President Goodluck Jonathan in Kwara on Monday said his government has performed creditably well in the handling of the Nigerian economy, saying that the economy was blossoming.
Jonathan’s assertions came after former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Charles Soludo said the economy was almost moribund. He said Jonathan’s performance in his estimation was deserving of an “‘F’ grade”.
While speaking to a large crowd of his supporters at PDP presidential campaign rally in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, the president said critics of his government’s economic policies did not know anything about governance.
“If the CNN can say that, so who is the economist in Nigeria that faulted what the world has seen about Nigeria? Who is the economist that can tell me that he is superior to the World Bank or the economists in the World Bank?
“Who is the economist in Nigeria that can tell me he is superior to the economist in the IMF? Who is the economist in Nigeria that can tell me that is sharper or better focus than the CNN? People should stop deceiving Nigerians. We are working hard to move this country forward and we will work with the people of Kwara State to move the state forward.”
Jonathan said his government has consistently been open and transparent.
He said, “We don’t want to run a government by intimidation. I signed the FoI Bill, and promised that every Nigerian will be free. I want every Nigerian to be free, we don’t want to intimidate anybody, we want you to have the ability to express yourself without any fear of intimidation.
“We don’t encourage our leaders to intimidate the followers, where people will be living as if they are in the zoo and the lions and leopard are moving freely and all the other animals have to go into hiding, no. That is not a government, Nigeria is not a zoological garden, Nigeria is not a forest.
“Nigeria is a country governed by laws and conventions, a country where citizens must be free and where every citizen must be able to grow to the level that he so desires.”
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