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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has acknowledged that improvements in Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators have yet to translate into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians.
He, however, maintained that reforms introduced by his administration had moved the economy away from uncertainty and laid the foundation for growth, insisting that macroeconomic stability was only a means to improving the living conditions of Nigerians.
Tinubu spoke through the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, at the second edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series/Asiwaju Policy Roundtable in Abuja yesterday.
“The ultimate test is when stability translates into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians,” the President said.
He argued that the economic indicators showed that the direction of the economy had changed, although the challenges confronting Nigerians had not disappeared.
“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,” he said.
According to Tinubu, his administration inherited an economy grappling with 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. He said the government consequently took difficult decisions, including the removal of petrol subsidy and reform of the foreign-exchange market.
Tinubu cited the country’s external reserves, non-oil revenue, merchandise trade balance, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and declining inflation as evidence that the reforms were beginning to stabilise the economy.
“Nigeria’s gross external reserves have 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 per cent in Q2 2026, while inflation has fallen significantly from its earlier peak to about 15.4 per cent,” he said.
The President said the improvements informed his administration’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030. “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,” he said.
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Tinubu identified infrastructure as critical to achieving the target, saying Nigeria could not build a $1 trillion economy without adequate highways, railways, ports, energy infrastructure and digital connectivity.
He proposed an integrated five-port maritime and logistics corridor connecting deep-sea ports in Lagos, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar through modern road and rail infrastructure.
According to him, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would serve as the principal coastal road spine, while western and eastern transport corridors would connect the maritime gateways to major production centres and markets in northern Nigeria and the wider African hinterland.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu said such an integrated transport network could connect Nigeria’s ports and production centres to landlocked markets in Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic.
He said the ambition was to transform Nigeria from primarily a coastal trading nation into the maritime gateway and logistics hub of West and Central Africa.
“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 said Nigeria faced choices over whether to accelerate infrastructure investment, attract investors and position its ports as gateways to the wider African market.
“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 for our common prosperity,” he said.
The President said achieving the target would require reliable power for industries, expansion of the digital economy, investment in education and mobilisation of private capital.
“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.
