By Emmanuel Nduka
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over the weekend disclosed that the only time Nigeria made significant progress within the last 40 years, was in 2014 during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan.
He recalled that in 2014, Nigeria’ GDP per capita on purchasing power appreciated by 50 percent to $3,099, which is only comparable to the $2,180 figure of 1980, adding that between 2014 to 2019, we Nigeria have gone down from $3,099 to $2,229.
According to Sanusi who gave the statistics in Kaduna at a colloquium to mark his 60th birthday, the present government must now make the economy grow for the sake of ordinary Nigerians.
While explaining 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, he maintained that there was no ignoring the facts that “things” are not working well in the country today.
“In 1980, Nigeria’s GDP per capita on purchasing power parity basis was $2,180. In 2014, it appreciated by 50 per cent to $3,099. According to the World Bank, where were we in 2019? $2,229. At this rate in the next two years in terms of purchasing power parity, the average income of a Nigerian would have gone back to what it was in 1980 under Shehu Shagari. That means, in 40 years, no progress, we made zero progress. 40 years wasted.
“Between 2014 and 2029, on the basis of this index of the purchasing power of the average income of an average Nigerian, we have wiped out all the progress made in 35 years. We have a responsibility as a people to rise and improve the lives of the people of this country.
“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,” he said.
