Economic analyst Paul Alaje has defended African Development Bank President, Akinwumi Adesina, over his recent claim that Nigerians were better off economically in 1960 than they are today.
Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television on Monday, May 5, Alaje said Adesina’s remarks should be understood within the broader context of macroeconomic indicators and not just raw statistics.
“To hold such a position as AfDB President, he must have taken into cognisance the relative value of the dollar, inflation, and poverty levels,” Alaje said.
He acknowledged that the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, was not wrong in citing absolute GDP per capita data, but insisted that those numbers don’t tell the full story.
“Yes, Mr Onanuga is also not wrong when you look at the figures absolutely. But that’s only part of the story. What matters more is: what could that income buy? What was the inflation rate? What was the exchange rate? These are the deeper questions,” he said.
“We need to be mindful of the fact that more Nigerians are living in poverty today than in 1960. The numbers are clearer. It’s not a matter of who is right or wrong; what matters is how we can work together to improve the country’s economic reality.”
Alaje further stated, “The GDP in Nigeria, from available information according to Bayo Onanuga, was around $100 per capita in 1960.
“Today, it is about $800. But I do not fault Mr Adesina because, in economics, we do not take such figures at face value.”
He stressed that economic value must be assessed in context, not absolutes. “When you look at the economic context of 1960, $100 then had a significantly higher purchasing power than $800 today.
“Economists are very careful not to compare figures in absolute terms. What matters is what that money could buy then compared to now,” he explained.
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He also noted that the dollar in 1960 was backed by gold, which gave it more value and stability than today’s fiat currency.
“The dollar at that time was based on the value of gold. In today’s terms, that $100 would be worth far more. So, when Dr Adesina makes his point, he is speaking from an informed position as an economist,” Alaje said.
Earlier on Monday, the Presidency pushed back on Adesina’s remarks, accusing him of spreading inaccurate economic claims.
Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X, said, “Adesina spoke like a politician and did not do due diligence before making his unverifiable statement.”
Adesina had made the comments during a keynote address at the 20th-anniversary dinner of Chapel Hill Denham, where he said Nigeria’s GDP per capita had dropped from $1,847 in 1960 to $824 in 2023.
Onanuga disputed that figure, stating, “Nigeria’s GDP in 1960 was $4.2 billion, and the per capita income, for a population of 44.9 million, was $93—not $1,847.”
He added, “Our country’s GDP did not rise remarkably until the 1970s. In 1980, per capita income reached $880 and rose to $2,187 in 1981 before dropping again.”
He argued that GDP per capita should not be used as a sole yardstick for assessing national progress.
“No objective observer can claim that Nigeria has not made progress since 1960,” he said. “We now have more schools, better road networks, more medical facilities, and near-universal access to mobile phones and digital services.”
Onanuga concluded that while GDP per capita is a useful metric, it “masks the true depth of the economy” and fails to capture improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and the informal sector.