Presidency slams AfDB President Adesina over 1960 GDP claim
By Kunle Sanni
The Presidency has dismissed recent comments by outgoing African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Akinwumi Adesina, suggesting that Nigerians are worse off today than they were at Independence in 1960.
In a statement on Sunday, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga described Adesina’s remarks as inaccurate and based on flawed data. Adesina had reportedly cited figures from Nairametrics, claiming that Nigeria’s GDP per capita stood at $1,847 in 1960 compared to $824 today—a claim Onanuga said does not align with historical records.
“The figures are simply incorrect,” Onanuga said in a post on X. “Available data show that Nigeria’s GDP in 1960 was $4.2 billion, with a per capita income of just $93 for a population of 44.9 million—not the $1,847 claimed.”
He noted that Nigeria’s significant economic expansion did not begin until the 1970s, fueled largely by the oil boom. Citing official statistics, Onanuga outlined the country’s economic trajectory: GDP rose to $12.55 billion in 1970, $27.7 billion in 1975, $64.2 billion in 1980, and $164 billion by 1981. He added that per capita income remained below $880 until 1980, peaking at $3,200 in 2014 following a GDP rebasing.
He stressed that economic health must be assessed alongside access to healthcare, education, infrastructure, and essential services. “GDP per capita does not tell us whether Nigerians today have better access to hospitals, schools, or roads than they did in 1960,” he said.
Onanuga also highlighted tangible progress over the decades, pointing out that Nigeria had only about 18,700 operational phone lines at Independence. Today, over 200 million Nigerians have access to mobile phones and digital services.
He cited the success of telecom giants like MTN as evidence of Nigeria’s growing consumer market. He recalled how South African firm Vodacom once hesitated to enter the Nigerian market due to concerns about affordability. “MTN and others proved them wrong. MTN alone reported N1 trillion in revenue in Q1 this year, with 84 million voice and data subscribers,” he noted.
Onanuga concluded by questioning whether such economic vibrancy supports Adesina’s assertion. “Is this the profile of a country worse off than it was in 1960, when we had fewer than 20,000 telephone lines?” he asked.
