Average Nigerian can live on N3,000 daily — Reno Omokri

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Reno Omokri

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By Efe Onodjae

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Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Mexico, Reno Omokri, has said the average Nigerian can survive on N3,000 daily, arguing that poverty benchmarks should be considered within the economic context of individual countries.

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Omokri stated this on Sunday Politics, a television programme, while discussing the cost of living and international poverty standards.

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He said he had personally visited markets with a journalist, without security, to ascertain the prices of essential food items, including yam, rice, maize and fruits.

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According to him, his assessment showed that Nigerians could live on N3,000 a day, although the same amount would amount to poverty in the United States.

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He said: “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.

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“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.”

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Omokri further distinguished between the World Bank’s global poverty benchmark and the realities of living costs in Nigeria.

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He said the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s definition of poverty, which he described as living on less than $2 a day, was different from how poverty should be assessed within the Nigerian context.

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

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He added: “The World Bank is using a global benchmark. And they’ve always used it?”

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