 As Nigeria marks 62 years as an independent nation there's been growing concerns as to what the future holds for its citizens. This concern is heightened by the seemingly deteriorating economic fortunes of the country leading to high cost of living for most Nigerians. There are however divergent views as to the course the nation is on 62 years after independence. Nigeria's gross domestic product averaged 139.76 billion US dollars from 1960 until 2021 reaching an all-time high of 546.70 billion US dollars in 2014 and a record low of 4.20 billion US dollars in 1960. In 2021 Nigeria's economy grew by 3.6 percent from 1.8 percent contraction in 2020 underpinned on the supply side by 4.4 percent expansion in the non-oil sector against 8.3 percent contraction in the oil sector. Non-oil growth was driven by the agriculture which had 2.1 percent and services 5.6 percent. Annual average inflation stood at 17.0 percent in 2021 against 13.2 percent the previous year and above the central bank's 6 to 9 percent target. Inflation was fueled by food prices rises at the start of the year an exchange rate passed through but according to the national bureau of statistics report the country's urban inflation increased by 2.08 percent to 20.09 percent in july 2022 from 18.01 percent in july of 2021. On the other hand the rural inflation rate reached 19.22 percent from 16.75 percent in the corresponding period of 2021. Although Nigeria's economy grew by 3.54 percent in real terms in the second quarter of 2022 the citizenry still feels the bite. This is even as the debt management office puts Nigeria's total public debt stock at 42.84 trillion naira as of june 2022 from 41.60 trillion naira three months earlier showing an increase of 1.24 trillion naira. Cardinal states our home is peculiar because of this issue of insecurity this nice way to develop partners and suicide groups and non-governmental organizations can tell you category that we have reduction in engagements with these groups of people in cardinal states now or into the issue of insecurity. A lot of them used to call to cardinal to train but with the attack on the train on March 20th a lot of them actually refused to come to cardinal of course that is affecting cardinal economy if you have a lot of money you can buy three things with money for example now before now you go to market to buy two thousand naira yam at least then for you to keep it three weeks to keep but now the same two thousand naira five hundred yam is now between seven thousand and ten thousand naira. The impact of the economy your Nigerians as a stance nobody needs to be true that it's really biting harder even the government so far has said that the country is broke the economy regardless of your religion your tribe ethnicity you are feeling it that is just the truth. Nigeria appears to be poorer now than when it gained independence in 1960 despite having many resources although it's still one of the least developed and poorest nations in the world it has the potential to become a significant economic force if the country's leaders are determined to learn from their mistakes and utilize the nation's abundant natural and human resources to advance economic development. Nigeria still faces issues such as low remunerations infrastructure deficit lack of human capital development and many more 62 years after gaining independence many people believe that these issues should have been resolved long ago given the country's enormous potential this has resulted in a mass exodus and a major brain drain. Most we want to look at it negatively you know in the pessimistic point of view and say oh inflation is double digits unemployment is above 20 percent. I tend to see these things very positively because we see have a huge market 200 million people it's our ability to harness this market you get that we that is a challenge look at things from the positive part of it it's a people living but if we live in it so it's increasing the diaspora receipts you get as a bachelor here where we end more money from people bringing back money than even oil but there are critical things that need to be put in place for systems to work in the people's favor so government really really has no business in the economy beyond coordinating serving as an empire and providing a providing a very strong framework for private business to to to this. So we find that these sectors that we've talked about that really do not have too much government impute beyond regulation and coordination see the way they are growing but where government is playing very seriously you get you see they have problems say education you get me now. So I think we should have less government the problem that we really have in this country is the fact that the major political parties do not have any economic ideologies so someone like me cannot say okay I want to vote for party A because that party A leans towards free enterprise which is what I sit for. I cannot vote for party B because party B leans towards big government which is what somebody else might sit for so we're not having major parties who do not have any economic ideology who are running around in confusion. So if we say okay we're going to have a new government 2023 of these three front runners are you getting me now. He's just just modeled up we don't know what are their major economic um um leanings are you getting me now. So for me you see I believe in private business I believe in private wealth I believe in free enterprise you know so that is the only way that you can create these jobs create value expand the economy so government can only just sit aside and provide a security provide the framework provide infrastructure due to their protection they're allowed for private wealth to move. As the country goes into next year's election there are great expectations that a new leadership would emerge that can harness the vast potential inherent in the polity and improve the economy and livelihood of the people. So you get notified about fresh news updates