How Amaechi and Buhari Induced Nigeria's Recession By Reno Omokri

This has been a most interesting week for me. As many of my readers may have become aware, the minister of transport, Rotimi Amaechi, gave an interview to some select papers (ThisDay thankfully not included) and repeated the lie that former President Jonathan pilfered $49.8 billion from the national treasury and that is the reason why Nigeria has a recession.

Well I responded to his untruths with facts, figures and dates, but rather than take me up on the issues, Mr. Amaechi took me to the cleaners in an ad hominem attack that did not address the facts in issue. Well, writing is my strength and Rotimi Amaechi with all his bluster is not very strong in this area and my responses to him obviously taught him a thing or two as he has not yet recovered enough to launch another salvo at me.

THE 4TH QUARTER 2016 NIGERIAN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT REPORT ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON ECONOMIC MATTERS, DR. ADEYEMI DIPEOLU, ON THE 4TH QUARTER 2016 NIGERIAN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT REPORT ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS

President Buhari

The recently released data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by -1.30% in the fourth quarter of 2016. This translated into an estimated growth rate of -1.51% for the full year 2016. These figures reflect the slow-down in the economy for most of 2016 but also show that the recession may have bottomed out because of an improving trend in several key sectors.

Although the oil sector declined by -12.38% on a year on year basis, this was a relative improvement compared to the third quarter when the decline amounted to -22.01%. This outcome was due mainly to increases in production such that the quarter on quarter growth for the oil sector between the third and fourth quarters was 8.07%. The non-oil sector however declined by 0.33% after showing some resilience in the third quarter when it grew by 0.03% at the height of the recession.

NAVIGATING THE SEASON OF DISCONTENT: THE URGENCY OF POLITICAL ORGANISATION AND PURPOSEFUL MASS ACTION - JAYE GASKIA

It is no longer news that the Nigeria economy went into and stayed firmly put in recession during 2016 with 4 consecutive quarterly negative GDP growths.

However, this dive into free fall did not start in 2016. From about 2010 onwards the economy has been declining, with annual GDP growth declining from an average of about 5% to about 1% in 2015, before dropping precipitately into negative region at the beginning of 2016.

So whereas it is true that the economy contracted in 2016, the decline and shrinking of the economy began long before that.

So why was it necessary to recount the foregoing as a way of introducing the subject of mass popular discontent, and the coming a period that can be and will become described as a season of discontent?
It is necessary because it is important to underpin the fact that any serious person and or political party aspiring to govern this country or any other country for that matter ought to be able to understand, identify and analyse the trends in the overall development trajectory of the country and people over which it wants to superintend before ever even going to seek for the active consent of the people to govern.

BREAKING: South Africa dodges recession, posts 0.6% growth in last quarter