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10 Nigerian states have bigger GDPs than some African nations —Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called for increased engagement with the international community in order to change the narratives about Nigeria.
Osinbajo, according to a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, made the call when a group of Harvard Business School students visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
The students, who were visiting some African countries, spoke with the vice president about leadership, religion, spirituality as well as government policy on education, health, economy, and public perception.
Osinbajo, who responded to questions on the negative reports about Nigeria in the international community, said: “It is vital to constantly engage the foreign community to show them how we feel about the stereotypes.
“It comes down to the work we do as government and people about the characterisation. This is why some of the work around the Ease of Doing Business and others are all initiatives that have behind them, the whole idea that this environment is one that is welcoming to business and people can come and do business.”
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He insisted that news coming out of Nigeria did not really reflect the true situation of things in the country.
The vice president argued that it was inappropriate to compare the economic reality in Nigeria with other smaller African nations.
He added: “First, there is a need to appreciate the size of the country, which is crucial to understanding what the issues are.
“For instance, Borno State is about the size of the whole of the United Kingdom plus Sweden or Denmark. So, when it is reported that there is violence in Nigeria, it is probably an incident in one remote area of the country, and many people in Abuja and Lagos may hear about it on social media, such is the size of this country.
“When they talk about the economy, we are often compared with smaller African countries, but there are 10 states in Nigeria that have bigger Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) than those countries. It is a huge target market.”
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