Onanuga – ‘You Spoke Like Politician,’ Presidency Counters Adesina Over GDP Comment

The Presidency has faulted the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, over his comment that Nigerians were better off in 1960 than they are today.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, stated that Adesina “spoke like a politician” in the mold of the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, without doing due diligence.

“Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mold of Peter Obi, and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement,” Onanuga said.

It was reported that Adesina while delivering a keynote address at the 20th-anniversary dinner of Chapel Hill Denham, stated that Nigerians today were worse off than they were in 1960.

President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina. Photo: @akin_adesina/X

He backed his claims with data that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1960 was $1,847 and that it is $824 today.

Onanuga, however, countered the claim stating that the quoted figures were incorrect, adding that Nigeria’s GDP as of 1960 was $4.2 billion, and per capita income for a population of 44.9 million was $93, not $100.

He said, “A few days ago, outgoing AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina claimed that Nigerians today are worse off than in 1960, basing his conclusion on figures that do not align with available data.

“According to Nairametrics, he claimed that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 1960 was $1,847 and that it is $824 today. The quoted figures are not correct.

“According to available data, our country’s GDP was $4.2 billion in 1960, and per capita income for a population of 44.9 million was $93—ninety-three, not even $100.”

“Our country’s GDP did not rise remarkably until the 1970s when crude earnings ballooned. In 1970, our GDP rose to $12.55 billion.

“In 1975, it was $27.7 billion, $64.2 billion in 1980, and $164 billion in 1981. Up until 1980, per capita income did not exceed $880.

“It rose to $2187 in 1981 and dropped to $1844 in 1982. In 2014, after rebasing, it reached an all-time high of $3,200,” he added.

Onanuga further added that Adesina should note that DDP per capita is not the only criterion used to determine whether people live better lives now than in the past.

“Indeed, it is a poor tool for assessing living standards. Its primary usefulness is in giving us the metrics to compare economic output in a country or between countries.

“GDP masks many activities in a country’s economy. It neither discloses wealth distribution or income inequality nor accounts for the informal economy, which experts have said is enormous. It does not account for subsistence farming or income transfer from one family member to another.

“GDP per capita is silent on whether Nigerians in 2025 enjoy better access to healthcare, education, and transportation, such as rail and air transport than in 1960,” the presidential spokesman said.

‘More Schools, Improved Infrastructure’

The President’s special adviser also asserted that Nigeria now has schools and improved infrastructure as compared to 1960.

“This premise alone suggests why Dr Adesina should not have arrived at his conclusion. Compared with 1960, Nigeria today has more primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.

“We have more road networks and more medical facilities, private and public. We have phenomenal access to telephones. At Independence, we had 18,724 operational phone lines for a population of about 45 million,” he said.

According to him, over 200 million Nigerians now enjoy near-universal access to mobile phones and digital services, “indicating we are better off today than 65 years ago”.

“In our country, policymakers know that whatever GDP figure NBS publishes may not capture our economy’s full depth and breadth if it fails to include the informal economy, which some pundits have said may even be more significant than the formal economy.

“This underscores why Dr Adesina should have considered all aspects of our economy before concluding.”

Onanuga added, “No objective observer can claim that Nigeria has not made progress since 1960. Today, as we await the NBS’s recalibration of our GDP, we can comfortably say without contradiction that it is at least 50 times, if not 100 times, more than it was at Independence.”