Former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said Nigeria’s economy is recovering from the brink of collapse but warned that the Federal Government must address the hardship inflicted on vulnerable citizens by its economic reforms.
Sanusi, however, cautioned that improved economic indicators should not be mistaken for improved living conditions, insisting that the success of President Bola Tinubu’s administration must be measured by its impact on ordinary Nigerians.
The former CBN governor spoke on Tuesday at the Oxford Global Think Tank conference, where he acknowledged the progress recorded under the current administration but faulted its failure to adequately protect poor households from the consequences of its policies.
He said the government had established a foundation for economic stability after years of sluggish growth, citing improvements in gross domestic product, inflation, foreign reserves and non-oil exports.
Sanusi noted that Nigeria’s GDP grew by 4.48 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, describing the development as significant progress compared with the performance recorded under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “Now, it’s not as high as it was in the time of Yar’Adua/Jonathan, for example, 6–7 per cent, but if you look at the Buhari years, on average, GDP grew by 0.9 per cent.
“Even if you took out the pandemic years, we were growing at 1.8 per cent under Buhari. Today it’s at 4.5 per cent, so we have to accept that as progress.”
The former CBN governor also highlighted the decline in inflation from above 30 per cent in recent years to 14.6 per cent, with projections suggesting a further reduction to between 12 and 12.5 per cent next year.
He attributed the improvement partly to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s aggressive monetary tightening measures, which he said had helped stabilise consumer prices.
Sanusi further disclosed that the country’s external reserves had risen to $55bn, supported by improved crude oil prices and foreign portfolio investments.
He also identified the Dangote Refinery as a major contributor to the country’s non-crude exports, noting that the facility generated approximately $4bn in exports in the second quarter of 2026.
According to him, the refinery exported 50 per cent of its diesel production and 85 per cent of its aviation fuel output during the period.
Despite these improvements, Sanusi warned that Nigeria’s economic recovery remained vulnerable to external shocks, particularly the volatility of foreign portfolio investments and geopolitical developments.
He said the government must look beyond economic statistics and confront the worsening social conditions affecting millions of Nigerians.
The emir expressed concern over the impact of the reforms on education, healthcare, maternal mortality, malnutrition and hunger.
He said, “At the end of the day, we’ve got to look at the human beings at the bottom of the pyramid.
“What’s happening to human beings? What’s happening to education? What’s happening to healthcare? What’s happening to maternal mortality? What’s happening to malnutrition? What is happening to hunger?”
Sanusi argued that the government ought to have anticipated the hardship associated with the reforms and introduced adequate measures to cushion their effects on low-income earners.
He said the failure to establish effective social protection mechanisms remained a major weakness of the reform programme.
“When we started these reforms, we should have known that there was going to be an impact on people at the bottom of the pyramid, and we should have designed policies that would try to minimise those shocks, and that is a problem that we’ve not done, and we still have not done,” he added.
The former CBN governor also drew attention to disparities in wealth distribution across the country, warning that while some regions had recorded improvements, many Nigerians had been pushed further below the poverty line.
He maintained that economic stability alone was insufficient without deliberate policies to protect citizens who bear the greatest burden of rising living costs.
Sanusi nevertheless acknowledged the Tinubu administration’s efforts to steer the economy away from collapse, stressing that the government deserved recognition for the progress recorded.
He, however, insisted that sustained economic recovery would depend on the government’s ability to translate improved macroeconomic indicators into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
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