The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi the second, has said that Nigeria’s present economic hardship stems from the country’s failure to remove fuel subsidy over a decade ago.

Sanusi who made this remark while speaking at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference, said inflation would not have exceeded 30 per cent if the policy had been implemented then as assessed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria stated that Nigeria could have avoided today’s severe inflation and economic distress if the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan had been allowed to end the subsidy in 2011.

The Emir further revealed that fears of Boko Haram suicide bombers prevented former President Goodluck Jonathan from fully removing the fuel subsidy. He explained that Jonathan’s administration only removed 50 per cent of the subsidy due to concerns that Boko Haram might target protesters during the nationwide demonstrations.