Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Alhaji Sanusi Lamido, has said that the little economic progress Nigeria made in 40 years was wiped out between 2014 and 2019.
The former emir of Kano who stated this yesterday in Kaduna at a colloquium to mark his 60th birthday attributed the reason for the retrogression to ill-advised decisions taken by the managers of the country’s resources.
According to him, in the last 40 years, the Nigerian economy hadn’t made any meaningful progress.
Sanusi explained that Nigeria’s GDP per capita on purchasing power parity had gone through a cycle where it grew and plummeted to nearly the amount it was 40 years ago.
“You look at the World Bank economic quality indicators and you will be shocked at what you are seeing. If we take Nigeria’s GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity basis, in 1980 it was $2,180 and by 2014, it was $3,099, which increased it by 50 per cent.
“Between 2014 and 2019, this number fell to $2,229. At this rate, by this year or next year, Nigeria’s GDP per capita on a PPP basis will be back to where it was in 1980.
“We have not moved. We wiped out in five years all the progress made in the preceding 35 years. That is the kind of conversation we should have which we are not having. And what are the key drivers of this: you’ve got rising population growth, slow GDP growth, higher rates of inflation, and devaluation of the currency,” he said.
Sanusi also stated that there was no ignoring the facts that “things” were not working well in the country today, adding that “when you are in a society that is so abnormal, you cannot afford to be a conformist because you all conform, things will not change.”
The renowned economists also argued that fuel subsidy was unsustainable in the country, adding that had fuel subsidy been removed 10 years ago, Nigerians would not have felt less pain than if it was eventually removed today.
“Many years ago when I was screaming about the billions being spent on fuel subsidies, I remember there was an attempt to attack my house in Kano. Then I was in the CBN. Where are we today? We are face to face with the reality that fuel subsidy is unsustainable. Now when the decision is taken, it will be more painful than if they had removed it five or 10 years ago.
“I only speak to the best of my understanding of what I see about the country and I have paid the price, but Nigerians are the ones paying the real price. It is the price you see in increased poverty, it is a price you see in insecurity, in high rates of inflation, in the loss of values of our currency, in the numbers around malnutrition, unemployment, out of school children, maternal mortality and infant mortality.
“Calling me controversial or calling me an enemy or critic will not make those facts go away. So, anywhere we go, we must face these facts. Am I happy about it on my 60th birthday? No. Because, 60 years ago when I was born, the United States government advisory was telling investors that Nigeria has a better economic future than Japan. Today where are we and where is Japan?
“It is not about one or two governments, it is about decades of a people throwing away opportunities and every time we are given a chance to make a change, we go back to the same old things,” he added.
Sanusi stressed that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s challenges are rooted in the nation’s economy.
He noted that Nigeria was like a house on fire that needed all hands on deck to put it out.
The colloquium was attended by the governor of Sokoto State, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal; former deputy governor of CBN, Mr. George Moghalu; the deputy governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe; Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli; university dons, among others.
