₦airaland Forum

Born Into Debt: Every Nigerian Now Owes ₦724,000 Before They Even Take Their First Breath

By the time a Nigerian child cries for the first time in a hospital in Lagos, Kano, or Port Harcourt, that baby already owes the country's creditors close to three-quarters of a million naira. No job. No bank account. No sin committed. Just born Nigerian — and born in debt.

That is not an exaggeration. It is arithmetic.

THE NUMBERS NOBODY WANTS TO SAY OUT LOUD

According to the latest figures released by the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria's total public debt — covering the Federal Government, all 36 states, and the FCT — hit ₦159.28 trillion (about $110.97 billion) as of December 31, 2025. That's not a typo. That's the official number, confirmed by the debt office itself and reported across multiple newsrooms in April 2026.

Break it down and the picture gets worse:
- Domestic debt: ₦84.85 trillion (about 53.3% of the total)
- External debt: ₦74.43 trillion, roughly $51.86 billion (about 46.7% of the total)
- Quarter-on-quarter jump: debt rose by ₦5.98 trillion — that's 3.9% — in just three months, from September to December 2025
- Year-on-year jump: ₦14.61 trillion added in a single year, a 10.1% rise from ₦144.67 trillion in December 2024

Divide ₦159.28 trillion by Nigeria's estimated population of roughly 220 million people, and every single citizen — from the newborn in the maternity ward to the elder in the village — is carrying an estimated ₦724,000 in public debt on their head. Nobody asked them. Nobody consulted them. It was simply assigned.

A DECADE OF BORROWING THAT NEVER SLOWED DOWN

This didn't happen overnight. It's the result of ten straight years of borrowing, and the trend line only points one way: up.

Year | Total Public Debt (₦ trillion) | YoY Growth
2015 | 12.60 | —
2016 | 17.36 | +37.7%
2017 | 21.73 | +25.1%
2018 | 24.39 | +12.2%
2019 | 27.40 | +12.4%
2020 | 32.92 | +20.1%
2021 | 39.56 | +20.2%
2022 | 46.25 | +16.9%
2023 | 97.34 | +110.5%
2024 | 144.67 | +48.6%
2025 | 159.28 | +10.1%

(Figures from 2015–2022 are drawn from DMO historical records as compiled by financial data trackers; 2023–2025 figures are confirmed directly from official DMO releases.)

Look closely at 2023. Debt didn't just rise — it more than doubled in a single year, jumping by over 110%. Analysts point to a mix of factors: the securitisation of the CBN's Ways and Means advances, naira devaluation inflating the local-currency value of dollar debt, and continued borrowing to plug budget deficits. Whatever the technical explanation, the effect on ordinary people is the same — the debt burden they never agreed to keeps climbing.

Since 2015, Nigeria's total public debt has grown more than twelvefold in naira terms. In dollar terms the climb looks less dramatic — from around $65 billion in 2015 to about $111 billion by the end of 2025 — but that gap itself tells its own story: the naira has weakened so much that even "manageable" dollar debt has become crushing when converted into the currency Nigerians are actually paid and spend in.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY EVEN GO — AND WHO'S PAYING IT BACK?

Full report here: https://yaroinsider.ng/2026/07/19/born-into-debt-every-nigerian-now-owes-724000-before-birth/

And the borrowing continues, this na just preamble, wait till each Nigerian owes #100m. APC is a weapon fashioned against Nigeria.

lol… every Nigerian…??
U pple know how to shoot funny statement

Individuals and corporate bodies are not the same..
Nigeria as a corporate entity is owing…..And Nigeria is fvcking rich, she will settle her debts in due time when we have sane pple in the 3 arms of govt..

Make the government kuku provide us with account number make we dey pay back the loan small small!

Jakarta:
And the borrowing continues, this na just preamble, wait till each Nigerian owes #100m. APC is a weapon fashioned against Nigeria.

too bad for the countryy

saintopus:
Make the government kuku provide us with account number make we dey pay back the loan small small!

may be they go soon start that rubbish

WatchYourSix:
lol… every Nigerian…??
U pple know how to shoot funny statement

Individuals and corporate bodies are not the same..
Nigeria as a corporate entity is owing…..And Nigeria is fvcking rich, she will settle her debts in due time when we have sane pple in the 3 arms of govt..

the figures are real u can do ur calculations

yaroinside:
the figures are real u can do ur calculations

Im not doubting ur figures of Nigeria’s debt… what is wrong in any time and space is u transferring Nigeria’s debts on individual Nigerians…

Its simple corporate law… Nigeria is an international corporate entity by default….. the entity took the loan, not individuals humans…

So u cant hold individuals liable to pay for the long term liabilities a corporate entity took… especially when the corporate entity is rich enough to pay its debt

By the time we finish on the mandate we stand, unborn children will be owing 30m each. I come in peace oooo.

WatchYourSix:
Im not doubting ur figures of Nigeria’s debt… what is wrong in any time and space is u transferring Nigeria’s debts on individual Nigerians…

Its simple corporate law… Nigeria is an international corporate entity by default….. the entity took the loan, not individuals humans…

So u cant hold individuals liable to pay for the long term liabilities a corporate entity took… especially when the corporate entity is rich enough to pay its debt

So if a company takes a loan is it not the shareholders as the owners of the company that will still pay? Directly or indirectly. Who are the shareholders of Nigeria if not the Nigerian people. The loan will be paid from our taxes and what would have been used to develop a working country later which affects Nigerians. The question is what is the loan used for? And is it not looted by few?

okoloto:
So if a company takes a loan is it not the shareholders as the owners of the company that will still pay? Directly or indirectly. Who are the shareholders of Nigeria if not the Nigerian people. The loan will be paid from our taxes and what would have been used to develop a working country later which affects Nigerians. The question is what is the loan used for? And is it not looted by few?

na wetin i de try mk he understand

okoloto:
So if a company takes a loan is it not the shareholders as the owners of the company that will still pay? Directly or indirectly. Who are the shareholders of Nigeria if not the Nigerian people. The loan will be paid from our taxes and what would have been used to develop a working country later which affects Nigerians. The question is what is the loan used for? And is it not looted by few?

Again….corporate entity is a separate legal entity from its owners, this shields the individuals from the debt of the corporate entity…

Legally, If anybody will be held liable to pay, its the administrators who fraudulently or by corruption mismanaged the resources of the corporate entity called Nigeria …
. U dont have to agree though….
thats what arguments are meant for ..

You guys and your prejudices plus half-baked understanding of the socio-economic affair of nation.s

FG owes that debt and will pay it. Not individual Nigerians. Have they sent you a message demanding you pay higher tax or a debt relief fund?


I don't get you guys and how you think and talk ignorantly.

"Every Nigeria now owes 724,000 Naira" ba? How is that going to be collected from the 65% of Nigerians employed in the informal sector not even identified on any database or registered to pay tax?

Are Government officials at your door debt-collecting?

Stop scare-mongering emptily about debt which is never a bad thing if aiding national development and can be comfortablly repaid by the FG.

We borrow because of how undiversified, and solely reliant on crude oil earnings, the Nigerian economy is.

Loans, used well by a Government that knows what it is doing, will more than pay for itself a million times if it improves the socio-economic success of Nigeria.