The former presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, has made known his displeasure over the exit of the medical manufacturing giant, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, from the Nigerian market.
Recall that Freelanews reports that GSK UK Group has informed GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria PLC of its strategic intent to cease commercialization of its prescription medicines and appoint third party as distributor of its products.
According to the former governor of Anambra State, the decision to leave is disheartening as the company no longer considers the country a good business environment to operate.
“Today, I was saddened to hear that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is exiting Nigeria after 51 years of operation. Their reason for leaving Nigeria is even more disheartening; they no longer perceive a prospect for the country as a business environment that would be anchored on productivity. 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.
“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 created immeasurable training that 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 had 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 these behind, and pushing more people back into unemployment. 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.
“The creation of an environment that creates and sustains multinationals to invest in our country is key to our dream of greatness. In the new Nigeria that we seek to create, the emphasis on production will encourage investors to stay and expand on our shores.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
