President Bola Tinubu‘s latest attempt to tout Nigeria’s GDP growth as a “surge” is a laughable and delusional move, reminiscent of a desperate politician clinging to power. The latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the GDP grew by only 3.19% in the second quarter of the year 2024, which actually is not impressive at all. In fact, it’s a paltry achievement, especially when compared to the country’s potential.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, currently serving as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Nigeria’s two-time Finance Minister, has correctly pointed out the slow growth rate we are experiencing in our GDP. In order to address the poverty issue in Nigeria, its growth should be over 10%, but Tinubu, as always, has been trying to pass off this underlined performance as something admirable.
Indeed, since the APC came into power back in 2015, Nigeria’s economy has continued to be torn apart. The economic policies that it introduced have been so catastrophic that they saw this nation move down from being Africa’s biggest economy to fourth place. For instance, there has been a massive depreciation of the exchange rate; national debts have increased tremendously, while employment levels plus inflation remain at an all-time high.
Continuing with similar economy-killing policies like before is what Tinubu’s administration is doing, as seen in the recent interest rate increase to 26.25%, which indicates how disconnected the government has become from the realities of the lives of Nigerian business people and citizens. How can manufacturers or farmers be expected to expand their businesses when faced with such high borrowing costs?
The so-called GDP growth actually relies on Financial services within the service industry and oil industries. But there are real economy sectors like agriculture or manufacturing that can create jobs and fight poverty. They have remained stagnant due to the lack of action by the government.
The country needs a government that prioritizes its people over political expediency; otherwise, Nigerians will keep suffering under Tinubu’s administration.
