From Detractors to Defenders: The Political Gymnastics of Reno Omokri and Daniel Bwala, Examined by Stephanie Shaakaa

In Nigeria, a unique profession has emerged, known as Professional Political Conversion, or PPC, where individuals with strong memory loss and excellent flexibility can thrive, as exemplified by Reno Omokri and Daniel Bwala, two of its most skilled practitioners.

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Omokri and Bwala, though not blood brothers, are politically identical twins, possessing the same reflexes, instincts, and ability to perform ideological somersaults with ease, making them potential gold medalists in synchronised ideological gymnastics if politics were an Olympic sport.

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Prior to their current stance, both men were vocal critics of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, speaking out against him with urgency, warning the nation about the potential dangers he posed, with their criticism being a full-time occupation, declared loudly and repeatedly.

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However, with a change in power, their perspective on Tinubu shifted, and he transformed from a symbol of everything wrong with Nigerian politics to a misunderstood statesman in need of context, with the word "context" being the most overworked term in Nigerian politics.

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Daniel Bwala's appearance on Al Jazeera, where he was interviewed by Mehdi Hasan, showcased the stretching, twisting, and kneading of context, as statements that once existed clearly on the internet suddenly required archaeological interpretation, feeling more like a negotiation with his own previous statements.

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Reno Omokri, on the other hand, continues to run a political rehabilitation centre on social media, where he once criticised Tinubu with stamina, but now appears to be reinterpreting his previous statements, with the internet remembering his past criticisms and keeping receipts.

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The internet's ability to remember and recall past statements poses a problem for those building a political career, as their past does not disappear but waits patiently, like an unpaid electricity bill, to resurface and challenge their current stance.

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Omokri and Bwala are not just weather forecasters, knowing which direction power is blowing, but wind turbines, generating electricity wherever the wind blows, and have upgraded the technology of changing colours to changing history.

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Their ability to change positions and explain their previous warnings has earned them a place as visiting professors in the hypothetical university course of opportunism, with PhDs in Strategic U-Turns and Masters in Political Acrobatics.

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Their old tweets, like retired soldiers, sit quietly in the cloud, occasionally resurfacing to challenge their current stance, with the question "Oga, you said the opposite in 2022" being a recurring theme, which in another country would be embarrassing, but in Nigeria, it's prime-time entertainment.

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Omokri and Bwala are headline acts in the circus of Nigerian politics, where the elephants never forget, and the audience keeps receipts, with their performances simply qualifying them for the next television appearance as professional praise contractors and government interpreters.

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The internet remains the one institution that refuses to cooperate with political acrobatics, remembering the tweets, interviews, and warnings, and occasionally opening the archive to ask the simple question, "Oga, you said the opposite in 2022," which in many countries would end a political career, but in Nigeria, it signals the beginning of the next television appearance.

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In the grand scheme of Nigerian politics, positions change, narratives evolve, and enemies become interpreters, but the internet's memory remains a constant, refusing to be swayed by the ever-changing landscape of political acrobatics, where individuals like Omokri and Bwala thrive.

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Ultimately, the price of eating shit is eating one's shame, swallowing words of truth and integrity, and denying them in exchange for wealth and position, a sacrifice that some are willing to make in the pursuit of power and relevance in Nigerian politics.