Nigerians lament that recession is still with us

Nigerians have reacted to the news making the rounds that the country is out of recession. Speaking with encomium.ng in an opinion poll, they insist that the tale is all lies as most Nigerians are still feeding from hand to mouth…

Mr Akinosho

It is all a fallacy, when I cannot pay my house rent, my children’s school fees and eat well. I cannot afford to feed my children three times a day. I have not finished paying last term’s school fees not to talk of how to pay for this term. It is all lies, recession is still biting hard in the country.

Mr Samuel

On what basis? There is no sign to show that the country is out of recession. How? Most houses are vacant on my street, I know of three families who have relocated to the village because they couldn’t just cope with the standard of living.

Funke

It is not yet reflecting in the economy if it is true. Things are still very expensive in the market, it is only two items that I know have reduced in price – palm oil and groundnut oil. Our staple food is rice and it is still too expensive for the common man to afford.

There is no sign that the country is out of recession unless we want to deceive ourselves.

A couple of days back, news that the country is out of recession and that the Nigerian economy is growing strong were spread afield, as reported by a United Kingdom-based World Economics.

The organisation, which is dedicated to producing analysis, insight and data relating to questions of importance in understanding the world economy, said the development was reflected in the growth of its April Sales Managers’ Index, SMI, for Nigeria, which rose to 58.5 per cent from 56.7 per cent in March. According to a report on its website, the organisation said: “April Sales Managers’ Index, SMI, data suggests that the Nigerian economy is continuing to grow out of the recession which saw 10 months of consecutive contraction in 2016. “The Market Growth Index grew to 58.5 in April as the monthly Sales Growth Index ticked up to 56.7, its highest value since 2015 and representative of rapid growth. Price inflation for April, which is tracked by the Prices Charged Index, remained high at 58.7 – indicative of high levels of inflation. A slowing trend has, however, developed for the past nine months.”

– SHADE WESLEY METIBOGUN for encomium.ng