FORMER governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has predicted that Nigeria will exit economic recession by december 2018.

Kalu stated this on Friday while speaking with journalists, during the funeral service held at the Cathedral of St Peter, Aremo, Ibadan, in honour of Chief James Babatunde, fellow of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners. The deceased was aged 79 when he passed on.

Kalu, a successful international businessman, noted that the country is still in economic recession.

His position differs from that of President Muhammadu Buhari who on several occassions acknowledged that the country has exited recession.

Buhari had confirmed that Nigeria was out of recession months ago when received President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger republic in Daura, Katsina State.

“Nigeria is finally out of economic recession,” he was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria to have said.

The Nigerian leader restated his position on the economy on Tuesday when he attended the One Planet Summit in Paris, France.

Reacting, Kalu opined, “I don’t even think we have exited recession. I beg to disagree with any economist or anybody who put that in place. I believe honestly that we are still in recession. I have told many television houses and newspaper houses that we might exit recession by December 2018. The capability of recovery is being put in place and I can assure you that we are recovering. We have not fully recovered and I am sure we will recover by December 2018.

“So, anybody judging Buhari on recession now is making a mistake. There are a lot of jobs that they are putting in place and yes, some economists who might be in a hurry can say we have exited, but in the real course of economic dynamics, we have not exited. If you still check the capacity utilisation, it is very poor; goods in warehouses are still stocked up.

“The greatest problem we had was the devaluation of naira. Many people lost their capital; many businessmen, traders, manufacturing houses, lost their capital. So, it will take two to three years for them to recover and that is where we are going. Even, the World Bank agrees with my theory that this recession will be exited in December 2018.”

The two-term former governor restated his support for the president saying “He is a popular man. Let’s assume he came in with 12 million votes, and let’s say 1.5million are gone, he still has 10.5million behind him.

Kalu believes Buhari will take Nigeria to the Promised Land, and urged all Nigerians across religious, ethnic and political divides to support him for greater success.

“We are heading to the Promised Land. Buhari is leading us to the Promised Land, but people don’t understand. There are two types of components that make democratic process – the hardware and the software. The hardware is what you see, such as road construction and reconstruction. The software is obedience to rule of law, accessibility to people’s mind, obedience to court order, making sure that court of competent jurisdiction’s orders are respected, and making sure that everything done in the law is totally agreeable.

“Our problem in Nigeria is very simple. People are not obeying traffic lights. Big people don’t want to obey simple rule; ‘do not cross this line’, this is the problem the country has. This is what Buhari is saying, that, ‘no, you cannot do without due process.’

“Buhari is trying to say to Nigerian people that, ‘yes I might be slow, but we have to go through process which is internationally acceptable’. So, we are on course. Things have been very difficult, I agree. But my grandmother used to tell me that when a tailor gets a brand new cloth, he has to first cut it into pieces, then make it into a very fine dress. That is where we are today. Everybody must be crying, we’ll get it (the nation) back on course,” he said.