Sanusi to FG: Nigerians not your enemies, don’t consider every criticism an attack

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has urged the Federal Government to listen to constructive criticism rather than treating every comment about poverty or hardship as an attack on the president.

Sanusi spoke virtually to the audience at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference, organised by the Oxford Global Think Tank, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor said: “It’s not every time people talk about poverty or talk about difficulty that they’re just enemies of the government or making an attack on the president

“That is not how to respond to economic distress.”

The Emir also raised concerns about the size of government expenditure, saying Nigeria could not pursue fiscal consolidation while continuing to spend without restraint.

Sanusi said the World Bank had pointed out that in the first half of this year Nigeria’s debt service consumed 124 per cent of federal government revenue.

Sanusi warned that the country needed to urgently address the sustainability of its debt and pursue structural reforms that had not yet been made.

Sanusi said reform must go beyond removing fuel subsidies and liberalising the exchange rate, describing it as a comprehensive package that needed to address many other areas.

He said government needed to make clear spending priorities, choosing between roads, electricity, agriculture, and technology based on available resources.

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The former CBN boss said every $10 billion spent on roads was $10 billion taken away from electricity and agriculture, stressing the need for deliberate choices.

Sanusi acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms have produced measurable progress, citing improvements in GDP growth, inflation, and foreign reserves.

Sanusi said GDP growth has risen from an average of 0.9 per cent under the previous administration to 4.5 per cent, describing the change as progress that deserved recognition.

The Emir stated: “I think moving from an average growth rate of 0.9 per cent to 4.5 per cent is progress. Moving from inflation of over 30 per cent to 14.5 per cent is progress

“Moving from the point where in 2023 the central bank’s reserves were maybe negative to where we are now having reserves of $55 billion is progress.”

He, however, stressed that issues such as poverty, hunger, maternal mortality, malnutrition, education and healthcare remained serious concerns that the reforms has not yet addressed.

Sanusi said the government should have designed social safety net policies to soften the impact of reforms on vulnerable Nigerians from the beginning.

Sanusi also called for more women to be brought into the centre of governance and decision-making, saying they were largely excluded from government at all levels.