The former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has lamented the worsening insecurity and economic situation in Nigeria, saying the current state of the country is worse than what it was in 2015 when the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) took over power.

Sanusi said this on Thursday while speaking at Chapter 7 of the Akinjide Adeosun Foundation (AAF) Leadership Colloquium and Awards.

The theme of the event was ‘Are Good Leaders Scarce in Nigeria?’

According to Sanusi, 2023 will be worse compared to what Nigerians experienced in 2015, when many Nigerians, through protest votes against then-President Goodluck Jonathan, brought in Muhammadu Buhari.

Sanusi, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the physical and virtual event that was held in Lagos said that “The levels of poverty, levels of insecurity, the rate of inflation, the unstable exchange rate, the lack of power should worry anybody.

“This is the only oil-producing country that is grieving at the moment when oil prices have gone up as a result of the Russia/Ukraine war. Our total revenue is not able to service our debt and if anybody does not understand that we are in a complete mess, we are.

“We were in a deep hole in 2015 and between 2015 and now, we have been digging ourselves into a deeper hole. We thought we had a big problem in 2015 but 2015 is nothing, compared to what will happen in 2023.

“We have terrorism, banditry, inflation, unstable exchange rate, and the worst thing is that those in leadership think we are going to thank them when they leave office. There is no change. There is no sense of urgency. If you are running a company and your sales revenue cannot pay interest, you know you’re bankrupt.

“When the total revenue of the federal government cannot service the debt? These are the kinds of questions we need to ask and the reality is that there are so many Nigerians, who, given the opportunity will do well but they simply cannot contest in that space.”