Nigeria’s economic growth only on paper – Buhari

Buhari made the remark at the Chatham House, London yesterday while speaking on the topic “Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition.”He said “the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief.”Buhari said though Nigeria’s economy grew to become the biggest in Africa, “but it is more […]

Buhari made the remark at the Chatham House, London yesterday while speaking on the topic “Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition.”
He said “the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief.”
Buhari said though Nigeria’s economy grew to become the biggest in Africa, “but it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity.”
He said the economic growth refused to answer three fundamental questions, what is happening to poverty? What is happening to unemployment? And what is happening to inequality?”
Buhari said President Goodluck Jonathan administration has created two economies in one country, one economy for a few who have so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery.
He said even by official figures, 33.1 percent of Nigerians live in extreme poverty, which is almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom.
The presidential candidate said due to the bogus economic growth, “it is not surprising that our performance on most governance and development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance and UNDP’s Human Development Index.) are unflattering.”
The 72-year-old also said that concerns about his health were unfounded and that he was as “fit as a fiddle.
“I am fit. My doctors have declared me fit. I am going back home for the final phase of the campaign to win the elections,” he said.
Speaking on his antecedent as a military ruler, Buhari said he can’t change the past but would certainly change the present and the future.
“Permit me to close this discussion on a personal note. I have heard and read references to me as a former dictator in many respected British newspapers including the well regarded Economist,” he said.
“Let me say without sounding defensive that dictatorship goes with military rule, though some might be less dictatorial than others. I take responsibility for whatever happened under my watch,” the APC flag bearer said.