BURDENED by debt, record level unemployment, rising inflation and a bare treasury, Nigeria’s future looked bleaker after emerging data revealed a bigger than predicted economic contraction in the second quarter of 2020. The report by the National Bureau of Statistics that the Gross Domestic Product contracted by -6.
But the Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime has still not got smarter with the economy. It has responded to the economic shocks by retreating into its default mode of denial.
The NBS had earlier reported a sharp rise in the jobless rate to 27.1 per cent, with combined youth unemployment and underemployment at 63 per cent. The estimated 13.1 million youth with no jobs is higher than the population of fast growing Rwanda. Inflation surged for the 11th straight month in July to 12.
Policies and success should be defined by the number of jobs created, how much money is put in the hands of consumers and the diversity of the productive activities, revenue and exports. Buhari needs to bow to the compelling logic of reaching for the low-hanging fruits: scientific reasoning should guide decisions, not politics or primordial interests.