Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has urged Nigerians not to lose hope, assuring that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms will soon ease the country’s rising cost of living.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, Onanuga said the positive effects of the administration’s economic reforms are beginning to show and Nigerians will soon feel the benefits across the country.
“The President’s years in office began with clear policy directions and implementation,” Onanuga said. “A lot of reforms have taken place across sectors. The President has laid down many fundamentals that would ensure growth.”
He noted that although it has only been two years since Tinubu took office a short time to fully measure success experts typically evaluate policy impact over a decade or more.
Despite this, he emphasized that a fundamental shift has already occurred in the Nigerian economy.
Onanuga highlighted some of the critical challenges the administration inherited, including a near collapse of the fuel supply system.
“Before subsidy removal, fuel was scarce. Many stations were saying no fuel, no fuel. What was happening at that time was that the NNPC had reached the bottom point. It had no money to import fuel, it claimed that it was owing suppliers about six billion dollars and the government was owing it about four trillion naira. So, it could not import any more. Many filling stations ran dry because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) lacked funds to import fuel, owing suppliers billions of dollars,” he said.
Addressing concerns over government borrowing, Onanuga explained that borrowing is a common practice worldwide, even in developed nations like the United States.
“Nigeria has abundant resources that we are harnessing, but not as much readily available money as people might think, so borrowing is necessary for large-scale projects,” he said, pointing to infrastructure developments like coastal highways that require external financing.
He also touched on currency devaluation, clarifying that it is a standard economic tool used globally, with examples from the UK and US.
“Even the UK and the US at some point devalued. These are economic principles that are universal and cannot be changed just because it is Nigeria,” Onanuga stated.
Onanuga underscored the administration’s efforts to create new opportunities alongside difficult decisions.
He pointed to increased local production and higher disposable income, citing companies like Nestle and Nigerian Breweries that are now sourcing locally and reporting profits.
“This economy has opened up opportunities in many forms for Nigerians—those who can really exploit it, and they are making money,” he said, mentioning individuals profiting from exports such as cocoa and Zobo.
He called for a balanced public perspective on the economy.
“We don’t do our people any good when we keep on pushing stories of gloom and doom without allowing them to see the truth, without allowing them to see the context, and without allowing them to know that there’s actually light at the end of the tunnel.”
