In the past few days, Nigeria was agog with the news that the country is fi nally out of recession as announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and according to the report, the manufacturing industry and agriculture was a major contributor that triggered the exit of Nigeria from recession. Agriculture recorded a stronger positive growth of 3.01 percent while manufacturing grew for the second consecutive quarter in 2017 and was positioned at 0.64 per cent compared to 1.36 per cent recorded in the fi rst quarter of 2017 to -1.62 per cent in the second quarter.
NBS stated that the exit could be linked to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s policies on resuscitating the agricultural sector as well as encouraging local production and cultivation of crops. Nigerians who are at the receiving end of any policy and programme of the government have received the news of Nigeria’s exit from recession with mixed reaction as majority on the streets still believe coming out of recession is just on the pages of newspapers and on the screen of television as no impact has been felt yet considering cash crunch, exorbitant prices of goods and services as well as inadequate job opportunities for the teeming Nigerian graduates.
Th e presidency in line with this also said President Buhari will not jubilate yet until Nigerians can aff ord to buy food items. As such the argument here is that since statistics has shown that Nigeria is out of recession, how does a How exit from recession can be felt common man on the street feel such impact? First, the agricultural sector of the country must be kept moving as suggested by fi nancial analysts and economists.
Th is can be achieved through increased budgetary allocation to the sector. Agricultural loans to farmers across the 36 states of the country should be sustained and improved. To sustain and encourage local production, lending rate and procedures of obtaining loans should be fl exible and not excluding interest attached. Second, the youths which are expected to be the driving force of any economy must not be left behind. Th e federal government’s eff orts in youth empowerment programmes such as the Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) by the Bank of Industry (BOI) as well as the NPower are commendable. However, these need to be more viable and accessible so that so that they can stimulate growth and development. Another important factor for the impact of recession to be felt is for government to expand the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and make them more functional by providing soft loans and conducive atmosphere for these businesses to thrive. Now that Nigeria is out of recession, it all bowls down to the common man on the street to feel the impact through improved living conditions which government is on course to achieve. Philip Shimnom Clement, [email protected]
