More than two years after President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform programme got off to a shaky start with immediate outcomes he probably did not envisage, Nigeria’s economy is beginning to experience some measure of stabilisation at the macroeconomic level, especially from the perspectives of the removal of fuel subsidies and the stabilisation of the exchange rate. Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said this much when she visited him in Abuja in August 2025.
The immediate outcomes of the reforms, very painful in nature and mostly reflected in the high cost of living for the generality of Nigerians, are far from over. Whatever gains that are being recorded at the macro level have yet to reflect on the micro level, which has a direct impact on the lives of Nigerians. Except for the slight reduction of prices of some foodstuffs in some parts of the country, the cost of living still remains high.
An immediate step the government can take to reduce the pains of the reforms, especially to poor and vulnerable households, is an expansion of the social safety net to involve more Nigerians. No reform can be successful where there is no transparency and accountability. Public institutions, especially those directly involved in activities that impact the lives of Nigerians, like the conditional cash transfer, must not only be transparent and accountable but must be seen to be so.
The main objective of the economic reforms, essentially, is Nigeria’s economic growth and, ultimately, prosperity for all its citizens. However, in achieving this laudable objective, there must be deliberate efforts to ensure economic growth is inclusive enough to involve not just institutions, organisations and corporate Nigeria, but citizens of all classes and genders, including vulnerable groups. The reforms must prioritise human capital development as the pivot of economic growth, without which they would remain purely abstract, with unverifiable statistics.
The reforms of the administration should target a drastic reduction of the grim statistics with which Nigeria is confronted, especially in the areas of education and health. A healthy and educated population is the driver of any form of growth, whether economic or political, anywhere in the world.
Read also: Nigeria: Economic reforms and the response so far
It is estimated that about 20 million children are currently out of school in Nigeria. Specifically, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) said in 2024, 18.3 million Nigerian children were out of school – 10.2 million at the primary level and 8.2 million at the junior secondary school level; 12.4 million never attended school, while 5.9 million left school prematurely. Nigeria accounts for 15 percent of out-of-school children worldwide. Out of this number, the northern part of the country accounts for a disproportionate figure with about 66 percent, with the Northeast leading the pack, with more girls than boys.
The government must, as a matter of urgency, increase access to education for all children of school age. This effort should aim at taking Almajiri children off the streets in the northern part of the country. There should be a review of cultural and religious practices that hamper the education of the girl child in the North to allow for greater access to education by this gender. The height attained by Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, who hails from Borno State, speaks to the importance of educating the girl child, regardless of culture and religion.
The reform programme has drastically reduced Nigerians’ access to healthcare, forcing many to turn to traditional forms of treatment. This is not good for a population that is burgeoning by the day, especially as there are no accurate statistics on the country’s population. The World Health Organisation estimates that Nigeria has the highest out-of-pocket expenditure on health in West Africa. The higher percentage of this estimate involves the few from the upper-middle to the upper class who can afford the cost of healthcare in the country.
In 2024, the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance, Actuarial Matters and Healthcare said that since the establishment of health insurance in Nigeria 27 years ago, only 10 million Nigerians (out of an estimated 230 million as of February 2025) have access to health insurance. This is an area Tinubu’s reforms should pay attention to. The effort at increasing access to healthcare through building and equipping primary health centres by federal, state and local governments would come to naught if citizens could not afford basic healthcare.
The government must increase the affordability of quality healthcare by expanding the health insurance net to include more Nigerians, especially those in the lower rung of the ladder.
The issue of youth unemployment is national, affecting Nigerians from every part of the country. But the South-South geopolitical zone, particularly the Niger Delta region, deserves special mention. Despite the efforts of past administrations since 1999 at rehabilitating former militants through various programmes, youth unemployment in the area is still high. The three tiers of government should step up efforts at job creation in the region, including empowerment programmes that would help curb vices like oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
The growing involvement of women in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in the Southwest, is indicative of an emerging trend of gender inclusivity in the nation’s economy. There must be deliberate efforts to encourage the participation of more women in the economy through credit facilities that are easily accessible to them.
The 31st edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit presents an opportunity for stakeholders to have conversations on how the current economic reforms can promote inclusion as an imperative, not charity, in a manner that would benefit Nigerians from all walks of economic life, in every nook and cranny of the country. It is only then that the programme, at the end of the day, would be said to achieve its objective of prosperity for all.
Mojisola Saka: CEO, Boucles Africa; Co-Chair Media and Comms., NES31
