I Don’t Think Anyone Who Studied Economics Is Surprised Nigeria Is Where It Is Today – Sanusi II

With inflation spiraling, food prices breaking records, and millions facing severe hardship, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II — once Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor — has declared that the country’s economic collapse should come as no shock to any economist.

In his view, decades of destructive policy choices, compounded by an unwillingness to heed warnings, guaranteed the crisis now engulfing the nation.

In an interview covered by Channels Television on Thursday, August 7, 2025, Sanusi criticized successive governments for repeatedly dismissing well-reasoned objections to poor governance.

He accused Nigeria’s leaders of defending a rent-seeking system that enriched a select few while keeping the majority in poverty. Sanusi noted that this entrenched system rewarded political connections rather than actual productivity, and said his own persecution was proof of how dangerous it was to oppose it.

“I have faced a lot of persecution for my views,” Sanusi remarked, adding, “Every rational argument against the course we were on met resistance. The people controlling the narrative were the same ones benefiting from it.”

The ex-CBN boss argued that while other nations modernized their economies, Nigeria clung to wasteful subsidies, policy missteps, and reckless loans, paving the way for crushing inflation, rising unemployment, and mass poverty.

Drawing from history, he highlighted Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s nationalist economic agenda, which sought to replace foreign economic dominance with local entrepreneurship — a vision he implied Nigeria has long abandoned.

COURTESY: Nillxy