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The yearly Independence Day Special Edition Poll results released by NOIPolls Limited have revealed that a majority of Nigerians (68 percent) believe Nigeria’s Independence is worth celebrating in spite of the economic recession. However, it should be noted that this is a decline of 16 percentage points from last year’s value, indicating that the economic recession may be taking its toll on the level of patriotism of some Nigerians.
Findings revealed that of those who believe Nigeria’s Independence is worth celebrating (despite the current economic challenges facing the nation), a significant proportion (25 percent) stated that Independence Day is worth celebrating because it is Nigeria’s day of independence and some (13 percent) also asserted that it marks the day Nigeria was liberated from colonial rule amongst other affirmative reasons.
In addition, Nigerians reported that they love being Nigerians mostly because of the perceived peace and unity that exist in the country and most residents from the North-East region accounted for the largest proportion of respondents who made this assertion. This may be a reflection of the gains in security made by the Nigerian military forces and the Multi-National Joint Task Force in the region. Residents from the North-West zone accounted for the highest proportion of residents by geo-political zone who affirmed this. On the other hand, respondents from the South-East zone represent the largest proportion of Nigerians who think otherwise
The poll results also revealed that most Nigerians consider the economy as a high priority issue which the nation should confront within the next one year. This is evident as Nigeria’s economy has slipped into recession with a 2.06 percent contract in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2016.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that the decline has caused the Naira to get weaker, while lower oil prices dragged the oil sector down. The output shrunk by 0.36 in the first quarter hence, the nominal GDP was 2.73 percent higher at 23.48 million Naira at basic prices. This growth was lower than the rate recorded in the second quarter of 2015 by 2.44 percent. . This could be attributed to the current economic recession the country is facing at the moment though efforts are being made to ensure that the nation’s economy bounces back and shows positive GDP growth. This is followed by ‘job creation’ (13 percent) and ‘agriculture’ (10 percent) amongst other significant issues to be addressed.
The proposed sale of national assets has drawn diverse reactions, with a significant proportion of the respondents (31 percent) who were against the decision stating that ‘it is not a good time’ to sell these assets, some say ‘it will worsen the current economic condition’ (18 percent) whereas, 16 percent asserted that ‘they are national heritage’ and as such did not support the sales of these assets. Others said ‘they will be bought by corrupt politicians’ (11 percent), more hardship (10 percent) and that ‘it is for the selfish interest of politicians (10 percent) amongst other reasons.
However, 32 percent of Nigerians pledged their support for the sales of national assets saying ‘it will help resolve the current economic problem’ facing the country and this was followed by those who think it will foster national development (25 percent) and that it will help alleviate poverty (16 percent) among other perceived positive reasons.
Although a vast majority of Nigerians (76 percent) do not support the proposed sale of some of the country’s national assets as a way of boosting the economy. Most of the respondents argued that ‘it is not a good time’ (31 percent), while some say ‘it will worsen the current economic situation’ (18 percent).
