To thoroughly and objectively assess the performance of any government like that of a battered
economy like Nigeria, we will need to navigate a wholesome assessment of its economic trends in the
global economic system than harrowing the costs of gari and yam in the local market.
The news of today shows that Nigeria occupies number 6 position globally as a contributor to GDP
growth.
Before 2023, Nigeria in the global economic development occupied a 69th position but it slid each
consecutive year and in 2026 to 55th in global growth indices.
Before 2023 Nigeria experienced decades of subsidy payments for most of our local consumptions of
imported raw materials, finished products, and services for over 200 million citizens which depleted
and permeated humongous corruptions of the consumption economy the foreign reserves collapsed
leaving decades of huge unpaid IMF loans, dilapidated structures, and resulted in flights of skilled
manpower, youth unemployment, restlessness, unpaid salaries and wages, labor strikes, incessant
students demonstrations and fears of uncertainties as crimes, Kidnappings, and hopelessness gripped
the polity.
Nigeria as a result became globally disconnected due to poor credit worth as bilateral trade declined and
foreign investors took their flight in droves. It was a time that Nigerian leaders became disillusioned and
began to trade our common wealth for paying loans. Nigeria almost became a pariah of other nations
as the internal system threatened anarchy.
Majority of state governments at that time owed salaries of civil servants and of contractors to a
minimum of one year and some states devised payments of half salaries to their civil servants. Except
for our religious institutions who were proliferating on the challenges of Nigerians to make wealth by
promising spiritual liberation.
Nigerians seem to have short memories as the whole system then went into stagnation with yearly and
seasonal long queues at fuel stations.
The Emefiele saga of cash crunch and buying of naira with naira can also not be forgotten in a hurry
altogether made life so miserable for Nigerians beyond costs of gari and rice which mostly were not
there to buy.
As a way of salvaging those challenges recommendations were proffered across economic and political
institutions that removing subsidy was the best solution to deliver Nigeria from obvious economic mess.
The recommendation however was good but implementation nevertheless was difficult as subsidy
payment was the major source of corruption in Nigeria,
Corrupt leaders for decades kept prioritizing subsidies deliberately to milk the nation dry to aggrandize
selfish wealth.
Removing subsidy therefore became preponderant but required a bold step against the Cabals who
treasured it.
It was the government of Asiwaju APC who did it with that audacity.
The President announced subsidy removal from the first day of his swearing in with words of
encouragement to Nigerians to prepare for hard times that would only be for a season of repairs and
restoration.
There is however no policy without its challenges, subsidy removal caused mostly the lower class of the
citizenry to pay more for what they consumed as there was no more subsidized products and services.
There were findings of scams in previous subsidy payments between NNPC and the executive handlers,
the government contractors and some civil servants who were found culpable and sentenced to jail.
Many of those scammers in government devised various illicit approaches to their businesses using
governments instruments to defraud the economy with fake fuel supplies by paying for empty vessels
on the sea shores and taking fake subsidies in billions of dollars off the governments.
The government of Obasanjo, GEJ, Yar’Adua all paid such humongous money to subsidy scams that
gradually ruined the economy to the time subsidy payments were forced to stop in 2023.
The challenges currently being faced as a nation are natural with an individual paying directly for risen
costs of consumption, high costs of fuel that is determined by the global production, economic growth,
and disruptions like wars or sanctions.
These also caused spirally high costs of raw and finished products for domestic and industrial use and
worsened recently by the global war between Israel and the Palestinians which raised the costs of fuel
globally and high costs of living standards making it to bite harder on Nigerians.
In Nigeria of the present regime, the unpaid subsidies have created bulk of savings for the federal
government and resulted into more prosperity for the economy which are used in rebuilding dilapidated
structures, payments of minimum wages, increased allocations to states and local governments council
for improved services in hospitals, seaports, public services, rails and roads across Nigeria with greater
intentions to boost the economy and to attract back the lost foreign investments as a way to provide youth employments and visible in improved generation of power, refurbishing of Refineries, for payments of salaries of civil servants, for giving loans to students, and so on that gradually restores confidence back to Nigeria locally and internationally.
Today, Nigeria has paid a large percentage of her IMF loans of several decades, repaired abandoned
roads, relived old infrastructures and industries to begin the process of industrialization and youths
employment.
We no longer experience long queues at fuel stations, no more industrial strikes neither students
demonstrations and endless strikes.
What we have today might require greater patience, more understanding and sacrifices of the common
man to allow the building process to properly build up for the poor man to get the intended reliefs in
not a far distant time and for generations unborn to have a nation to call their own and reduce the
trends of jappa to foreign countries where most youths end up in jails.
