Data compiled by an economist from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Unites States of America, Steve Hanke, has classified Nigerians as the sixth “most miserable people in the world.”
The Misery Index was calculated using economic indices including unemployment, inflation and bank lending rates. For Nigeria, the unemployment rate was the major contributing factor.
“The original Misery Index was just a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate. The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and then by myself.
“My modified Misery Index is the sum of the unemployment, inflation and bank lending rates, minus the percentage change in real GDP per capita. Higher readings on the first three elements are “bad” and make people more miserable.
“These are offset by a “good” (GDP per capita growth), which is subtracted from the sum of the “bads.” A higher Misery Index score reflects a higher level of “misery,” and it’s a simple enough metric that a busy president, without time for extensive economic briefings, can understand at a glance,” Hanke, the economist who compiled the list, told Forbes.
Venezuela, Argentina and Iran, the countries which topped the index, had high inflation rates as the major contributing factors.
In total, three African countries, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, fell between the top 10 most miserable countries.
But, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has described Steve Hanke’s report which rated Nigeria as the 6th miserable country in the world, as a vindication of its position “all this while,” saying the nation has sunk into a new low since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed power in 2015.
Reacting to the development, the main opposition party, through its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan tasked the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to perish the thought of the planned increment in Value Added Tax, VAT, saying such would only make life more difficult for the “already traumatized Nigerians.”
“That report is vindication of the position of the Peoples Democratic Party, all this while. The economy has virtually collapsed under President Buhari and the man is even mooting the idea of piling more pressure on Nigerians. Nigerians have never suffered like they are suffering today because those charged with the responsibility of managing the economy have failed completely. They have no idea of what it takes to manage an economy like ours.
“As an opposition party, we call on the Presidency to take urgent steps to fine-tune the economy, create jobs for our teeming youths if only to justify that a government is in place.
“In the interim, we advise them to stop their plan to increase VAT as that will only fetch millions of Nigerians additional pain and discomfort.”