Reno Omokri, Nigeria’s nominee ambassador to Mexico, has strongly dismissed insinuations that Mexicans are making Nigeria a drug hub, describing the fears as unfounded and warning that such labelling harms bilateral relations.
Omokri responded directly to a query from a journalist on his social platform, who asked for his reaction to the growing concerns as the ambassador-designate.
“There is no truth to such insinuations,” Omokri declared. “Yes, there have been isolated cases involving some individuals, and I think that in our fifty years of bilateral relations with the United Mexican States, such a thing had only happened twice. This indicates that the unfortunate cases were isolated incidents.”
He emphasised that both nations reject criminality. “Neither Nigeria nor Mexico want to protect criminals. If individuals break the law, they must face the consequences,” Omokri stated. “But to blame their nations or tar all citizens of that country with the same brush is not expedient. It hurts legitimate business people.”
The ambassador-designate drew attention to Mexico’s economic strength and its importance to Nigeria. “Nigerians ought to know that Mexico has a $2 trillion economy and is the thirteenth-largest economy on Earth,” he said. “We have been trading with Mexico for decades, and the trade balance is in our favour. Three times in our favour. So, this is a friendly country, and the Nigerian media should understand the implications for our country of mislabelling a country whose policies towards us have been benevolent.”
Omokri highlighted the disparity in citizen presence between the two countries. “Might I make you aware that there are 50,000 Nigerian citizens in Mexico, versus only 500 Mexicans in Nigeria,” he noted. “And, sadly, we do have Nigerians, which runs afoul of the law in Mexico. But that country has prudently refrained from defining its bilateral relationship with Nigeria along those lines.”
He urged the media to support stronger ties. “People like you, and your newspaper, which I believe is Vanguard, should use your wide reach as the most-read paper in Nigeria to help build our bilateral relations with a country that has made an exponential success out of the NAFTA and USMCA trade agreement, which is something Nigeria would like to achieve with ACFTA,” Omokri said.
The nominee linked the issue to Nigeria’s broader economic goals. “We have a national ambition under President Tinubu to be a $1 trillion economy by 2031. We should not be undermining our relationship with a $2 trillion economy that can give us valuable, experience-based, practical insight and assistance that will help us attain that vision,” he added.
Omokri concluded by calling for a clear distinction between crime and nationality. “Leave the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to handle isolated cases of criminality unrelated to nationality.”
