Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has reacted to the exit of Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from Nigeria.
The company had announced that it is leaving Nigeria after operating in the country for 51 years.
Obi who expressed sadness over the development in a tweet on Saturday said, what is more disheartening is the reason given by the company for its exit.
He wrote: “Today, I was saddened to hear that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is exiting Nigeria after 51 years of operations.”
“Their reason for leaving Nigeria is even more disheartening, that they are no longer perceiving any future growth of the country, which will be anchored on productivity.
According to him, “we’re at the point in our nation’s journey where multinationals are leaving the country and the local ones are closing down.
He blamed the state of the nation on poor management of our economy, adding that millions are losing their jobs and our poverty index is worsening despite our already being the world poverty capital.
“These multinationals leaving our country, not only create jobs but create immeasurable training that contributes immensely to our human capital development.”
“GSK which has a manufacturing facility set up in Agbara, on over 25 hectares of land in Agbara, had directly employed over 400 highly technical workers like pharmacists, microbiologists, biochemists, chemists, dentists, doctors etc, and also employed over 1000 other staff. It indirectly provided jobs and business opportunities for thousands of Nigerians across the nation. They are now leaving all these behind, and pushing more people back into unemployment”, he said.
He reinstated his position that “in turning our nation around, we must move the economy from consumption to production, part of which included encouraging and supporting local and foreign investments, like GSK, in the country.
Obi also stressed the importance of creating an environment that creates and sustains multinationals to invest in our country is key to our dream of greatness. In the new Nigeria that we seek to create, the emphasis on production will encourage investors to stay and expand on our shores.