But “Dem Say Na Lie”: Buhari’s ‘Foreign’ Endorsement Of Nigeria’s Economy Growth

There is something about this Jonathan
administration that you cannot fault. It is that everybody seems to agree
on the state of the Nigerian economy these days and the massive growth it has experienced
under the Jonathan
administration.

The “Dem Say Na Lie”
advertisement highlights the
main economic achievements of
the president which include the
rebasing exercise, our economic
diversification spearheaded in the agriculture sector by the
globally acclaimed Akinwumi
Adesina, ‘Forbes man of the
Year 2013’, something that has
seen Nigeria attract the largest
rice processing factory in Sub- Saharan Africa (Olam factory in
Nassarawa State), the foreign
direct investment in critical
sectors like power such as the $
1bn general electric power plant
in Calabar, and the revival of the manufacturing sector with Nissan
and Hyundai owning
manufacturing and assembly
plants in Nigeria, including our
very own Innoson factory in
Anambra with cars patronised by Jonathan’s government to
boost local production.

Yet, cynical citizens and the
ever-critical opposition will
always seek to ridicule and
condemn this as lies. While
showing the reality of these
achievements with proof, the ad attributes the value of a
credible voice who spoke highly
in such a way that could be
considered as an endorsement of
President Jonathan’s positioning
of Nigeria’s economy.

“Well, I appreciate very much
the opportunity to meet once
again with President Jonathan
and his delegation. Obviously,
Nigeria is one of the most
powerful and fastest-growing countries in the world. I think
that’s testified by the fact that
President Jonathan is going to
have the opportunity to ring the
bell at the New York Stock
Exchange. (Laughter.) I think it signifies how important Nigeria is
becoming in the global economy.”
– President Barack Obama (New
York – September 23, 2013) In other global forums it is
incredibly difficult to deny the
success of opposition candidate
Buhari (who denies this at home)
used the Chatham stage and
spoke highly of the Nigerian economy managed by Jonathan,
which has been the toast of the
world even following the IMF,
Goldman Sachs projections and
the current rating by CNN as the
third fastest growing economy in the world. Buhari said: “After the rebasing
exercise in April 2014, Nigeria
overtook South Africa as
Africa’s largest economy. Our
GDP is now valued at $510 billion
and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright
side, inflation has been kept at
single digit for a while and our
economy has grown at an
average of 7% for about a
decade.” – General Buhari (Chatham House, UK, February
27, 2015) The curious thing is why the
several statistics and figures
used at home and the various
unverified claims by his party on
corruption were not stated at
the Chatham event, even as they were quick to make such
claims on security. Our verdict is
that they simply do not exist
and are made up to confuse
Nigerians. And when you see
global analysts, institutions, global leaders and General Buhari
in front of his London crowd
saying the same thing, we can
agree that the Nigerian economy
is indeed working despite the
global oil price crises.
#Nekxfresh