The Unpastored: How Reno Omokri Transitioned From Pulpit Founder to “Table Shaker” Without Losing the Title

Investigation by Franklin Adeche

LAGOS — On May 31, 2024, when a Nigerian news outlet referred to Reno Omokri as “Pastor Reno Omokri” in a routine political story, the comments section didn’t discuss the politics. It erupted in a single, blistering chorus: “Since when?” “Who gave this man pastor?” “Remove that ‘pastor’ very fast.” 

The incident captures a peculiar mystery in Nigeria’s public life. For nearly a decade, Reno Omokri—lawyer, former presidential aide, and prolific social media commentator—has been publicly identified as a pastor. He is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Centre, with congregations reportedly in California and Abuja. He hosted a Christian television program. He has written books on godly wisdom .

Yet, somewhere along the way, Omokri stopped calling himself that. He rebranded as a “Table Shaker.” And as this investigation reveals, the Nigerian public—particularly the Christian community—never really bought the pastoral title to begin with.

1. The Ordination Question: Who Made Him a Pastor?

The core factual question—was Reno Omokri ever actually a pastor—yields a characteristically ambiguous answer.

According to biographical records from the Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation (BLERF), Omokri is listed unequivocally as “Founder, Mind of Christ Christian Center” and his profession includes “Pastor” . A Wikipedia entry (since moderated) also listed him as a pastor and television host of Transformations With Reno Omokri, a Christian teaching show broadcast on California’s KTLN and the Impact Network .

However, a significant 2017 opinion piece in Vanguard authored by Ugoji Egbujo described Omokri as a product of “watery Pentecostalism,” lambasting him for acting as a “political attack dog” while holding the title of pastor . Significantly, even the 2017 piece treats his pastoral status as a given, albeit a disgraced one.

The distinction is crucial: Being a “founder” of a church does not automatically confer the title of “Pastor” in the traditional, ordained sense. There is no evidence in the public domain of Omokri being ordained by a recognized denomination (such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Deeper Life, or a mainstream Baptist/Presbyterian body). Instead, he appears to operate within the independent charismatic framework, where declaring a ministry and a calling is often considered sufficient authority.

Verdict: He was a “pastor” in the sense that he founded a ministry and taught Scripture on television. There is no evidence of a formal ordination by an external ecclesiastical body.

2. The Great Rebrand: Why “Table Shaker”?

The most telling shift is linguistic. Sometime after 2017, Omokri systematically began to phase out “Pastor Reno” in favor of “Reno Omokri, Table Shaker.”

In a 2022 exchange with actor Yul Edochie, who called him a “trouble maker,” Omokri took the time to correct him: “My Dear Yul, Tableshaker is different from trouble maker” .

The etymology is biblical—drawn from Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the Temple (Matthew 21:12). For Omokri, it implies a righteous disruptor.

But observers argue the shift was strategic. By 2017, a damning critique had defined him as a “Papa” (a term for a senior pastor) who exhibited “spiritual malnutrition” and “has never tendered any public apologies” for his vitriolic language . The “pastor” title had become a liability. It created an impossible standard: pastors are held to a higher moral burden of meekness and humility, yet Omokri was thriving as a partisan attack dog.

In a 2024 legal filing against Pastor Paul Enenche of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Omokri did not identify himself as a fellow cleric. Instead, he took the role of the critic, accusing Enenche of “unchristian” behavior and violating tax laws by endorsing a political candidate . It is easier to critique another pastor’s politics from the pew than from the pulpit.

3. The Public Rejection of the “Pastor” Title

The internet’s reaction to Vanguard’s “Pastor” reference in 2024 was not a random outburst. It reflected a long-simmering consensus.

As documented in the coverage of the national anthem controversy, critics were relentless:

• Gozie Nwachukwu asked, “Who give this man pastor?”

• Noble John wrote, “Remove that ‘pastor’ very fast…”

• Sunday Okafor mocked, “The old Anthem is better than you Pastor Reno” .

This public skepticism intensified when Omokri’s pastoral identity clashed with his political machinations. In 2024, he was accused of hypocrisy by Paul Ibe, an aide to Atiku Abubakar, who wrote a lengthy treatise titled “Reno Omokri: A Man in Scripture, Not for Righteousness but for Reproof.” Ibe called him a “sly betrayer” who “parades himself as a pastor” while engaging in duplicitous political games .

4. The Enenche Feud: Pastor vs. “Table Shaker”

The most ironic chapter in this saga is Omokri’s 2025 legal battle with Pastor Paul Enenche.

In January 2025, a court vacated a remand order that Enenche had obtained against Omokri. Omokri had accused the Dunamis pastor of being “irresponsible and mercantile” for bringing politics into the pulpit .

Here lies the paradox that defines Reno Omokri’s spiritual career: He criticized a pastor for being too political, while being a political commentator who once pastored.

When Omokri accuses Enenche of violating the “character of a pastor,” he implicitly acknowledges that pastors have a distinct, non-combative character. By divorcing himself from the active use of the title, Omokri liberated himself from the behavioral constraints he now tries to hold Enenche to.

Conclusion: The Pastor Who Shook Off His Own Title

Was Reno Omokri ever a pastor? Technically, yes—he founded a church and taught a flock. But institutionally, no major denomination has claimed him.

Why has he stopped calling himself Pastor? Because the Nigerian public stopped listening to him as one. He faced a choice: continue as a pastor and temper his aggressive, partisan personality, or drop the pretense and become a full-time “Table Shaker”—a title that has no moral burden, no ordination requirements, and no expectation of turning the other cheek.

He chose the table. And judging by the comments section, his audience prefers it that way, even if they don’t respect it.