- Abati, a former Senior Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan, stated that Nigerians weren’t relying on statistics but on reality.
Dr. Reuben Abati, a veteran journalist, has said the position of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, on the state of Nigeria’s economy is markedly different from the reality of everyday Nigerians.
Abati, a former Senior Adviser on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan, stated that Nigerians weren’t relying on statistics but on reality.
Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday, visited President Bola Tinubu and, while addressing State House correspondents after the visit, commended Tinubu for working to stabilise Nigeria’s economy, saying reforms under his administration are heading in the right direction.
However, while sharing his opinion on Okonjo-Iweala’s comments on Friday during Arise Television’s Morning Show programme, Abati, who is also co-host of the show, said there is not enough productivity in the system, adding that Nigeria still rely on crude oil for revenue.
He said: “Now, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is Director General of the WTO for the second time, is an International diplomat. No one should expect that she will go to the president of Nigeria and tell him anything otherwise as an international diplomat.
“So when Minister Edun comes on the sidelines and says, Oh, we’re doing well. You know, the budget is doing well. We are, you know, paying attention to all regular payments and all that. That’s government talk. The emphasis is on growth, which Dr Okonjo-Iweala pointed out, how do we grow this economy? And the counterargument is, is there enough productivity in this economy to ensure growth?
“I’ve consistently said there is not enough productivity, and then we’re still a monocultural economy. The bulk of what we get is still from oil.
“But the point is that, you know, government needs new ideas to achieve that objective of growth that Dr Okonjo-Iweala pointed out. So it’s not enough to say we have stabilised the economy; you have stabilised the economy. That’s why the international diplomat was saying you have to provide social safety nets.
“There are people we see daily who are saying, they are groaning that there is hardship in the land, that they cannot survive under the same reforms that are working. The last common denominator is what the ordinary man thinks, how the ordinary man feels, and how the ordinary man survives when there is prosperity in your house.
“The point I’m making is that we just want a country where everybody is prosperous and safe. We are not relying on statistics, we are relying on reality, and there is that social safety net that everyone from Okonjo-Iweala to the IMF and World Bank ambassadors is talking about.”
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