Former Anambra State Governor and the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi has decried the exit of credible international firms from Nigeria, stressing that it a bad omen for the country.
Obi said in his X (formerly Twitter) handle that the departure of three global firms in the health and energy sectors says a lot about the state of affairs in Nigeria.
He said, “A few months ago, I lamented about the exit of the international pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from Nigeria. GSK remains a top global pharmaceutical manufacturer and has had 51 years of operations in Nigeria, the reason for their exit being that there was no longer any perceived growth in Nigeria anchored on productivity.
“Today, Procter & Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest personnel care and household products company, makers of iconic brands like Pampers, Gillette, etc, is again leaving Nigeria, for the same reason GSK left. Following this also are FMCG and top Energy firm, Norwegian behemoth Equinor, which has sold off its Nigerian business.
“Fifteen years ago, P&G, as they are commonly called, viewed Nigeria as a strategic country of importance and invested millions of dollars in an ultra-modern chain supply structure in Agbara, which, sadly, is now up for sale,” Obi pointed out.
The LP standard bearer noted further that “The presence of these iconic companies in any economy is not only that they signify trust and confidence, as well as belief in medium to long-term socio-economic prospects of such countries, but they massively create jobs, invest in Research and Development, as well as trainings, which smaller players in the industry learn from and adapt.”
According to him, they help, to a great extent, to develop local talents for both local and global jobs.
“The exit of these top global companies basically shows that our medium to long-term prospects strategy is in the negative, our investment profile is not attractive, and our business environment is deteriorating continually. The declining purchasing power of Nigerians is nose-diving every day.
“In the face of the absence of the rule of law, and a conducive business environment, it will be difficult to retain such iconic companies and talk more about attracting new ones.”
He finally charged that “Governments at all levels in Nigeria must therefore take immediate steps to ensure that institutions of governance are put in place and actively engaging to show that the situation is reversed.”
