The emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, offered a clear benchmark for judging economic policy on July 16, 2026. An economic strategy fails if it doesn't improve how ordinary people live, he said.
By that measure, Tinubunomics has collapsed badly. The federal government's machinery has worked overtime to frame the renewed hope agenda as successful, but the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Yes, some progress has happened since 2023. Yet the vast majority of Nigerians—myself included—have suffered devastating losses since President Tinubu took office.
My bank account speaks louder than any government spokesperson. I'm not better off today than I was on May 29, 2023, when Tinubu was sworn in.
The government's lies can't stick because even its own paid voices—ministers and special advisers with hundreds of family members—are trapped in the poverty crisis their policies created. These officials know the truth.
The World Bank was being tactful when it used the word "threatens" to describe poverty in Nigeria. Sharp poverty already grips more than 90 percent of Nigerians.
Prices have climbed steeply while earnings have shrunk. Millions now survive on methods they'd have deemed unthinkable in 2015—before this era began.
A government should serve the greatest number, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued centuries ago. No honest official can dispute that standard for measuring policy success.
Yet the greatest number of Nigerians live below the poverty line. The World Bank warns conditions will worsen, though leaders keep insisting everything improves.
People who are hungry don't believe soothing words, as writer O. Henry once noted.
Handing out N50,000 to start small businesses like akara or kulikuli won't rescue the millions now starving across the nation.
Something deeper needs to change. But first, Nigerians must ask a question most economists and activists avoid: Who actually benefits from these reforms?
It's not the masses who voted Tinubu into power.
International wealth reports published several times yearly track the world's richest people and how their fortunes shift. Nigeria's top ten wealthiest individuals—names not disclosed—have grown their dollar wealth by an average of 80 percent since reforms began.
The evidence is stark. Reforms have filled the pockets of the rich while emptying those of ordinary Nigerians.
