Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri, on Wednesday, said Nigeria is no longer among the world’s most terrorised countries, noting that both security and the economy have improved compared to ten years ago.
Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Omokri said Nigerians often judge the country’s progress based on feelings rather than facts and data.
“If we can dwell on three things – statistics, facts and data, which cannot lie – we will see that things are actually better in this country,” he said.
He noted that Nigeria’s security has improved a lot since a decade ago, when many parts of the country were unstable.
Omokri recalled that militancy in the Niger Delta rose around 2016, with the Niger Delta Avengers attacking oil facilities and causing a sharp fall in oil production.
“Ten years ago we had the Niger Delta Avengers bombing critical infrastructure in the oil and gas industry, and Nigeria went from about 1.9 million barrels per day to less than half of that,” he said.
He also highlighted secessionist movements in the South-East at that time, which led to prolonged sit-at-home protests and attacks on police stations.
“You had agitation for secession all over the South-East, and about 128 police stations were shut down,” Omokri stated.
The ambassador-designate further mentioned the North-East, where insurgents had taken control of parts of Borno State.
“According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, half of Borno State was under Boko Haram in 2016,” he said.
Omokri also recalled attacks on military facilities, including the Nigerian Defence Academy and Kuje Correctional Centre, where insurgents freed hundreds of inmates.
“You had about 600 terrorists on motorbikes who went to Kuje prison and freed 879 terrorists,” he said.
Comparing then and now, he argued that Nigeria has made huge progress in restoring stability across the country.
“If you look at the facts, 10 years ago Nigeria was rated by the Global Terrorism Index as the third most terrorised nation in the world. Today, we are not even in the top five,” he said.
He added that while some security challenges remain, the overall situation has improved significantly.
“Security does not improve overnight. It improves over time. Things are getting better, but they are not going to get better overnight,” Omokri said.
He also cited large public events in Nigeria that happened without incidents, including festivals and tourism activities.
“Last December we had about 1.2 million tourists in Lagos. There was not one robbery, not one major incident. In Kebbi we had 50,000 fishermen and about 500,000 spectators at the fishing festival and nobody was killed,” he said.
On the economy, Omokri dismissed claims that the current government had worsened conditions, pointing out some improvements.
“The president met inflation at about 24 per cent. Today, food inflation is about 8.89 per cent,” he said.
He added that Nigeria’s foreign reserves have grown. “The president met foreign reserves at less than 30 billion dollars. Today our reserves are about 50 billion dollars,” Omokri said.
Addressing concerns about high living costs, he said food prices are coming down. “A bag of rice has gone down from about 100,000 naira to around 55,000 naira. Food prices have gone down,” he said.
While acknowledging that security issues still exist in some areas, Omokri stressed that Nigeria is gradually improving.
“It can take you one attempt to jump into a ditch, but to climb out of that ditch may take a hundred attempts,” he said.
