₦airaland Forum

malali:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly secured another $238 million loan from Japan, ostensibly to “improve power transmission.” To the casual observer, this looks like progress. But the seasoned Nigerian, scarred by decades of déjà vu economics, knows it’s a rinse-and-repeat cycle.

In 2022, under Buhari, Japan already loaned Nigeria $220 million for the same sector. Three years later, there has been no measurable improvement in power supply nationwide. Nigerians still endure darkness, endless generator noise, and unaffordable tariffs. No clear audit, no transparent breakdown, no accountability.

Now, in 2025, after Tinubu scrapped fuel subsidies and forex subsidies, moves that were sold as “fiscal discipline”, we are ironically demanding an even larger loan. If subsidy savings were meant to free up cash, why are we borrowing more, not less?

The Questions Nigerians Should Be Asking
1. What happened to the 2022 Japanese loan?
Where is the project? Which substations were upgraded? Which metrics improved?
2. Why borrow bigger now when subsidies are gone?
The fiscal hole was supposed to shrink. Instead, the hole seems deeper.
3. What is the loan-to-loan pipeline?
Is this now a treadmill, borrow $220M, then $238M, then $300M, each time with no results?

The Hidden Agenda of Borrowing

When governments borrow aggressively in short windows, especially near the start of their term, it often signals one of two things:
• Kickbacks & patronage networks: Loan contracts are tied to contractors and consultants who orbit the ruling elite.
• Strategic debt entanglement: Leaving office with a country shackled in obligations so crushing that the next administration cannot maneuver.

This is Buhari economics rebranded, borrow, announce “infrastructure,” but deliver nothing measurable. By the end, the naira is devalued, inflation soars, and the debt-servicing bill swallows the budget.

The Global Contrast

While the world invests in AI, renewable energy, and digital economies, Nigeria is still mortgaging its sovereignty on crude oil backbones and opaque loans. Other nations build wealth engines; we build debt pyramids.

The New Slavery

The old chains were iron. The new chains are debt obligations. You don’t need colonizers if you can keep Africans permanently owing. Every loan signed without transparency is another shackle.

What Must Be Done
1. A bipartisan Senate committee must publish a transparent loan register:
• How much borrowed
• For what purpose
• What has been delivered
• What is projected
2. Independent audits by civil society and international watchdogs must track outcomes.
3. Shift from loan addiction to revenue innovation: AI, renewable energy, fintech exports, diaspora remittance leverage, agricultural processing.

Tinubu’s borrowing spree feels less like “reform” and more like loot now, let the next generation pay later. Without radical accountability, Nigeria risks becoming a nation that doesn’t own its future, just the paperwork of its debt collectors.

FIRDAUS3:
this loan of a thing is a fast major setback for Nigeria, after collection no transparency, non-efficient utilization,

That’s exactly my worry, loans must be treated as income, with every condition, repayment plan and utilization breakdown updated consistently.

We are no longer funding forex subsidy or oil subsidy… SO WHY ARE WE ACCUMULATING MORE DEBT THAN EVER

Putinofrussia:
What would you now say about South Africa?
They borrow 5 times more than Nigeria borrows.
All nations of the world borrow.

malali:

That’s exactly my worry, loans must be treated as income, with every condition, repayment plan and utilization breakdown updated consistently.

We are no longer funding forex subsidy or oil subsidy… SO WHY ARE WE ACCUMULATING MORE DEBT THAN EVER

FIRDAUS3:
this loan of a thing is a fast major setback for Nigeria, after collecting it, no transparency, non-efficient utilization and we eventually pay for what we known nothing about.
SCAM everywhere

blacksam01:
Borrowing is the main reason the naira is still a weak currency

malali:
South Africa’s borrowing is better positioned despite higher debt:
• South Africa’s external debt is approximately 22% of its GDP, indicating manageable debt relative to economic size, while Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio is higher and more burdensome .
• South Africa has stronger debt servicing capacity, with debt service payments on external debt about $23 billion in 2023, reflecting stabilized creditworthiness .
• South Africa’s borrowing supports a more diversified and resilient economy with better access to formal credit markets, unlike Nigeria where formal borrowing levels are lower, constrained by high interest rates and less financial inclusion .
• Nigeria faces currency depreciation pressures inflating its debt burden, while South Africa’s rand is relatively more stable .

malali:
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly secured another $238 million loan from Japan, ostensibly to “improve power transmission.” To the casual observer, this looks like progress. But the seasoned Nigerian, scarred by decades of déjà vu economics, knows it’s a rinse-and-repeat cycle.

In 2022, under Buhari, Japan already loaned Nigeria $220 million for the same sector. Three years later, there has been no measurable improvement in power supply nationwide. Nigerians still endure darkness, endless generator noise, and unaffordable tariffs. No clear audit, no transparent breakdown, no accountability.

Now, in 2025, after Tinubu scrapped fuel subsidies and forex subsidies, moves that were sold as “fiscal discipline”, we are ironically demanding an even larger loan. If subsidy savings were meant to free up cash, why are we borrowing more, not less?

The Questions Nigerians Should Be Asking
1. What happened to the 2022 Japanese loan?
Where is the project? Which substations were upgraded? Which metrics improved?
2. Why borrow bigger now when subsidies are gone?
The fiscal hole was supposed to shrink. Instead, the hole seems deeper.
3. What is the loan-to-loan pipeline?
Is this now a treadmill, borrow $220M, then $238M, then $300M, each time with no results?

The Hidden Agenda of Borrowing

When governments borrow aggressively in short windows, especially near the start of their term, it often signals one of two things:
• Kickbacks & patronage networks: Loan contracts are tied to contractors and consultants who orbit the ruling elite.
• Strategic debt entanglement: Leaving office with a country shackled in obligations so crushing that the next administration cannot maneuver.

This is Buhari economics rebranded, borrow, announce “infrastructure,” but deliver nothing measurable. By the end, the naira is devalued, inflation soars, and the debt-servicing bill swallows the budget.

The Global Contrast

While the world invests in AI, renewable energy, and digital economies, Nigeria is still mortgaging its sovereignty on crude oil backbones and opaque loans. Other nations build wealth engines; we build debt pyramids.

The New Slavery

The old chains were iron. The new chains are debt obligations. You don’t need colonizers if you can keep Africans permanently owing. Every loan signed without transparency is another shackle.

What Must Be Done
1. A bipartisan Senate committee must publish a transparent loan register:
• How much borrowed
• For what purpose
• What has been delivered
• What is projected
2. Independent audits by civil society and international watchdogs must track outcomes.
3. Shift from loan addiction to revenue innovation: AI, renewable energy, fintech exports, diaspora remittance leverage, agricultural processing.

Tinubu’s borrowing spree feels less like “reform” and more like loot now, let the next generation pay later. Without radical accountability, Nigeria risks becoming a nation that doesn’t own its future, just the paperwork of its debt collectors.

malali:
Strip the spin:
• NELFUND & consumer credit are loans, not free gifts.
• Kidney dialysis remains out of reach for the average poor Nigerian despite token subsidies.
• Technical institutions “free” claim ignores underfunding, poor facilities, and teachers still owed arrears.
• Old pensioners getting “free medical care” is largely paper policy, walk into a government hospital and test it.
• Lagos “best tech city in the world”? Laughable, global rankings don’t place it anywhere near top 20.
• Nigeria didn’t pay off IMF debt; Nigeria hasn’t owed the IMF since 2006 under Obasanjo.What was left was accrued interest and charges

Hardship isn’t “easing”—inflation just crossed 33%, food inflation near 40%, and naira volatility remains brutal.

Tinubu hasn’t delivered more than past governments, he’s delivering more pain with more propaganda.

Putinofrussia:
Thrash is when you deny the obvious

Enice:
Stop writing rubbish! DMO publishes our debts. That's our official record. Stop manufacturing silly records

malali:

And by publish, you mean lump it together ?
Without really classifying or analyzing so many parameters
Where were you when IMF and world bank said our statistics could be better
Which is akin to saying DMO is practicing voodoo statistics to compute our debt matters.