Despite criticisms, Tinubu’s aide insists $1 is valuable in Nigeria
Tope Fasua, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Economic Affairs, has doubled down on his controversial claim about the $1 feeding argument, saying $1 is a valuable amount in Nigeria.
In a recent interview with Seun Okinbaloye, Fasua argued that many Nigerians misunderstand the concept of multi-dimensional poverty, which is often used in global poverty indices.
He said that despite the high naira-dollar exchange rate, the purchasing power of local currency in Nigeria remains significant compared to the cost of living in the United States.
Fasua’s submission sparked reactions, as many Nigerians criticised him for purportedly downplaying the country’s high rate of poverty and hunger.
But despite the criticisms, Fasua during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, insisted that regardless of the country’s economic situation, $1, which is equivalent to N1,500, is valuable in Nigeria and that Nigerians can feed on it, while Americans living in cities like New York would struggle to buy anything with it.
“Purchasing power parity analysis is actually a bit discredited because, culturally, the idea is to compare what people buy in one country with what they buy in another. But culturally, people have different choices. There’s no amala on the streets in New York, for example, so you have to do something different.
They even have this burger analysis, but only our children eat burgers. I don’t. I’m not a fan. So, the whole idea was to say that, indeed, $1 is still valuable in Nigeria, whereas in a place like New York or a place like the US, you’d have to struggle to get anything with it. You’ll struggle, indeed.
He further argued that Nigeria doesn’t need to subscribe to the international poverty benchmarks, adding that Nigeria needs to develop its own indexes beyond the $2 or $2.50 a day international benchmark.
“That’s why the analysis came that when we’re talking about the issue of poverty, I said, listen, perhaps we need our own indexes beyond the $2 or $2.50 a day that’s been recommended, that the fact that those indices have been recommended doesn’t mean we should take it hook line and sinker, because we know our country, we know our people, we know our culture more than the people recommending.”
He advised that the Federal Government should stop using the internationally recommended standards so that Nigerians won’t continue using the metrics to gaslight it on poverty and hunger.
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