Nigeria’s 35 Years Economic Achievements Wiped Out Under Buhari’s Govt- Sanusi

A former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and ex- Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said that Nigeria has lost 35 years of economic achievements between 2014 and 2019 alone.

Sanusi said this during a virtual forum organised by the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of Nigeria and insisted on his position over the weekend at a colloquium organised to celebrate his 60th birthday in Kaduna.

The former apex bank boss said at the end of 2021, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be worse than it was in 1980.

He said, “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 PPP (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.”

According to him, Nigerians have the responsibility of questioning President Muhammadu Buhari and his economic policies.

Sanusi said that funds spent yearly on Islamic pilgrimages could be channeled into educating a huge population of the North.

He said, “For decades in this country, we have wasted our resources. Look at the fuel subsidy, which I’ve been talking about since 2011. We take trillions and trillions of naira and tell people we are giving them cheap fuel.

“At the end of the day, we have bankrupted ourselves. You’ve set up an economic system where today 90 per cent of government revenue goes to debt servicing and we’re still borrowing.

“We are spending trillions on fuel subsidies. And then we get the central bank to print trillions because we cannot pay salaries if we do not print the money. And as the money is printed, we create inflation and then we create devaluation.

“And then we find that we have to pay more on subsidies because today if you remove the fuel subsidy, you’ve got to pay about N400 per litre of petrol product and we are an oil-producing country.

“If we had removed this subsidy when we said we should remove it, even if it was in 2015, we will not be here. So, this is not about Buhari (Muhammadu) being a Muslim or Osinbajo (Yemi) being a Christian.

“This is about what are the economic policies that are being pursued. Are the policies that will create jobs, economic growth, or are they policies that will moderate population growth or lead to prosperity?”

At his 60th birthday, he said he is not pleased, “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?”