Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank’s country director for
Nigeria, says the country’s per capita income is at the same level as 1981.
Speaking on Monday during a panel session at the 27th
Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#27), he said the country needs to make strategic
decisions to set it on the path to realising its potential.
The summit is themed ‘Securing Our Future: The Fierce
Urgency of Now’.
Per capita income (PCI) measures the average income earned
per person in a given 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.
“Nigeria today has real per capita income that was the same
as 40 years — in 1981. This means someone whose growth has been stunted,” he
said.
“I heard the honourable 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 3 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 advised Nigeria to channel spending on petrol
subsidy to infrastructure, education and health care services.
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