The Presidency has dismissed Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), as a political threat to the current administration of President Bola Tinubu. On Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, addressed this issue during an appearance on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines show.
Onanuga expressed that, as a politician, he does not see Adesina as a rival to the President or the All Progressives Congress (APC). He added that he was surprised by Adesina’s recent remarks, which he considered to be illogical. Specifically, Onanuga criticized Adesina’s argument comparing Nigeria’s current GDP per capita to that of 1960, calling it misleading. Adesina had stated at an Abuja policy forum on May 2 that Nigeria’s GDP per capita had dropped from $1,847 in 1960 to about $824 today, suggesting that Nigerians are now worse off than they were at independence. He linked this decline to poverty and low human development, calling for urgent action.
However, the Presidency refuted these claims, pointing out that the actual GDP per capita for Nigeria in 1960 was just $93, according to World Bank data, making Adesina’s comparison inaccurate. Onanuga also reminded that GDP per capita alone is not a sufficient measure of a country’s progress, emphasizing that other factors, such as life expectancy, education, and infrastructure, must also be considered. He further suggested that Adesina’s remarks seemed politically motivated, as the Tinubu administration is working to improve infrastructure and social programs that did not exist in 1960.
Onanuga concluded that when adjusted for factors like purchasing power and quality of life, Nigerians are not worse off than they were in the past.
