By Clem Khena-Ogbena
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure is not for the common man and is of no use to the common man in the country, managing director and chief executive officer, Global Analytics Limited, Mr. Tope Fasua, has said.
Fasua, who said this during an exclusive interview with PEOPLES DAILY, at the weekend, in Abuja, also stated, however, that GDP could only be useful to people running the government and big banks in the country as well as foreigners willing to lend money to Nigeria.
He pointed out that the recent re-basing of the nation’s GDP was, rather belated, saying that for it to have taken the country about 25 years to re-base was a minus and also an indication that wrong figures
had, hitherto, been tinkered with.
Fasua, who is both an economist and entrepreneur, further maintained that it was not a big deal that Nigeria had re-based its GDP, because, according to him, it was just a normal thing for a country to re-base its GDP.
He stated: “I think there is nothing wrong if the country re-based its GDP. In fact, some other countries have a situation where the GDP constantly re-bases itself and they put parameters in place for the
GDP to constantly take the right value of good and sevices , the correct market value of goods and services, and also to incorporate new sectors or changes, marked changes in sectors that need to be
incorporated inside the GDP figures.
“So, it is not a big deal; I personally think that for me, the issue of re-basing is just that the National Bureau of Statistics is doing its job, and I think it is the only organisation fitted properly to do that job. Therefore, it is difficult if not wrong for any entity or person to criticise that organisation doing its job.
“In fact, what they should be saying is why it had taken the country 25 years or so or 24 years for us to do the right thing. Is it that we were working on wrong figures for 25 years? This takes us also to
another issue of what do you do with GDP figure? “At this junction, I probably say GDP figure is not for the common man; it is not useful to the common man. It is of use to people running the government; it is of use to the large banks that want to do deals with foreigners, and it is of use to foreigners who want to lend money to Nigeria.”
Until recently, the last time Nigeria rebased its GDP was 1990.
