It is easier to ignore essays like this, then some honest people, even scholars may mistake that for consent.
This is the typical garbage that is published in Nigerian dailies, fiction hoping to pass for facts.
Is it not counter-intuitive for anyone that dismisses a report he was yet to read to lay claim to being highly informed? Even the lizard in Achebe's stories are more self-effacing.
Don't mind me, if you are a professional journalist in Nigeria, and of the breed that is highly informed, skepticism (or even cynicism) would be your first reaction to any announcement from the establishment that has to do with ambitious developmental issue. Thus, I initially dismissed the report as a creative financial engineering from the officialdom; a kind of statistical manipulation you would expect from the Squealer, the official propagandist of Comrade Napoleon in George Orwell's famous novel - "Animal Farm".
Rather tawdry attempt at self-deprecation. On what pedestal is this skepticism or even cynicism constructed? Can you cite a single instance that the office of the statistician-general ever willfully misled the country or we should just trust your sense of judgment even as we trust our clerics?
Exponential growth in GDP is, frankly speaking, empirically tenable for a nation that had forgotten, refused, failed or neglected to rebase her GDP components for 23 years, a ritual which others serious nations undertake every three years.
It would be nice to know the serious (sic) countries that re-assess the basis for theirs every 3 years, not forgetting that being a piece for mass education, you should have taken time to be clear that Nigeria's GDP did not grow, rather it was more accurately measured, a great analogy being getting a more reliable scale to replace a bad/wrong machine while working a weight-loss regimen.
Even then, the pertinent question inevitably arises. What is the qualitative significance of this largest economy on the continent title?
Pertinent and inevitable to who; you playing opposition politics in the name of journalism or those that understand what the process is about? Who cares about what your un-informed interpretation of the significance of an economic exercise that you clearly need more schooling on than teaching? When has it become wrong to have more accurate data, even if you are going to use same to commit crime, must everything boil down to wrong-headed politics in Nigeria?
If the more pragmatic index of capital rating is used, Nigeria would rank among the lowest even in Africa, we would plunge to 121st in the world.
Fascinating how we work ourselves into a twist just to score a phantom point. Who is about ranking here, you or some imaginary Okonjo-Iweala who you would like to present as red meat to your parochial readership or the statistician-general, Yemi Kale? Ok, the later, who actually supervised the job and is accountable for the integrity of the numbers will not excite the Save Nigeria e-mob group. Tell us another story.
Are the South Africans the ones trooping to Nigeria in search of greener pasture or are the Nigerians ones trooping to South Africa in search of even the menial jobs? If we have so much income from productive efforts of Nigerians why are the masses languishing in wanton penury?
Nigeria has overtaken South Africa - have we overtaken her in terms of modern infrastructure? What about employment opportunities for the citizenry? I am yet to read of any scores of South Africans dying from a stampede caused by hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates in the course of writing recruitment examinations!Sub South Africa with Germany or Sweden, or Norway, or Japan, in the paragraph above, and Nigeria with China, then re-read the foregoing to realize just how vacuous an argument can be. Has China's standard of living surpassed all the economies her GDP has overtaken in the last 25 years. Again, some people should be barred from speaking in public, even to themselves in the shower, yes it is that bad. There is a song out there for those that constitute a hazard to themselves, it is called Don't Let Me Get Me by Pink - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asaCQOZpqUQ, you do certainly need a reality-check
The report says the economy of the nation has been growing since 1990 when the last economic indicators were assessed, but from then till now all indices of socio-economic development are still keep pointing to the negative!
The agricultural sector, wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation, real estate, business services, and construction are all still in the doldrums, but the economic keeps expanding!
The agricultural sector, wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation, real estate, business services, and construction are all still in the doldrums, but the economic keeps expanding!
It just gets worse. Have you read that the low-inflation figure of the last year or so has largely been due to significantly higher agricultural productivity which has held down food prices. While pork price in the US jumped by about 50% in the first quarter of this year, it has actually dropped in Nigeria. Wholesale and retail trade in Nigeria have been in the doldrums since 1990? Real estate and financial intermediation in Nigeria have since 1990 been in the doldrums? So much for intelligent commentary.
The American will tell you to go get a life and stop smoking whatever you have been cos it ain't good for you.
The only thing worse than what you just put out here in the name of commentary is what you just put out here in the name of commentary.
Okwy Okeke
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We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
We face forward,...we face neither East or West: we face forward.......Kwame Nkrumah
From: Kayode Ketefe <kketefe@yahoo.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2014, 19:26
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Nigeria: Largest economy, smallest development indices
Nigeria: Largest economy, smallest development indices
KAYODE KETEFE
The first moment I heard and digested the news about Nigeria leapfrogging South Africa to emerge, rather unprecedentedly, the largest economy in Africa, my face somehow worked itself into a dismissive mirthless grin. Don't mind me, if you are a professional journalist in Nigeria, and of the breed that is highly informed, skepticism (or even cynicism) would be your first reaction to any announcement from the establishment that has to do with ambitious developmental issue. Thus, I initially dismissed the report as a creative financial engineering from the officialdom; a kind of statistical manipulation you would expect from the Squealer, the official propagandist of Comrade Napoleon in George Orwell's famous novel - "Animal Farm".
However when I began to analyse the contents of the report, some modicum of credibility began to override the skepticism. If truly Nigerian had last appraised the underlying fundamentals of her Gross Domestic Product in 1990, and a rebase was only done in 2013 to elicit the present estimates, then it is natural to expect some phenomenal growth. Exponential growth in GDP is, frankly speaking, empirically tenable for a nation that had forgotten, refused, failed or neglected to rebase her GDP components for 23 years, a ritual which others serious nations undertake every three years.
So with the growth in the telecoms sector and Nollywood (among others) which were remarkably underdeveloped and virtually unknown in 1990, Nigeria's GDP has grown for the year 2013 to $509.9bn in contrast to South Africa which had a GDP of $370.3bn at the end of 2013. "Nigeria has moved to be the largest economy by GDP size in Africa and has moved to be the 26th largest economy in the world," enthused the Finance Minister and the former World Bank Managing Director, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the widely publicised report.
Even then, the pertinent question inevitably arises. What is the qualitative significance of this largest economy on the continent title? If the more pragmatic index of capital rating is used, Nigeria would rank among the lowest even in Africa, we would plunge to 121st in the world.
What does it profit a nation which gains the largest continental economy status and lose the prestige in per capital rating? Oh yes we have outstripped South Africa in having a larger GDP figures but do we have the infrastructure and amenities that makes the South African economic dynamic? Are the South Africans the ones trooping to Nigeria in search of greener pasture or are the Nigerians ones trooping to South Africa in search of even the menial jobs? If we have so much income from productive efforts of Nigerians why are the masses languishing in wanton penury?
Nigeria has overtaken South Africa - have we overtaken her in terms of modern infrastructure? What about employment opportunities for the citizenry? I am yet to read of any scores of South Africans dying from a stampede caused by hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates in the course of writing recruitment examinations! Why are we not able to generate even a quarter of the South Africa's megawatts of electricity?
While it detracts a lot from our vaunted largest economy status that it does not translate to auspicious per capital for Nigerians, it should be noted that even the per capital rating itself does not even tell the true story for it is based on the assumption of equitable distribution of the wealth among the population. But a child of five knows that Nigeria is one of the most inequitable countries in the world in terms of wealth distribution as 85 percent of the country's wealth is concentrated in only ten percent of the population. What this means in practical terms is that Nigeria is still one of the poorest countries in the world. This validates a recent report of the World Bank which places the nation among the poorest of the earth.
What the Nigerians really want is authentic advancement in their standards of living and not the bragging right of having the biggest economy on the continent. The report says the economy of the nation has been growing since 1990 when the last economic indicators were assessed, but from then till now all indices of socio-economic development are still keep pointing to the negative!
The agricultural sector, wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation, real estate, business services, and construction are all still in the doldrums, but the economic keeps expanding! An average Nigerian citizen does not have access to the basic things of life like accommodation, health care and even food! Infant mortality still stands ominously at 78 per 1000 live births while life expectancy stands at a meager 50 years! Where does largest economy come in all these?
Well, if we can have largest economy with millions of qualified youths still unemployed; hundreds of firms either closed down or operating at suboptimal level and most infrastructure at under-developed level, only God know where we would be if we have had good leaders! This largest economy status certainly calls for serious soul-searching and not unwitting celebration.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
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