Abuja, May 5 — Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga has dismissed recent remarks by African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina, who claimed that Nigerians are worse off today than they were in 1960, calling the statement “misleading” and “not supported by verifiable data.”
In a post shared via X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Onanuga accused Adesina of using inaccurate figures in his comparison of Nigeria’s economic wellbeing across decades. Adesina, citing an analysis published by Nairametrics, reportedly claimed that Nigeria’s GDP per capita was $1,847 in 1960 and has declined to $824 in 2025.
“These figures are simply not correct,” Onanuga said. “Nigeria’s GDP in 1960 was $4.2 billion with a population of 44.9 million. That puts per capita income at just $93—ninety-three, not even one hundred dollars.”
Onanuga argued that Nigeria’s economic expansion didn’t begin in earnest until the 1970s, following the oil boom. He noted that GDP rose to $12.55 billion in 1970, $27.7 billion in 1975, $64.2 billion in 1980, and peaked at $164 billion in 1981, with corresponding increases in per capita income during that period.
“Up until 1980, per capita income did not exceed $880. It rose to $2,187 in 1981 before declining slightly to $1,844 the following year,” he said, adding that it reached $3,200 in 2014 following a rebasing exercise.
“These facts raise serious questions about the source of Dr. Adesina’s numbers,” Onanuga added.
Beyond disputing the data, the presidential aide challenged the broader narrative that GDP per capita alone can serve as an accurate measure of citizens’ wellbeing. “GDP per capita is a poor tool for assessing living standards,” he said, emphasizing that it doesn’t account for wealth distribution, access to basic services, or the informal economy.
“Are Nigerians in 2025 not better off in terms of access to healthcare, education, and transport infrastructure than in 1960?” he asked, noting major developments in air and rail transport, as well as the digital revolution.
To underscore his point, Onanuga highlighted that Nigeria had just 18,724 telephone lines in 1960. Today, over 200 million Nigerians have access to mobile and digital services, with MTN alone reporting N1 trillion in revenue and 84 million subscribers in Q1 2025.
He accused Adesina of making a politically charged statement rather than a data-driven analysis. “Adesina spoke like a politician, in the mould of Peter Obi, and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement,” he said.
Onanuga concluded by stating that the scale of Nigeria’s economy today bears little resemblance to its 1960s profile. “Even before the National Bureau of Statistics completes the ongoing GDP recalibration, we can safely say Nigeria’s economy is at least 50 to 100 times larger than it was at Independence.”