The World Bank made a startling revelation that Nigeria’s per capita income (PCI) has not improved in the last 40 years as it remained static since 1981.

World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated this on Monday at a panel at the ongoing 27th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#27) and urged the economy managers to quickly assemble potent strategies to harness the robust potential of the country. The summit, themed ‘Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now’, drew economic experts, fiscal and monetary policy stakeholders, the academia and more.

In economics, PCI scales the average income earned per person in a country in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the country’s total income by its total population. In 1981, according to World Bank data, Nigeria’s PCI was $2,180.2 and $2,097 in 2020, meaning there was actually a reduction from the 1981 level.

“Nigeria today has real per capita income that is about the same as 40 years — in 1981. This means someone whose growth has been stunted,” he said.

“I heard the Minister talking about the medium term development plan, which has all the right ingredients. It will take time to get (the country) back to its full potential — it can’t happen overnight.

“But our sense is that Nigeria is at a point in time where some critical decisions need to be made. It’s almost like the immediate treatment to halt further decline.”

He described Nigeria as an individual with the potential to become a star athlete.

According to Chaudhuri, about three million Nigerians come of working age yearly, but surveys have shown that they aspire to go abroad.

“I think the urgency of doing something now is because the time is going in terms of retaining the hope of young Nigerians in the future and potential of Nigeria,” he said.

Chaudhuri, like other global bodies, advised Nigeria to immediately channel spending on petrol subsidy to infrastructure, education and healthcare services.

Earlier in her remarks, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed called for a paradigm shift in running the country’s economy through comprehensive and targeted reforms, a reorientation of our national values, and a radical shift in attitudes to taxation and public financial management. 

“This is consistent with the focus of this administration on targeted investment in critical infrastructure and social development”, she said.

Sun