Nigerians received GDP rebasing with criticisms and pessimism – Okonjo-Iweala

By Clem Khena-Ogbena

The Coordinating Minister of Economy and Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonji- Iweala said the rebased GDP has attracted criticisms and pessimistic remarks from members of the public.

She stated this at the weekend, at the Nigeria’s GDP Rebasing: Issues, Facts and Fiction, organised by Kukah Centre for Faith and Leadership, in Abuja, saying that the rebased GDP was carried out with a view to determining the size of the economy, and also know the area of loopholes in order to make the necessary amendment.

She stated, ‘’The result of the GDP shows that the service industry is growing from 26 per cent to 51percent,the agriculture sector has declined from 33percent to 21percent,and the Nollywood sector has improved over the years’’.

The Minister said the government was creating opportunities by which young people, who were enterpreneurs could be helped and women also trained, in order to be empowered, and not to be a liability to the society.

The country’s Statistician Genera, Dr Yemi Kale, stressed that most people did not understand the importance of data, adding that data enhanced decision -making exercise, as well as determined the level of growth of the economy. He debunked the rumour that the rebased GDP was done, because of the election that was coming up next year.

Bishop Mathew Kukah, whose organisation, the Kukah centre for Faith and Leadership, organised the event said even though we had attained independence for a long period of time, the citizen of Nigeria had lost confidence in the country. The Bishop stated that even though we were living in tough times, we should keep on having hope as a country, adding that the situation would change for the better.

The acting director of the centre, Barister Mike Utsaha, while speaking, noted that though the centre was young, it had organised programmes in the past, based on free speech, expanding frontier of dialogue among different religions. He added that this was the first time they would focus on policy development issue as it affected the whole country.