By Constance Okechuku
\nFollowing the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for 2013, which showed an 89 percent increase in the estimated size of our economy, I had tried to explain to a teenage neighbour what GDP is, and what it means for us all.\u00a0 I first told Adamu that GDP is the money value of the goods and services produced in the officially recognised sectors of a country\u2019s economy within a certain period, usually one year.\u00a0 Adamu looked at me as if I\u2019d just spoken Greek and then asked, \u201cWhat about the sectors that are not officially recognised?\u201d I knew then that I had a challenge to face.
\nWhat followed was thirty minutes or so of me explaining the little I know about GDP and Adamu always asking me more questions, until a light bulb flashed in my head and I said that GDP can also be seen as a \u2018General Development Picture\u2019 of a country.
\nThe idea of understanding GDP as a \u2018General Development Picture\u2019 is not a frivolous one.\u00a0 After all, GDP is often used as a factor in determining a country\u2019s standard of living.\u00a0 And that is why I can\u2019t agree with the so-called experts who have been jumping from one media platform to the other proclaiming that the rebased GDP figures would have no effect on the life of ordinary Nigerians.\u00a0 The truth runs much deeper than that because there is simply no way that the rebased GDP figures will not have a positive effect on all Nigerians, regardless of class or status.
\nIn real terms, GDP (or Gross Domestic Product to give it its proper name) measures productivity within an economy. And it is an established fact that productivity in any workplace is affected by morale, which is defined as an individual\u2019s \u201cpsychological well-being based upon a sense of confidence and usefulness and purpose.\u201d\u00a0 It is equally well-known that psychological well-being can be affected by good news or bad news.\u00a0 Good news is likely to raise a person\u2019s morale while bad news may do the opposite.\u00a0 As such, the fact that Nigeria\u2019s economy is now the largest in Africa is already a major morale-booster to Nigerians in all walks of life.
\nThe unwillingness by some people to ever concede that President Goodluck Jonathan is doing anything positive in the country may be behind the attempt to diminish the positive effects of the rebased GDP figures.\u00a0 But the reality is that the general development picture\u2014which my young neighbour Adamu said helped him to understand GDP\u2014is that things are getting better in Nigeria\u2019s economy.
\nIt is important to point out a few facts relating to the economy here lest they become lost in all the noise being made by some so-called experts who may seek to undermine the president\u2019s achievements in office.
\nIn the first instance, to encourage young Nigerians to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour\u2014rather than waiting to be employed by others\u2014the Jonathan government awarded business start-up grants of between 1 to 10 million naira to thousands of young Nigerians under the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) initiative.\u00a0 This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of youths being employed and empowered across the country through the SURE-P Programme.
\nIt is also worth mentioning that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, showed in a presentation at an interactive session with the private sector that the Jonathan-led administration created 1.6 million jobs in the year 2013 alone.
\nMeanwhile, on April 7, 2014, BusinessDay newspaper reported that \u201cthe Ministry for Trade and Investment did not issue a single licence for the importation of cement in 2013, which has traditionally been a huge drain on Nigeria\u2019s foreign exchange.\u201d In a story titled Breaking down Nigeria rebased $510 billion GDP, the newspaper also reported that: \u201cIn addition, the ministry has also designed the Nigerian Automobile Industry Development Plan to provide the environment for the orderly development of the sector.\u201d
\nThese are but just a few indicators of how the Nigerian economy is changing for the better and no so-called expert should try and convince Adamu and myself that the rebased GDP figures will have no positive effects on our lives.
\nPresident Jonathan himself, through a statement posted on his verified Facebook page, said: \u201cI am glad to report to you that Nigeria is officially the largest economy in Africa with a Gross Domestic Product of $510 billion which also places us as the 26th largest economy in the world. This feat is a collective achievement of all Nigerians particularly when you take into account the fact that our Per Capita Income had increased by over 60% from $1091 in 2009 to $1700 in 2013, prior to the rebasing.\u201d
\nAs I said to Adamu, with this general development picture which shows how Nigeria\u2019s place in the world economy has changed for the better under President Jonathan, it is wrong for any so-called expert to go on a media platform and say unpatriotic things about our country.\u00a0 Adamu still had one more question for me when I finished. He asked: \u201cWhen will they bring out the figures for the sectors that are not officially recognised?\u201d\u00a0 I told my young neighbour that I had no idea, but that it is an open secret that Nigeria\u2019s informal economy is almost as large as, if not larger, than the formal economy.\u00a0 Let the so-called experts reflect on the economic growth implications of that.<\/p>\n
Okechukwu contributed this piece from Abuja.<\/p>\n
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