A former bank director with the defunct Allied Bank of Nigeriahas faulted the economy management comparism between President Goodluck Jonathan and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari.
In what looks like an unbiased comparison of President Jonathan’s handling of the Nigerian economy and General Buhari’s handling of the same when the latter held sway as the Head of State, the former banker, Jerome Odita revealed that Jonathan is a far better economy manager who has penchant for growing the economy with passion.
According to the comparison, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was just $25.9 billion in 1985 when Buhari was in the saddle but in 2014,under President Jonathan, the same Nigerian economy was re-based and classified as the largest economy in Africa. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was a paltry $486,581,300 in 1985 under Buhari, but under Jonathan FDI stood at $7.03 billion in 2014, making Nigeria the preferred African destination for foreign investments.
Odita said currently, Nigeria’s key sectors are working better, causing the economy to record a growth average of seven per cent since 2010. Between 1984-85, when Buhari held sway, Nigeria’s economy was in deepening crisis of stagnation. Economists have warned that as Nigerian economy is doing well now it must remain in the hands of people who have proven track record of sound economy management.
