Reno Omokri has criticized Nigerians’ use of social media to “de-market” the country following the car accident involving ex-world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua in Ogun State.
The British-Nigerian boxer escaped with injuries in a tragic collision on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Monday morning, but unsubstantiated social media reports about a lack of emergency service have generated unfavorable international headlines about Nigeria.
Omokri claimed in a statement via X on Monday that headlines from India and Australia highlighted Nigerian X users, stating that first responders failed to assist Joshua and depicting the situation as typical of a “failed state.”
“Instead of de-marketing Nigeria, why don’t you and I wait for the full details of what occurred to our beloved boxing champion before making dramatic and damaging statements whose veracity we cannot be sure of?” he asked.
“You were not at the scene of the accident. You are relying on videos you see online. You don’t know the full details.
“But your first instincts are to attack Nigeria and paint the worst possible picture to the outside world, and now headlines from as far away as India and Australia are quoting Nigerian X users and lampooning Nigeria and saying that no first responders came to Mr. Joshua’s rescue and that the whole scene was emblematic of a failed state.
“Just turn on your international news channels and see the horrible things they are saying about Nigeria right now and quoting Nigerian X users!”
He stated that eyewitnesses at the incident began assisting Joshua within the first two minutes, before professional first responders arrived.
According to Omokri, Joshua was already near to a hospital when an ambulance arrived, which took minutes rather than an hour as commonly claimed online.
He went on to say that the two people killed in the accident were foreign nationals who experienced instant trauma as a result of the collision, not because of emergency personnel’s incompetence.
“How is that the fault of emergency response personnel? I see no blame for Nigeria in this! But I will still wait for the full official statement,” he said, urging Nigerians to exercise patience before passing judgment.
Omokri compared the situation to international examples, adding that emergency personnel frequently take several minutes to arrive at accident scenes, even in industrialized countries.
He referenced Princess Diana’s death in Paris, where it took 101 minutes to get her to the hospital, and a similar delay in a Spanish football tragedy involving Diogo Jota.
“Please be patriotic and wait for an official statement before hastily crucifying Nigeria,” he said, urging the public not to repeat past mistakes in misrepresenting emergency response operations.
