As a well-groomed in the field of Statistics, I took my time to do my research on what led to the sudden growth of our GPD which portrays us as Africa’s largest economy and the 26th world’s largest economy.
According to the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Kunle Kalejaiye, our GDP was improved due to the upgrading of our base year from 1990 to 2010. He further backed his analysis on certain sectors of the economy like Telecommunications, ICT and others that made them to upgrade the base year because of the non-existence of the sectors in 1990.
As far as I agree with the data, one can only deduce that the growth in the GDP is on nominal growth not real GDP. The GDP is the market value of the goods and services produced in a country within a given period. It is an important indicator to measure the growth of the economy. While there is a difference between growth and development in an economy, it will be very important to note that we are only experiencing growth in the figures without substantial improvement in the key-sectors that reflect in the standard of living of the entire populace.
Why are we seeing figures on papers every day without physical reflection in our economy? If adequate steps can be taken to gear up the recent growth of GDP by providing adequate infrastructure, employment opportunities, stable power supply and security of lives and property, the common man will begin to smell the improvement in the economy. I want Nigerians to know without being misinformed that we only supersede South-Africa in terms of nominal GDP growth as a result of the current base year we are adopting but South-Africa is not our match when we are talking on real GDP and the level of standard of living/per capita income which the common man on the street can feel.
Nigerians are tired of hearing figures that don’t impact positively in their lives. Rather, there is a need for the economic team to design a robust policy that will better the lives of Nigerians rather than mere figures without development.
Ismael Taiwo A.,
Ibadan
