A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has criticised Nigerians on social media for what he described as a rush to “de-market” the country following the road accident involving British-Nigerian boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, in Ogun State.
Joshua escaped with injuries in the fatal crash on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway on Monday morning. However, unverified claims circulating on social media, alleging a lack of emergency response, have sparked international headlines portraying Nigeria in a negative light.
In a statement posted on X on Monday, Omokri said Nigerians were quick to draw damaging conclusions without waiting for official details, warning that such reactions had attracted unflattering global attention.
“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.
Omokri noted that headlines from countries as far away as India and Australia had quoted Nigerian social media users, alleging that no first responders came to Joshua’s aid and describing the accident scene as evidence of a “failed state.”
“You were not at the scene of the accident. You are relying on videos you see online. You don’t know the full details,” he said. “Yet your first instinct is to attack Nigeria and paint the worst possible picture to the outside world.”
According to Omokri, eyewitnesses at the scene immediately began assisting Joshua within the first two minutes of the crash, even before professional emergency responders arrived. He said that before an ambulance could get to the scene, Joshua was already close to a hospital, contrary to claims online that he was left unattended for an hour.
He also clarified that the two individuals who died in the accident were foreign nationals who sustained fatal injuries from the impact itself, not due to any failure by emergency services.
“How is that the fault of emergency response personnel? I see no blame for Nigeria in this,” Omokri said, while adding that he would still await an official statement on the incident.
The former aide urged Nigerians to exercise restraint and patriotism, noting that emergency response delays also occur in developed countries. He cited the death of Princess Diana in Paris, where it took over an hour to transport her to hospital, as well as a similar incident involving a Spanish footballer.
“Please be patriotic and wait for an official statement before hastily crucifying Nigeria,” he appealed, warning against repeating past mistakes of misrepresenting national institutions based on incomplete information.
