Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, Mr Peter Obi, has decried Nigeria’s nosediving economy, claiming that under the watch of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s economy had declined by 50% in the past two years alone.
Obi who made the claims in a post on his X handle, accused the All Progressives Congress APC-led Federal Government of ruining Nigeria’s economy and setting the country on a reverse mode.
He wrote: “On May 29th, 2023, when this government was sworn into office, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at $364 billion. As of today, it has declined to $188 billion, a decline of almost fifty percent (50%).
“Nigeria’s GDP per capita was $1,640 as of May 2023, but today it has dropped drastically to about $835, a devastating decline of about 50%.
“Nigerians living in multi-dimensional poverty increased from 38.9% to 54% within this period, with about 129 million Nigerians now living below the poverty line. The World Bank reported recently, that 75% of Nigerians in the rural area now live in poverty as at 2025, and even more than previously recorded in the urban areas.
“Our education sector has deteriorated significantly. Today, more than 18.3 million Nigerian children are out of school, the highest number in the world. The quality of education in Nigeria is also fast deteriorating. Many of our children are being taught sciences without any science lab and computer studies without any computers. Students are now writing WAEC and other national exams in darkness relying on candles. There are now even glitches in their exams.
“Health services have worsened drastically. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency decried that less than 20% of over 30,000 Primary Healthcare Centers across the nation are fully functional.
“I have even recently visited some Health Centers where delivery rooms were without toilets. The United Nation recently reported Nigeria as the world’s worst country to give birth, with one death recorded every seven minutes.”
