[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ellow Nigerians, can you remember this photograph?
It was at the ceremony of “ringing the closing bell” of the New York Stock Exchange, a privilege usually granted the president of a country adjudged by the NYSE as having sound economic policies and growth. The person that performed that function in 2013 is our one and only President Goodluck Jonathan.
It’s significant to note that in 2006 his loquacious predecessor, President Olusegun Obasanjo had lobbied the chief executive officer of of NYSE in Davo, Switzerland to ring the closing bell that year but was politely refused because Nigerian economy was still in the doldrums.
September 23, 2013 | Getty Images
As a result of the confidence of world economic analysts in the Nigerian economy under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, President Jonathan was REQUESTED to come and perform that prestigious ceremony in 2013.
In all of Africa, only South Africa and Botswana had rung the bell individually before Nigeria. The others were Liberia, Mozambique, and Tanzania whose three presidents were lumped together to ring the bell and which most Africans saw as an insult on the continent.
With all these endorsements, the All Progressives Congress, APC and their professional liars are still singing the song of Jonathan’s “mismanagement” of the economy and some gullible Nigerians are floating along with them.
I’m anxiously waiting to see President Muhammadu Buhari and his group attain this or any similar level of international recognition in the management of our economy. With this “Julius Eke” type of story surrounding their 2016 budget your guess is as good as mine.
Clement Iro is a social media commentator. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
