Sanusi slams govt spending, says ‘we spend more money on debt service, fuel subsidy than on education’

A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, has slammed the Federal Government for failing to prioritise education in the country.

According to him, one out of every six children are out of school in Nigeria.

He said this at the 27th National Economic Summit in Abuja on Tuesday, adding that the leadership has to understand the need for development, especially in the education sector.

“Where you are dealing with a country where 40% of the population is living in extreme poverty or 1 out of every 6 children in the world are out of school in this country, you cannot fix this problem without having a leadership that understands what development is,” the ex-CBN governor said.

“Where are we spending our money? Does the Nigerian state even consider development as a critical priority? Forget the noise; where are we spending our money?

“We spend more money on debt service, fuel subsidy, overheads, and the National Assembly than on education. We’re spending less money on education and healthcare than countries like Ghana are spending. We’re spending less money on R&D than countries like Kenya and Rwanda,” he added.

According to him, if Nigeria does not understand that development is about human beings, everything will fall by the wayside.

“So, the biggest accelerator is political; having a political leadership that understands that the state should be a developmental state and not a populist state,” he explained.