₦airaland Forum

Sonnobax15:
..And guess what,I don't regret dishing that dream of mine,cuz if I had followed that line,who knows? Perhaps my graveyard coulda grown lots of unwanted flowers beside it.

WE ARE BARRACKS CHILDREN

It’s been said for years. We are Barracks girls and boys. We are Barracks children.
But somewhere along the line, the world got it twisted. They labeled us. Misjudged us.
Painted us in colors that don’t match our truth.

But tell me this - Have you ever seen a king give birth to anything less than royalty? Our fathers are soldiers. Our mothers are warriors. Our playgrounds were parade grounds. Our neighborhoods were built on discipline, unity, and courage.

We are Barracks children. We don’t come from luxury; We come from legacy. We shared walls. We shared food. We shared dreams and discipline.

We didn’t grow up behind private gates. We grew up behind one gate. A gate guarded not by wealth, but by purpose.

They misunderstood our boldness for pride.
They called our confidence "too much."
They thought our strength was rebellion.

But we know the truth: Our spirit isn’t stubborn - it’s strong. Our pride isn’t loud — it’s earned. Our story isn’t shame - it’s royalty.

Have you seen us lead? In classrooms. In clinics. In cockpits. In boardrooms. And then in the battlefields. Yes, the best of the best come from the Barracks.

We are Generals. Doctors. Engineers. Pilots. Scholars..So if you’re ever asked, "Are you a Barracks girl or boy?" You stand tall, smile wide, and say: "Yes, I am. A child of service. A product of strength. A Barrack child; born with pride, raised with discipline, walking in greatness."

🖤 The Barracks is more than a place. It’s our origin. Our heritage. Our honor.

brain54:
A dead terrorist is still not a good terrorist..No such thing as good terrorist!

Bandits Will Soon Be in the Senate and House of Reps Because Nigerians Are Paying Them Tax in the North – Yusuf

They are daring the state and taunting us, killing our soldiers, wearing the military uniform, and going for mediation with the government, then going home without… pic.twitter.com/6iFjeZnnNB

— ARISE NEWS (@ARISEtv) April 17, 2026

Over 700 repentant terrorists set for reintegration into society pic.twitter.com/BJ9ORLDq73

— Africa Independent Television (@AIT_Online) April 16, 2026

-Nigeria raises budget, adds $6bn debt as borrowing surge accelerates
-A fiscal balancing act amid infrastructure needs and revenue gaps or a deepening debt trap?
-Nigeria’s public debt hits record $103.94 billion amid fiscal pressures

The Nigeria’s National Assembly on March 31 approved an increase of the 2026 budget to $49.38 billion (₦68.30 trillion), a 17% increase from President Bola Tinubu’s original December 2025 proposal of approximately $40 billion (₦58.18 trillion).

The upward adjustment was justified as necessary to cover outstanding capital projects and avoid fiscal disruptions, while supporting the administration’s reform agenda of accelerating growth through higher infrastructure spending.

Concurrently, the Senate approved a fresh $6 billion external loan package, including $5 billion from Abu Dhabi’s First Abu Dhabi Bank for budget support and debt servicing, and $1 billion from Citi Bank/UK Export Finance for Lagos port rehabilitation.

This latest borrowing push comes as Nigeria’s total public debt reached $103.94 billion (₦153.29 trillion) as of 30 September 2025, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO). Domestic debt stood at $55.47 billion, while external debt was $48.46 billion.

Rapid debt growth over the last three years Nigeria’s public debt has expanded significantly since mid-2023:
-I). Mid-2023 (around the start of the Tinubu administration): approximately $59 billion (₦87.38 trillion).
-II). March 2025: around $97–100 billion (₦149.39 trillion).
-III). June 2025: $99.66 billion (₦152.39–152.40 trillion).
-IV). September 2025: $103.94 billion (₦153.29 trillion), reflecting a 7.7% year-on-year rise, largely driven by domestic borrowing.

Under President Tinubu (from May 2023 to September 2025), public debt rose by roughly $45 billion (₦66 trillion) in just over two years, averaging about $20 billion (₦29 trillion) annually.

By comparison, the previous administration (2015–2023) added roughly $52 billion (₦75.3 trillion) over eight years, or about $6.5 billion (₦9.4 trillion) per year on average. This accelerated pace under the current administration has drawn sharp criticism for its speed and sustainability.

The debt-to-GDP ratio has remained relatively moderate in official projections (around 34.7–39% for 2026 depending on GDP rebasing), but analysts warn that optimistic assumptions mask underlying vulnerabilities, especially with persistent deficits and high servicing costs.


Why Nigeria Keeps on Borrowing?
Nigeria continues to face persistent budget deficits rooted in structural challenges:

-1). Revenue shortfalls: Heavy dependence on volatile oil revenues combined with historically weak non-oil tax collection.

The 2026 budget projects revenue of approximately $23.5–24.5 billion (₦34–35 trillion) against total spending that now exceeds $49 billion (₦68 trillion) following the National Assembly’s approval, resulting in a deficit of around $17.25 billion (₦23.85 trillion) or about 4.28% of GDP.

Critics argue these revenue targets remain overly optimistic, setting the stage for even larger borrowing needs.

-2). Reform-Related Spending Pressures: Tinubu’s key policies; removal of fuel subsidies, foreign exchange unification, and tax reforms, initially triggered higher inflation and widespread economic hardship.

While intended to create long-term fiscal space, borrowing in the interim has bridged gaps for infrastructure, security, and social support, often without clear evidence of immediate revenue gains.

-3). Infrastructure and Capital Backlogs: The 2026 budget allocates a substantial portion (around $18.9 billion or ₦26.08 trillion in the original proposal) to capital projects in roads, rails, ports, power, and agriculture.

Capital spending remains high, yet execution rates have historically been low (around 26–30%), leading to repeated borrowing for projects that remain incomplete across budget cycles.

The newly approved $6 billion package reflects a mix of budget support, debt servicing, and infrastructure investment — signalling that a growing share of borrowing is being used to manage existing obligations.

How Previous Loans Have Been Used Nigeria has historically relied on multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, bilateral lenders including China, and commercial markets through Eurobond issuances.

Borrowed funds have supported infrastructure projects, including rail modernisation and power investments, as well as emergency financing such as the IMF’s $3.4 billion COVID-19 facility (now repaid).

However, a rising portion of new borrowing has gone toward recurrent spending and rolling over existing debt obligations rather than delivering transformative assets. In the 2026 budget framework, debt servicing alone is projected at around $10.6–11.3 billion (₦15.52–15.9 trillion), consuming roughly 45–50% (or more in some estimates) of expected revenue and about 27% of total expenditure.

This crowds out meaningful allocations for capital development, education, healthcare, and poverty alleviation. While some flagship projects have progressed, chronic issues of poor project execution, political discontinuities, inflated contracts, and governance inefficiencies have undermined the developmental impact of past loans.

Critics highlight that many infrastructure initiatives suffer from delays, cost overruns, and limited tangible benefits for ordinary citizens, raising questions about whether borrowed funds are being deployed with sufficient accountability and efficiency.

Economic Implications
1. Short-Term Pressures:
-I). Debt servicing now rivals or exceeds capital spending in impact, severely constraining resources for essential services like education, healthcare, and poverty reduction programs.

-II). Heavy domestic borrowing competes with the private sector for credit, keeping interest rates elevated and dampening investment and growth.

-III). Inflation risks persist despite some easing; sustained large-scale borrowing (particularly if any portion is indirectly monetized) could reignite price pressures and erode living standards further.

2. Longer-Term Risks and Opportunities:
-I). Sustainability questions: The high debt service-to-revenue ratio (approaching or exceeding 50% in projections) leaves little fiscal space. Any naira depreciation, oil revenue shortfall, or execution failure would sharply worsen the burden, increasing rollover and refinancing risks.

Opposition voices and analysts increasingly warn of a potential “debt trap,” where new loans primarily service old ones, mortgaging future generations with limited visible returns.

-II). Growth potential: Proponents argue that if funds are effectively channelled into productivity-enhancing infrastructure, non-oil revenue growth, and diversification, Nigeria’s projected GDP growth of around 4% for 2026 could materialise, supported by stabilising reserves.

However, repeated low execution rates and structural weaknesses cast doubt on this optimistic scenario.

-III). Intergenerational Equity and Governance Concerns: The current trajectory risks creating unsustainable fiscal strain with uneven benefits. Without radical improvements in revenue mobilisation (especially non-oil taxes), project delivery discipline, and anti-corruption measures, borrowing risks becoming a self-reinforcing cycle rather than a bridge to genuine reform success.

Nigeria is borrowing heavily because current revenues cannot support ambitious spending amid infrastructure deficits and reform transitions.

While the government’s strategy assumes today’s investments will yield tomorrow’s growth and revenue, persistent challenges in execution, revenue realism, and fiscal discipline raise serious concerns that the approach may instead deepen dependency, crowd out productive spending, and heighten long-term vulnerability.

TO:
-The International Bar Association (IBA),
-The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA),
-The Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and the Global Human Rights Community.

SUBJECT: URGENT NOTICE ON THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL FORGERY PERMIT IN NIGERIA’S ELECTORAL ACT 2026.

Distinguished Colleagues and Defenders of Justice, We write to you today with a heavy heart but a firm resolve to alert the global legal community to a treacherous assault on the leadership recruitment standards of Africa’s largest democracy.

A legislative agenda is currently being executed in Nigeria, managed by high-ranking legal professionals and political actors that effectively seeks to grant a legal permit for certificate forgery.

The Constitutional Violation.
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is unambiguous. Section 137(1)(j) states: "No person shall be qualified for election to the office of President if... he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission."

Despite this supreme provision, recent administrative maneuvers and legislative loopholes within the Electoral Act 2026, championed under the current administration and supervised by Professor Amupitan are being utilized to insulate candidates from the consequences of fraud.

By restricting locus standi and de-prioritizing certificate verification as a ground for disqualification, these actors are attempting to make a sub-law that overrides the Constitution.

The Danger of the Amupitan-Tinubu Agenda
This is not a mere administrative adjustment. It is a deliberate dirty task designed to achieve three dangerous outcomes:

1. The Institutionalization of Dishonesty.
It sends a message to millions of Nigerian students and professionals that their hard-earned degrees are worthless compared to a forged paper protected by political patronage.

2. The Erosion of Leadership Standards.
By allowing forgers to occupy the highest offices, the Nigerian state abdicates its moral authority and invites global ridicule.

3. Constitutional Sabotage.
This is a direct attempt to amend the Constitution through the back door of an Electoral Act, a move that is legally offensive and democratically fatal.

A Call to Action.
The silence of the legal community in the face of this forgery permit is a betrayal of the oath we all took to defend the law. We specifically call out the irony of a Professor of Law presiding over the dilution of truth and the protection of fraud.

We urge the Nigerian Bar Association and our international counterparts to:
A. Condemn the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 that shield certificate forgers.

B. Support the upcoming constitutional challenges to strike down these inconsistent clauses.

C. Hold accountable those legal professionals who lend their expertise to the subversion of the Constitution for the benefit of a corrupt few.

Leadership is a sacred trust. It cannot be built on a foundation of forgery. If we allow this to stand, we are not just losing an election; we are losing a nation.

Signed,
Comrade Ibrahim Garba Wala (IG Wala).
National Lead Advocate, The Handshake Movement.