The new Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Prince Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, has predicted that Nigeria will record higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the months ahead as productivity across key sectors of the economy gathers momentum.
The NBS’ CEO, who made the prediction during an interactive session with the media shortly after taking his Oath of Office in Abuja, said the quarter-on-quarter marginal decline in the GDP growth witnessed in Q1 this year when compared to Q4 of last year was due to the lull in economic activities that are usually associated with the post-Yuletide season and stakeholders’ expectations from budget implementation.
Adeniran explained that with productive activities now gaining trajectory across the broad spectrum of the economy, it was quite certain that the 3.11% GDP growth recorded in Q1, 2022 would be surpassed in the succeeding quarters of the year.
He expatiated: “Based on the GDP figure released just this week by the Bureau, we have a growth rate of 3.11% growth which is higher than the growth rate we had in quarter one of 2021. We all know that the first quarter of every year is usually the slowest because the budget has not been fully implemented even as the euphoria of the new year is not yet over.
“So, activities are usually slow. Now, the harvesting is just starting. People are just planning to plant. For us to have 3.11% GDP growth in first quarter means that the trajectory will be going up from second quarter moving forward.
“The IMF estimates 3.14% growth and now we have 3.11%, which means that before the end of the year, we either reach that estimate or surpass it with activities taking off”, the Statistician General added.
Earlier in his post-Oath taking remarks, Adeniran promised to continue to sustain the reform initiatives of his late predecessor, Dr. Simon Harry, by implementing the three-point agenda initiated by him to improve the Bureau’s operations and quality of its data.
He assured the directorate and management staff at the forum of his commitment to implementing the agenda, covering the areas of General Administration and Human Resource Management, Infrastructure Development and Technical Operations.
The Statistician General also spoke on the Bureau’s readiness to continue to collaborate with international partners and other agencies, including the World Bank, UNIDO, UNICEF, IMF and many others, in its sustained drive towards enhancing the nation’s statistical system.
Speaking on staff welfare matters, Adeniran promised to sustain ongoing reforms as they related to improved staff welfare, adding that efforts will be made to ensure that all employees are well rewarded for their services to the country.
He appealed to all staff of the agency to eschew all forms of divisive tendencies but to be fully committed to their assignments in order to fulfill the agency’s statutory mandate.
