An economist at the Port Harcourt Polytechnic, Rumuola, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Mr Nnamdi Amadi has called on Nigerians to be skeptical about the reports by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that Nigeria has come out of recession.
Amadi stated that though the news is pleasant and gives investors a sign of relief, the impact is not significant, adding that the economy is still weak and grappling with two digit inflation rate.
He commended the federal government, saying that recording positive growth after being in negative growth for five consecutive quarters was a major achievement and prayed that it would be sustained for the country to fully come out of  recession.
Amadi noted that other economies  such as South Africa relaxed and they slipped back into recession, adding that for the positive growth to be sustained, Nigeria needs to continue to work hard and not rest on her Oars.
He observed that the NBS report was a major breakthrough that would encourage an improvement in every sector of the economy.
He stressed however that the growth was as a result of rebound in oil prices and expressed fear that if for any reason the prices of oil crash again in the near future, “our economy would begin to struggle again to survive, we therefore need to work hard in our economic diversification strategies”.
He said that a lot has to be done in the non-oil sector of the economy and urged government to focus in the non-oil sector such as agriculture, real estate and industrialisation.

Tonye Nria-Dappa