Nigeria No Longer Among World’s Most Terrorised Nations, Says Omokri

Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has said Nigeria is no longer among the world’s most terrorised countries, arguing that security and economic conditions in the country have improved compared to a decade ago.

Speaking during an interview on Politics Today on Wednesday, Omokri said Nigerians often judge national progress based on emotions rather than facts, statistics, 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.

According to him, Nigeria’s security situation has significantly improved compared to 10 years ago when several regions of the country faced widespread instability.

Omokri recalled that militancy in the Niger Delta had resurged around 2016, with the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers leading to attacks on oil infrastructure and a sharp drop 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 pointed to secessionist agitation in the South-East at the time, which he said led to prolonged sit-at-home protests and attacks on security facilities.

“You had agitation for secession all over the South-East, and about 128 police stations were shut down,” Omokri stated.

The ambassador-designate also cited the security crisis in 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 further recalled attacks on military institutions, including the Nigerian Defence Academy and the Kuje Correctional Centre, where hundreds of inmates were freed during an attack by insurgents.

“You had about 600 terrorists on motorbikes who went to Kuje prison and freed 879 terrorists,” he said.

Comparing the situation then to the present, Omokri argued that Nigeria has made significant progress in restoring stability across many regions.

“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 security challenges still exist, the situation has improved considerably.
“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 major public gatherings across the country which he said took place without security incidents, including festivals and tourism events.

“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 rejected claims that the current administration had worsened Nigeria’s economic conditions, arguing that some indicators show improvement.

“The president met inflation at about 24 per cent. Today, food inflation is about 8.89 per cent,” he said.

He also claimed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves had increased significantly. “The president met foreign reserves at less than 30 billion dollars. Today our reserves are about 50 billion dollars,” Omokri added.

Responding to concerns about rising living costs, he insisted that food prices had begun to decline. “A bag of rice has gone down from about 100,000 naira to around 55,000 naira. Food prices have gone down,” he said.

Despite acknowledging that some security challenges remain in parts of the country, Omokri maintained that Nigeria is on a path of gradual improvement. “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.