Omokri: I Went To Market Without Security To Confirm Nigerians Can Survive On ₦3,000 Daily

Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has said he went to the market without security to confirm that an average Nigerian can survive on ₦3,000 daily.

Omokri disclosed this on Sunday Politics, a television programme, while defending his claim that ₦3,000 is enough for an average Nigerian to live on per day.

According to him, he embarked on the market survey with only one journalist, priced basic food items including yam, rice, maize and fruits, and concluded that the amount is sufficient within Nigeria’s economic reality.

“I went there with one journalist, no security, and I stopped along the way, and I priced goods. I priced yam, I priced rice, I priced maize, I priced fruits. In Nigeria, people can live on that amount in a day,” Omokri said.

The ambassador-designate argued that poverty thresholds should be considered within the economic realities of individual countries, saying the same ₦3,000 would be poverty in the United States but not in Nigeria.

“But in the United States, if you try to live on that amount in a day, it is poverty. So, you have to context, again, context matters,” he added.

He said the amount has a different purchasing power in the US because of differences in prices and living costs, therefore international poverty measurements should be considered alongside local conditions.

Omokri also discussed the World Bank’s global poverty benchmark, which he described as a measure based on living on less than $2 a day, distinguishing it from the practical cost of meeting basic needs within Nigeria.

Asked whether he disagreed with the World Bank’s poverty benchmark, Omokri said the institution was applying a global standard.

“The World Bank is using a global benchmark. And they’ve always used it?” he said.

His comments come amid continuing public debate over household purchasing power, food prices and the cost of living in Nigeria.