Reno Omokri, an aide to the former president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to the news that Nigeria is no longer the biggest economy in Africa.
Reno Omokri used the opportunity to vindicate his boss, calling on Nigerians to stop blaming him for the country’s economic woes.
He said: “Now that South Africa‘s economy has overtaken Nigeria’s economy as Africa’s largest economy, I can bet you that there will be an attempt to put the blame on the former President.
“Let no man blame Goodluck Jonathan. Under his tenure we overtook South Africa. Jonathan is an overtaker not an undertaker! At times like this I am reminded of Psalm 23:5 ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies’.
“As I speak, Dr. Jonathan is being honored by the entire political class of Zambia. Meanwhile, look at what has happened to what he left behind!”
News had filtered in that in on Wednesday that South Africa’s economy regained the position of Africa’s largest in dollar terms more than two years after losing it to Nigeria as the value of the nations’ currencies moved in opposite directions.
Based on gross domestic product at the end of 2015 published by the International Monetary Fund, the size of South Africa’s economy is $301 billion at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP is $296 billion. That’s after the rand gained more than 16 percent against the dollar since the start of 2016, and Nigeria’s naira lost more than a third of its value after the central bank bank removed a currency peg in June.
