- By Halimah Olamide
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has expressed disappointment over Thursday’s announcement of the exit of drugs manufacturing giant, GlaxoSmithKline from Nigeria.
The company, which had operated in Nigeria for 51 years, announced its decision citing volatile and unfriendly business environment.
“Their reason for leaving Nigeria is even more disheartening; they no longer perceive a prospect for the country as a business environment that would be anchored on productivity. We have painfully come to that point in our nation’s journey where multinationals are leaving the country and the local ones are closing down. These are some of the consequences of the cumulative poor management of our economy,” Obi write on his X page.
He expressed regrets that millions will lose their jobs while Nigeria’s poverty index will worsening, adding that this in spite of the fact that Nigeria is already being perceived as the world’s poverty capital.
“The multinationals that are leaving our country have not only created jobs but have created immeasurable training that contributed immensely to our human capital development over the years. Now they are leaving our shores one after the other.
“GSK which has a manufacturing facility in Agbara, Ogun State on over 25 hectares of land 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. I have consistently maintained 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 said
The LP candidate, who is currently challenging the winner of the poll, Bola Tinubu in court, said the creation of 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. Our people will keep their jobs and grow their prosperity,” he added