By Charles Pemu 
Abuja — The Nigerian presidency has responded strongly to recent comments by the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who claimed Nigerians are worse off today than they were at Independence in 1960.
In a formal reaction issued late Sunday, Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga rejected Adesina’s assertion, describing it as rooted in flawed data and a narrow understanding of Nigeria’s economic trajectory. He said the claim failed to consider the broader developmental progress Nigeria has made over the past six decades.
Adesina, during a public engagement, cited statistics suggesting that Nigeria’s GDP per capita had declined from $1,847 in 1960 to $824 in 2024, implying economic regression. The figures, reportedly sourced from financial outlet Nairametrics, formed the basis for his assessment.
However, Onanuga, posting on his verified X account (@aonanuga1956), stated:
“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—not $1,847. Our GDP did not rise significantly until the 1970s when crude oil earnings surged.”
He presented official records showing Nigeria’s economic growth over the decades:
- $12.55 billion in 1970
- $27.7 billion in 1975
- $64.2 billion in 1980
- $164 billion in 1981
Onanuga further explained that per capita income only began to rise meaningfully by 2014 after the country’s GDP was rebased, reaching around $3,200.
Beyond contesting the numbers, the presidency also criticised the use of GDP per capita as a measure of national wellbeing, saying it failed to account for quality-of-life indicators such as healthcare access, education, infrastructure, and technology adoption.
“GDP per capita alone is a poor tool for measuring living standards,” Onanuga said. “It does not reflect the reality of modern access to services and improvements in daily life compared to the early years of Independence.”
He noted that in 1960, only about 18,724 Nigerians had access to telephone lines. Today, over 200 million Nigerians use mobile phones and have access to digital services. He also highlighted improvements in road networks, the number of schools, medical facilities, and overall infrastructure growth.
Onanuga referenced a historical anecdote involving Vodacom, a South African telecom company that declined to enter Nigeria in the late 1990s due to assumptions drawn from GDP data. In contrast, MTN, which proceeded with investment, now generates over ₦1 trillion in revenue quarterly and boasts more than 84 million subscribers.
“Does this correlate with a country that is supposedly worse off than in 1960?” he asked.
Concluding his remarks, Onanuga asserted:
“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 confidently say that our economy is at least 50 times — if not 100 times — larger than it was at Independence.”