Of bigger economy and leaner citizens

Fifty-four years after independence, the majority of the citizens are not better off despite a huge leap in the size of the economy, EVEREST AMAEFULE writes

It was a Sunday. There was an important gathering in the nation’s capital. It was not a Christian worship service, but those who manage the economy had gathered to break a cheering piece of news. That Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, had an important announcement to make to the world.

Specifically, on April 6, 2014, Kale announced to the world the result of the rebasing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product; a process that was carried out by independent consultants with support from the World Bank.

He announced that the nation’s GDP stood at $510bn (later adjusted to $522bn). By that statistical exercise, Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa. The nearest economy by size was South Africa’s, which stood at $350.6bn.

Cont'd at The Punch...