Kilimanjaro Climb: Nigeria now tourist destination in Africa – Reno

2026-03-07 - 12:17

...dedicated ambassadorship posting to Nigeria and Tinubu Nigerian ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador Reno Omokri has said that Nigeria is now the tourist destination in Africa. Ambassador Omokri has also urged foreign investors to come to Nigeria with their money because, not only is Nigeria safe for them but also that the country is economically prosperous and they will surely get value visiting the country. This is following his current mission to climb the tallest mountain in Africa, the Mountain Kilimanjaro, to hoist the Nigeria flag. According to him, the essence of the climb is to present facts and figures to counter what he described as the recent propaganda against Nigeria that seem to portray the country as being insecure. Meanwhile, ambassador Omokri has dedicated his posting to the United Mexican State to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as well as to Nigerians, pledging his loyalty and dedication to duty to Nigeria and Nigerians. In his acceptance speech as well as marking his start of the mountain Kilimanjaro climb, ambassador Omokri said that just last year, 2025, “Nigeria had the largest touristic invent in Africa -Dirty December.” According to him, 1.2 million tourists visited Nigeria for Dirty December and not a single one of them encountered any form of insecurity. He said thus: “This is day one of my mount Kilimanjaro climb and while I was here, I found out that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed me as the ambassador to the United Mexican State, otherwise known as Mexico. Mr President, I am very grateful and I thank you for this; I am overwhelmed with joy and I promise to be faithful, loyal and honest to Nigeria and to the custodian of the Nigerian constitution – you, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” On why he is climbing the mountain Kilimanjaro, ambassador Omokri said, “I am doing it because recently, there has been a lot of negative propaganda about Nigeria, especially about insecurity and I am going to tell you the truth about Nigeria using fact, using data and statistics. “Last year December, Nigeria had the single largest touristic invent in Africa, Dirty December! 1.2 million tourists visited Lagos, Nigeria and not one was robbed; not one was killed; no demestic incident. We also had a situation last year, we had Ojude Oba Festival and 200,000 tourists came to Nigeria – not one was robbed, not killed and no domestic incident. In February this year, we had the Argungun Fishing Festival. 50,000 farmers and 50,000 fishermen gathered in a place called Argungun in Kebbi state to play for 500,000 spectators and not one person was killed; not one person was robbed; no domestic incident.” “Nigeria is politically stable and economically prosperous and that’s why Nigeria is the only country in Africa where you have five former presidents and heads of state living in Nigeria with the incumbent peacefully and cooperating with him.” “So, I encourage you to come to Nigeria for your holidays and to come to pack your money in Nigeria. We’ve had 12 cycle of GDP growth, 12 cycle of trade surpluses and last year, our economy grew over 4%. This year, our economy is projected by the IMF and the World Bank to grow at 4.44%. last year, even though we had just 2% of the world’s population, Nigeria was responsible for the sixth largest GDP growth on earth. So, this is the country that you want to visit. We have the second largest manufacturing base in Africa. Only Egypt has a manufacturing base in Africa larger than us. “The difference between us and Egypt is just about 5 billion dollars and if you look at the rate of our economic growth, in about five years, we are going to overtake Egypt. So, I encourage you to come. Our Nigerian stock exchange is growing faster than any stock exchange anywhere in the world. Four years ago, the all share index of the Nigerian stock exchange was 27 trillion. Now, as I speak to you, it’s 123 trillion. Meaning that, if you had packed a million dollars in Nigeria five years ago, today, your million dollar would be five million dollars! So, this is a great country; a secure country; a prosperous country and a stable country,” he concluded.