Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga has chided former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his supporters over their stances on the nation’s economy.
Onanuga said this in a post on Tuesday, March 19, while reacting to a policy document titled, “In defence of the Nigerian economy” published by the Chief Niyi Akinsiju-led Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI).
On March 2, Obi blamed the economic policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government for the huge 2023 financial losses announced by Nestle Nigeria and MTN Nigeria.
Obi said, “These business losses, and in some cases, closures and exit of local and foreign businesses are obviously a result of our worsening business environment”.
However, the IMPI said, “We have observed with dismay the seeming congenital amplification of the numbers of companies that had shut down operations in Nigeria or relocated out of the country by corporate sector advocacy groups and the opposition.
“This is noticeably done with derision as they make to cast the country in the frame of a hostile business environment with low scores on business enablement.
“By our estimation, the corporate advocacy groups do this as a strategy to compel the government to take a course of policy action or to reverse itself on a policy position.
“For the politicians, the mockery of the business environment is to deliberately erode the standing and substance of the incumbent administration in the minds of the larger public.”
The IMPI said it was disingenuous to highlight the number of business closures without considering those that had been birthed during the same period.
“Compared to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria’s announcement of 767 companies shut down in 2023, an apparent public revelation to serve as a depression trigger for the country, people and government, the Small Business advocacy group in the United Kingdom frames the 345,000 business closures in that country as: “More businesses closing down than starting up for the first time in 12 years.”
“This, by our consideration, is an objective rendition of data. It is obvious that the 767 companies shut down in Nigeria do not in any way come close to the 345,000 closures recorded in the United Kingdom in that same period. Neither can the number be compared to the 460,000 companies that shut down every quarter, that is every three months, in China or the 10,655 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) shut down in 2022-2023 in India.
“As routinely rendered, we are further informed by the Indian data that there were over 11,000 new firms started for every one of the 175 shutdowns in 2022.
“Against this background, we require, for instance that while so much dust was raised over the exit of giant drug makers like GSK Plc and Sanofi, among others, the data should have also included statistics circulated by the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) which indicated that 105 applications for the construction of drug manufacturing facilities have been approved across the country and that 35 percent of the approved applications have completed construction.
“This is inclusive of the fact that over 20 newly registered local drug manufacturers have cumulatively invested over $2 billion in the erection and completion of WHO-compliant facilities that manufacture quality pharmaceuticals and essential medicines for Nigerians,” the policy document read in part.
Referencing the document, Onanuga said, “Peter Obi and his horde of naysayers should read this report about the Nigerian economy. It’s not all gloom and doom as they make their followers to believe. There are many bright spots as reported by the Independent Media and Policy Initiative in this policy document