Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has cautioned against what he described as an “entitled mentality” among retired footballers and entertainers who expect government or society to cater for them when they fall on hard times.
Omokri, in a statement on Sunday (X-Space), said sportsmen, athletes and artists are not the responsibility of the state, except where they serve as civil servants entitled to pensions under the law.
Citing the example of Joe Lasisi, a former staff of the Nigerian Customs Service who earned salaries and entitlements while also boxing professionally, Omokri stressed that national assignments come with due payments which athletes usually receive — often alongside gifts and property from government and the public.
He said many of such stars fail to pay taxes in Nigeria despite enjoying professional fortunes, only to later blame the public for their poor financial state in retirement.
“It is regrettable if some national icons die broke or broken. However, responsibility for their end state should not shift from them to the public,” Omokri stated.
According to him, athletes going broke is not peculiar to Nigeria, noting that football legends in Europe like Paul Gascoigne and Trevor Sinclair lost fortunes without blaming government or society.
“You can’t enjoy your success alone and then want to outsource your failure to society,” Omokri . . Continue..Reading. .
𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝘀 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽!
