Former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has responded to Afrobeat star, Davido’s assertion that Nigeria’s economy is in “shambles,” offering a strong rebuttal and outlining reasons he believes the assessment is inaccurate.
In a recent interview on the foreign podcast The Big Homies House, Davido claimed that Nigeria’s economy is in a dire state.
Omokri, however, pointed out an apparent contradiction, highlighting that on the same day of Davido’s statement, Wizkid’s album Morayo achieved a remarkable 12.12 million streams on Spotify Nigeria.
On November 25, Omokri further countered Davido’s claim by referencing a Bloomberg report that detailed a $2.5 billion investment by JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer, in Nigeria.
Omokri emphasized that this major investment—marking JBS’s first expansion into Africa—was a clear sign of the global confidence in Nigeria’s economic potential.
The investment includes the establishment of poultry, beef, and pork plants, underscoring the country’s appeal to international investors despite challenges.
According to Omokri, “This news, coming at the time it did, stands in sharp contrast to the claim by a Nigerian entertainer that Nigeria’s ‘economy is in shambles’.
“The good news from Bloomberg is a pointer to the fact that pundits should be factual rather than emotional when talking about the economy. So I decided to help equip patriotic Nigerians with facts to show that their economy is headed in the right direction.”
Listing his reasons for believing Nigeria’s economy is not in shambles, he wrote: “At 35%, Nigeria currently has the highest return on investment (ROI) worldwide, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit published by The Economist Magazine.
“The two biggest and most credible rating agencies in the world, Fitch and S&P Global Ratings, upgraded Nigeria’s economy to a Stable B.
“Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.19% in the second quarter of 2024. This growth rate is higher than the 2.51% recorded in the second quarter of 2023 and higher than the first quarter of 2024 growth of 2.98%.”
He continued by adding that “due to a substantial increase in capital inflow, Nigeria’s foreign reserve hit a year-to-date high of $40 billion in November 2024.
“Nigeria earned ₦10.33 trillion in non-oil revenue for the first eight months of 2024. By August 2024, our non-oil revenue had already surpassed the year’s target by 43.4%.
“Net foreign exchange inflow onto Nigeria’s economy rose by 67.8% to $27.6 billion in the first half of 2024 from $16.44 billion in 2023, principally because the National Security Adviser blocked leakages, especially from Binance.”
Omokri also recounted: “Due to Nigeria’s new liberalised monetary and fiscal policy, which led to significant upgrades of our economy, American Express introduced its first ever business credit card in Nigeria, the O3 American Express Gold Business Card, thus expanding access to credit to Nigerian businesses.
“President Tinubu signed the 2023 Electricity Bill into Law to end federal monopoly in the power sector and empower states and the private sector to generate, distribute and transmit power. Due to this law, the private net worth of entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s power sector, such as Mr. Adedeji Adeleke, grew by a conservative estimate of a collective $1.8 billion.
“Due to the upgrade of Nigeria’s economy by Fitch and Standard and Poor, Meta (Facebook) introduced monetisation for Nigerian content creators in June of 2024.
“The Nigeria Customs Service broke its daily revenue record with Area 11, Command Onne, raking in ₦22 billion daily, while the Apapa Command hit ₦2 Trillion in revenue by October of 2024.”
Omokri believes that it is evident from the above that Nigeria’s economy is far from being chaotic.
He noted: “As Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, remarked during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the global community is starting to recognise the positive impact of Nigeria’s reforms.
“Georgieva praised these reforms as ‘decisive,’ noting their role in ‘fostering economic growth and creating jobs.”
