There was no recession in the first place – Gbenga Daniel

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently released its 2nd quarter data for the year 2017 in which it said the nation’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) grew by some cumulative 0.55 percent.
This news was received by the expected mixed feelings occasioned with Buhari’s government. While it was a cheery news to the presidency, who responded by rushing to the press, giving themselves a pat in the back for a job well done, the critics were skeptical.
The latter argued that the increase is infinitesimal especially when it has no bearing on the market price of foods.
As usual, the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC, didn’t miss the beat as they used every opportunity of media space to praise the hard working Buhari’s administration for fulfilling campaign promise of rescuing the economy. It went ahead to add that the marginal GDP rise was a clear sign of its determination to better the lots of Nigerians.
However, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, insisted ‘there was nothing to celebrate especially as the NBS report still contained evidence of negative growth in key sectors of the economy added to skyrocketing food prices’.
According to former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel in a chat, he said there was no recession.
In his opinion, “It is my considered view that Nigeria has never been in a recession. Quite on the contrary, we have been prodigal. We have become used to managing wealth. We don’t know how to manage poverty.”
He claimed the country may be bleeding but only on paper as the facts pointed to man-made and aftermath of 2015 elections.
He insisted that rather than spending to oil the productive sectors of the economy, which would have immediate impact on the people, we have been largely engaged in capital flight.
According to the former governor, “the traditional economists’ proposal that you spend your way out of recession is right but you must be vigilant to know what you are spending on.
“When you borrow money from China, award the contract to Chinese companies and more than half of the workforce come from China, you have surely repatriated a huge chunk of the borrowed fund back to the creditor country, while you remained saddled with the burden of paying back the loan in years to come.
“When President Donald Trump shouted America First! America First!! He knew what he was saying. The story is that America’s money must largely stay in America. When after sharing the ‘loot’ in Abuja, two-thirds of the money is deployed to service health and educational tourism in Ghana, South Africa, Egypt and the Western countries. A huge chunk is further deployed to import trivial items like toothpicks special sharp sand and banana!”
From his submission, the development and patronage of local manufacturers and national adoption of brands are the only way out of the incessant economy woes the country has to always confront.