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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has tactically admitted that his macroeconomics successes are yet to translate into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians.
Represented by the National chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, President Tinubu, however, maintained that his administration has move Nigeria from economic uncertainty to stability, from stability to growth, and from growth to prosperity, noting that it was in that spirit that he launch the ambitious $1 trillion Economy by 2030.
Delivering his speech at the second edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series/Asiwaju Policy Roundtable in Abuja on Tuesday, Yilwatda said: “When President Tinubu assumed office, Nigeria faced a difficult economic inheritance.”
“We had fuel subsidy distortions, multiple exchange-rate windows, weak revenue mobilisation, foreign-exchange shortages, rising debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure.
“The President understood that Nigeria could not continue on that trajectory and therefore took difficult decisions, including the removal of the fuel subsidy and the reform of the foreign-exchange market. The evidence increasingly shows that the foundation is strengthening.
“Nigeria’s gross external reserves has risen to about $52.7 billion by August 2026. Consolidated non-oil revenue increased from approximately N13.63 trillion in 2023 to N16.4 trillion in the first two quarters of 2026, demonstrating the growing contribution of non-oil sources to government revenue.
“Our trade position has also improved dramatically: from a merchandise trade surplus of only about N44.8 billion for the whole of 2023 to approximately N7.54 trillion in the first quarter of 2026 alone. Real GDP grew by 4.43 percent in Q2 2026, while inflation has fallen significantly from its earlier peak to about 15.4 per cent.
“These figures do not mean that our economic challenges have disappeared, but they demonstrate that the direction of travel has changed. And let me emphasise: macroeconomic stability is not the destination; it is the foundation. “The ultimate test is when stability translates into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians,” he admitted.
While enumerating the mileages he has covered, President Tinubu said: “Most Nigerians have asked, why the ambitious $1 trillion economy by Mr President? The $1 trillion economy is not merely a number, but a national mission: a Nigeria that produces more, exports more, attracts more investment, creates more jobs and gives its young people a greater stake in the future.
“You cannot build a $1 trillion economy on inadequate infrastructure. That is why the Renewed Hope Agenda places major emphasis on strategic highways, railways, ports, energy infrastructure and digital connectivity. But we must think beyond individual projects.
“Nigeria must now take full advantage of its enormous maritime opportunity by developing an integrated five-port maritime and logistics corridor. Our strategic ambition should be to develop and connect five major deep-sea ports at Lagos, Ondo, Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar, linking them by modern rail and road infrastructure, with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Super Highway serving as the principal coastal road spine.
“But the vision does not stop at the coastline. The Western Corridor will connect the maritime gateways to the interior through the Lagos–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, thereby opening a direct trade route from the Atlantic coast to the markets of the Northwest and the Sahel.
“The Eastern Corridor will similarly connect the eastern maritime gateways through the Port Harcourt–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the proposed Calabar–Maiduguri Trans-Sahara Super Highway, creating a second major east-to-north trade route.
“In this way, Nigeria can create an integrated national transport system in which our five deep-sea ports are connected to one another, connected to our major cities and production centres, and connected ultimately to the landlocked markets of Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic,” he said.
While arguing further, he said that: “This is how Nigeria can move beyond being simply a coastal trading nation to becoming the maritime gateway and logistics hub of West and Central Africa, capturing a much larger share of the continent’s trade, logistics, manufacturing and distribution value chain.
“That is more than transportation infrastructure, but a trade architecture. It would generate opportunities in logistics, warehousing, freight forwarding, customs, banking, insurance, manufacturing, distribution and agro-processing. It would create jobs, generate foreign exchange and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a regional commercial hub,” he said.
Tinubu also asked some fundamental questions on; “whether infrastructural investment was abandoned or accelerate, discourage investors or make Nigeria one of Africa’s preferred investment destinations, allow our ports to serve primarily as our domestic economy or position Nigeria as a maritime gateway to the wider African hinterland?”
“For the APC, the answer is clear. We choose progress, productivity, investment, infrastructure, innovation, Nigerian enterprise, exports, human capital, and we choose President Tinubu. And we choose the ambition of a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by 2030 by Mr President for our common prosperity.
“We must power our industries, develop our digital economy, educate our young people and mobilise the private capital required to transform our productive capacity. Above all, we must begin to see Nigeria differently, not merely as a large domestic market, but as a potential maritime, industrial, digital and logistics powerhouse for Africa,” he said.
