Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has lamented the planned exit of pharmaceutical corporation GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) from Nigeria.
GSK was incorporated in Nigeria in June 1971 and opened for operation in 1972, which means that the company has been operating in Nigeria for about 51 years.
Recently, the company released a statement to announce that it will stop producing prescription drugs and vaccines in Nigeria. The company also revealed that it would start using third-party direct distribution for its pharmaceutical products in the country.
On Friday night, Obi took to Twitter to express his concern over the development, noting that GSK decided to exit the country because the company no longer sees a thriving business climate in the country.
Also, the LP flagbearer lamented that the company’s exit was a result of the country’s poor management of the economy, decrying the negative impact GSK’s exit would have on the country’s economy.
Obi’s series of tweets read in parts, “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.”
He added, “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.”
