Misleading Economic Claims: Nigeria's Debt and UAE's Wealth

On 25 June 2026, a user on X, @felixherbt, shared a post that compared Nigeria's debt with the UAE's wealth.

The post (archived here) stated, "Nigeria discovered oil in 1956. The UAE discovered it in 1958. Today, the UAE is worth $700 billion. Nigeria is $500 billion in debt. Same resources, same decade, opposite results."

As of 2 July 2026, the post had over 370,000 views, 23,000 likes, and more than 7,000 shares.

The claim got mixed reactions, with many users blaming Nigeria's economic problems on bad leadership.

One user, @chopsdaddi, wrote, "The UAE has only oil and tourism. They don’t even tax their citizens. Nigeria has oil, agriculture, tax revenue, mineral deposits, and a large workforce. But a bunch of fools at the top who do not know how to harness potential."

Another user, @NigVoteWatchers, added, "The difference is leadership! UAE is blessed, while Nigeria is cursed with leadership."

The claim was also shared by several users on Facebook here, here, and here.

PREMIUM TIMES checked the claim because of its wide reach.

Verification

PREMIUM TIMES broke down the claim into three parts to look into the various issues raised.

Did Nigeria discover oil before the UAE?

The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in Nigeria states that Shell-BP made Nigeria’s first commercial oil discovery at Oloibiri, in present-day Bayelsa State, in 1956.

Records from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) show that Abu Dhabi’s first commercial oil discovery happened in 1958 at the Murban Bab oil field. This was two years after Nigeria discovered oil. So the claim about when both countries found oil is true.

Does Nigeria have a $500 billion debt?

Nigeria’s total public debt includes domestic and external debts of the federal government, 36 states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Debt Management Office (DMO) manages this data.

According to DMO data (archived here) published on 13 April 2026, Nigeria’s total public debt was $110.97 billion (N159.28 trillion) as of 31 December 2025.

This claim overstated Nigeria’s public debt by more than three times the official amount.

Is the UAE worth $700 billion?

The post claimed the UAE’s economy is worth $700 billion. To check this, PREMIUM TIMES looked for the latest data on the UAE’s net wealth.

In December 2025, Gulf News, a UAE newspaper, reported that the UAE’s total net wealth reached $3.12 trillion. This includes $1.15 trillion in financial assets and $2.18 trillion in real assets, according to data from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Further searches suggested that the $700 billion figure might have come from the 2026 BCG Global Wealth Report (archived here).

But the problem is that the 2026 data refers to two different measures: the total private wealth of UAE residents and the assets managed at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). These do not reflect the UAE’s total net worth.

Is the comparison itself valid?

Besides the wrong figures, the post compares Nigeria’s public debt with the UAE’s net wealth.

PREMIUM TIMES spoke to Paul Alaje, a Chief Economist at SPM Professionals, who said the comparison does not accurately show the economy of either country because it uses different economic indicators.

Mr Alaje said looking only at Nigeria’s debt without considering debt servicing, government revenue, and foreign reserves is misleading.

He pointed out that the US and China have much higher debt than Nigeria but enjoy a much better quality of life, showing that debt alone does not tell the whole story of an economy.

He also highlighted a key difference between the two countries.

"While they are investing in capital, Nigeria sometimes invests in consumption," he said.

He noted that the UAE borrows to fund "measurable infrastructure and development while Nigeria has borrowed to pay salaries."

PREMIUM TIMES also talked to Muda Yusuf, former Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry and CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE). He said the different economic outcomes of Nigeria and the UAE cannot just be explained by when they discovered oil.

Mr Yusuf stated that differences in governance, investment climate, policy consistency, and oil-sector management are the real reasons for the different economic results of the two countries.

"That is where we missed it when we compared Nigeria with the UAE," he said.

Conclusion

While the dates of oil discovery in Nigeria and the UAE are correct, the figures for both countries’ wealth and debt are misleading.