The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Wednesday faulted the Federal Government for celebrating Nigeria’s reported GDP growth, describing it as a disconnect from the harsh economic realities facing ordinary citizens.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, that “people do not eat GDP,” insisting that economic growth is meaningless if it does not translate into lower food prices, job creation, stronger purchasing power and improved living conditions.
The ADC stated that millions of Nigerians remain trapped in hunger, inflation, unemployment, and rising business costs despite government claims of economic progress, adding that “growth that only exists in official reports while citizens descend deeper into hardship is not meaningful progress.”
The ADC called on the government to stop “celebrating statistics” and focus instead on policies that directly improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
The statement reads, “The ADC rejects the Federal Government’s attempt to use headline GDP figures to whitewash the deep economic suffering Nigerians are currently enduring across the country.
“No government should be celebrating economic statistics while millions of its citizens are battling hunger, poverty, collapsing purchasing power, and rising hopelessness.
“The reality of the Nigerian economy is not what is written in government presentations. The reality is what Nigerians confront every day in markets, on farms, in factories, in shops, and in their homes.
“Food prices are unbearable. Transportation costs have become punitive. Small businesses are shutting down daily under the crushing weight of inflation, energy costs, and weak consumer demand.
“Salaries have lost value. Families who once lived modestly are now struggling to survive. Yet this government wants Nigerians to applaud GDP growth figures. People do not eat GDP.
“Economic growth that does not reduce suffering, create jobs, improve incomes, or restore dignity to citizens is empty growth. Growth that only exists in official reports while citizens descend deeper into hardship is not meaningful progress. It is economic abstraction disconnected from human reality.
“The purpose of governance is not to manage public relations for economic statistics. The purpose of governance is to improve the living conditions of the people. What exactly should Nigerians celebrate? The fact that food inflation continues to devastate households? That millions of young Nigerians remain unemployed or underemployed?
“That businesses are collapsing faster than new ones are emerging? That more citizens are slipping into poverty despite working harder than ever?
“A government that is serious about economic recovery would show humility, acknowledge the pain Nigerians are experiencing, and focus on delivering measurable improvements in living conditions instead of celebrating figures that have no meaning to hungry citizens.
“The ADC believes that the true test of economic policy is simple: Can Nigerians live better today than they did yesterday? For millions of Nigerians, the answer is no.
“Nigeria needs an economy that works for ordinary people, not an economy that only looks impressive in presentations to investors and international institutions. Until growth is felt in the homes of ordinary citizens, through affordable food, stable electricity, decent jobs, lower business costs, and improved purchasing power, this government has no moral basis to declare economic success.”
Friday Olokor
