Nigeria’s economy still fragile – Pat Utomi

Renowned political economist, Professor Pat Utomi, has advised the Federal Government to focus its attention more on job creation, and relating closely with the private sector in order to ensure that Nigeria remains out of recession.
He gave the advice while reacting to a statement credited to the National Bureau of Statistic, NBS, saying that Nigeria is out of recession.

The renowned economist maintained that despite the report by NBS, Nigeria’s economic situation is still fragile.
Speaking with Tribune, Utomi said, “It is a good thing that you don’t have the perception thing of being in a recession.
”The most important problems are that of job creation, and how do we take advantage of the fact that there is not the burden or perception of being in a recession to then begin to look at how to grow the economy more dynamically.
“The government can work with the private sector to spur growth.

“There are those who are concerned about the welfare of human beings who will focus on how does this translate into the quality of life that people live.
“There are people who do not like to make much than it deserves about statistical averages but ask whether this puts more food on the people and whether their life has changed for better.
“You can frustrate people who think that escaping a technical, statistical benchmark means everything is well.
“Clearly, I am encouraged by the new implementation teams put together by the government.

“We have a group of smarter, younger, senior special assistants to the president that have been appointed to look at implementation of policies.
“This is more important than whether metrics have moved in one way or the other.”