija campaign. Such acts are not in their nature.
“Actually, they make better shoes, but I wanted to be nationalistic and wear something from at least one geopolitical zone.
“My usual hat is from the Northeast. My fabric is usually from the Northwest or Southwest. My embroidery is always done in the north-central area. My walking stick and corals are from the south-south. And my shoes used to be from the Southwest. But I now know better.
