The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said it's not every time Nigerians talk about poverty and hardship that the Presidency issues a statement condemning them as enemies of President Bola Tinubu.
Sanusi made the remark while urging Tinubu's administration to listen more to Nigerians.
He spoke at the Oxford Global Think Tank conference convened by Arunma Oteh, a former Director General of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC.
According to Sanusi: "President Tinubu's government needs to listen more, it's not every time people talk about poverty and difficulty that you just issue a statement from the Villa and condemn them as enemies of the government or an attack on the president, that is not how to respond.
"I personally think that in terms of pulling back from the brink, dealing with inflation, look we were heading towards hyperinflation.
"People need to understand that we were on the brink of complete economic collapse in 2023, it's something I have been saying since I was CBN governor and if we do not address these issues we are going into crisis.
"We are in a crisis and there will be poverty and pains, now what do we need to get out of this?"