Reaction As Obi Says We've Painfully Come To That Point Where Multinationals Are Leaving The Country

GLatestAugust 5, 2023

1 minute read

Peter Gregory Obi, the flag bearer of the Labour Party for the 2023 presidential election, has made a tweet on his official Twitter handle about how he is saddened that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is exiting Nigeria after 51 years of operation.

The former governor of Anambra State wrote on his Twitter handle that, “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 continued, saying, “As a result, millions are losing their jobs, and our poverty index is worsening, even though we’re already being perceived as the world’s poverty capital. The multinationals that are leaving our country have not only created jobs but have also created immeasurable training that has 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, 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 this behind and pushing more people back into unemployment.

The business stood by his previous statement that, “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”.