Ranking Nigeria as the sixth miserable country in the world in 2018 is fallacious, despicable and of no consequence whatsoever.
Dismissing this ranking in a press statement in Abuja yesterday, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) said the ranking is not a true reflection of the situation on the ground in this country, and data for the survey must have been collated from old, archaic sources.
BMO said in the statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke that Steve Hanke and other individuals behind the index did not take into proper account recent innovation introduced by the Buhari-led Federal government into governance before arriving at their position.
“A cursory look at the explanatory note by Steve Hanke in the Forbes Magazine in which he revealed that the index was calculated using economic indices like unemployment, inflation and interest rates banks charge on loans, show how wrong his conclusion was.
“The index is said to be that of 2018 but the country recorded a number of positives in the same year on the economic front. It was the year that Nigeria had a major decline in inflation figure so much so that the rate is now 11.37 per cent. It was the culmination of a landmark 18-month consecutive decline to a level that is one of the lowest in Africa.
“We also know that a lower inflation rate has a way of impacting positively on banks’ lending rates and that’s exactly what has happened with the recent reduction in Monetary Policy Rate, yet the index scored Nigeria lower than some countries ravaged by war!”
BMO, insisting that the misery index is neither a true nor accurate reflection of the situation on ground in the country, added: “The authors of the index claimed they pinned their rating of Nigeria largely on the employment figure and while we concede that the number in the public domain has not been flattering, we are convinced that it is not a fair reflection of the job situation.
“Nigeria’s unemployment data put together by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are not known to cover jobs created in the informal sector and this is an area that the Buhari administration has excelled in the last three and half years.
“Aside from the rice revolution that has created about 12 million new farmers in recent years, the Buhari administration has introduced one of the continent’s largest social welfare schemes that has impacted the lives of millions of farmers and traders through Farmer Moni and Trader Moni respectively.
“About nine million jobs have been created by the Home Grown Feeding Programme across the country. These are not figures plucked out of the air. They are real people reaping the benefits of initiatives that were hitherto unknown in the country,” it said.
“Inspite of what opposition elements and their supporters would want less discerning Nigerians to believe, the economy has continued to show signs of recovery from the 2016 recession. GDP growth rate in 2018 was 1.93 per cent up from 0.8 per cent in 2017. It has now been projected to rise to 3 per cent in 2019.
BMO also noted that it was not surprised that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) latched on the misery index to again take potshots at the Buhari administration so soon after local media published it.
“Although we at BMO were not surprised, we were certainly amused to see yet another thoughtless statement from the party that is yet to come to terms with its overwhelming rejection by Nigerians.
“We know that in its quest to remain on the front pages, PDP and its leaders are prepared to celebrate and solicit response to any news item that has the slightest hint of negativity about Nigeria.
“But there is no way their brusque style can erase the fact that President Buhari spent a large part of his first term in office cleaning up the mess that characterised 16 years of PDP misrule.”