Force NGOs to declare foreign aid – Reno Omokri charges FG

By John Ogunsemore

Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has urged the National Assembly to pass legislation compelling non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Nigeria to declare any aid received from foreign entities.

Omokri made the call in a Facebook post on Sunday.

He was reacting to a recent claim by a US congressmen, Scott Perry that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded terror groups all over the world, including Boko Haram.

Perry’s claim has sparked controversy about the activities of foreign agencies and NGOs while beaming a searchlight on the nature and impact of foreign aid on developing economies.

Omokri said the Nigerian government could shield the nation from the negative influence of foreign agencies and aid by enacting a law to monitor in-flow of funds into Nigeria.

He said, “With the recent revelations about the Obama and Biden administrations funding Boko Haram through USAID, if Nigeria really wants to defend her territorial integrity and ensure her internal security, the National Assembly must without delay pass a law that all Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria that receive funding from foreign governments, agencies and individuals must declare such monies.

“If they do not declare such funds, their registrations should be reversed and their licenses revoked.

“Any such funds traced to them will be forfeited to the Federal Government.”

Omokri said that failure to do this will make Nigeria continue to be vulnerable to external forces who use money to induce unpatriotic citizens to wreak social havoc and undermine the government through activities that weaken the moral fabric of society, unnaturally change culture, and create divisions and mutual suspicions amongst the various ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria.

He said, “#EndSARS was funded from abroad. Look at the damage it did to Nigeria. According to the private ratings firm, Financial Derivatives Company, the infrastructural damage to Lagos State alone was ₦1.5 trillion.

“The Lagos State Government built the best forensic laboratory in Africa, and that facility was burnt to the ground after Nnamdi Kanu’s broadcast to his supporters where he instructed them to “burn Lagos to the ground”.

“That forensic investment, along with other multibillion Naira public infrastructure, including eighty BRT buses and several courthouses and police stations, was razed during the #EndSARS protests. That was why MohBad’s autopsy had to be done in America rather than Nigeria.

“And then last year’s Days of Rage protest inflicted damage worth ₦200 billion on Northern Nigeria, and almost destabilised Nigeria to the point where Russian flags were being paraded to instigate a Burkina Faso/Mali/Niger type regime change in Nigeria.

“Many foreign intelligence services are using religious cults and NGOs to further their devices in Nigeria, and we must lift the veil on them by making the funding of these groups transparent,” he added.