Bayo Onanuga, director of media and publicity for the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign, has declared that Peter Obi’s campaign slogan, “moving Nigeria from a consumption economy to that of production,” is illogical and pointless.
He argues that two factors—consumption and production—are necessary for an economy to thrive.
This was said in a post he published on Friday titled, “No Peter Obi, You Cannot Shift Emphasis From Consumption To Production.”
A common refrain from the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, is that he will “change the emphasis from consumption to production,” as he put it. He claims he will do this by presiding over a production-based economy fueled by an agricultural revolution and export-oriented industrialization.
He said, “I doubt if Peter Obi and his moronic followers have ever for one second reflected on this mantra as it is self-contradictory and meaningless.
“A vibrant economy will ride on the twin horses of consumption and production. It cannot do without one, for it is basic economics 101 to know that production happens in expectation of consumption.
“Both concepts are natural corollaries, consumption following production.
“What I guess Obi means is that he will shift emphasis from ‘import dependency’ to local production of goods.
“One of the drawbacks of our economy for decades has been the unbridled appetite of Nigerians for foreign goods, leading to the clogging of our ports with containers.
“This has been the business of Peter Obi himself for decades, importing and warehousing cheap items, including toothpick for the local market and for his NEXT malls.
“He made fortunes and billions out of this business, which only portrays him as a saboteur of the efforts to diversify the national economy and create more local jobs.
“Are Obi and his fellow merchants not aware that when they import items for sale, they are not helping Nigeria, but only helping to create more jobs in the country where they import from?
“Nigerians should not be fooled by this demagogue called Peter Obi. His promise sounds flowery, but it is fatal and hollow.”