Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics, Dele Oye, has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to convert recent macroeconomic gains into lower food prices, productive jobs and improved living standards for Nigerians.
Oye, in a statement titled, “The Economy Is Stabilising. Now Let the People Feel It”, said the administration deserved credit for implementing politically difficult reforms but argued that macroeconomic stability should now translate into tangible improvements in household welfare.
He cited the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, the abandonment of monetary financing of fiscal deficits, rebuilding of external reserves and tighter monetary policy as measures that had helped address longstanding economic distortions.
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According to Oye, Nigeria’s gross foreign exchange reserves reached a 17 year high of $53.11 billion as of August 24, while the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the economy grew by 4.43 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2026, up from 3.89 per cent in the previous quarter.
He said the stronger performance of both the oil and non oil sectors suggested that the economy was moving from stabilisation towards renewed momentum.
However, Oye warned that stronger reserves and higher GDP growth did not automatically translate into improved welfare for citizens.
He referenced an International Monetary Fund assessment which estimated poverty at 63 per cent at the national poverty line and reported that 27 million Nigerians faced food insecurity in autumn 2025.
“These figures demonstrate the gap between national economic performance and the daily experiences of households,” he said.
Oye said Nigerians should acknowledge genuine economic progress while also demanding that the government close the gap between macroeconomic indicators and living standards.
“The Tinubu administration deserves credit for taking decisions that many Nigerian governments postponed for years,” he said, citing subsidy removal, foreign exchange reforms, the end of monetary financing of fiscal deficits, reserve accumulation and tighter monetary policy.
He added that the reforms had imposed significant short term pain but were necessary to confront distortions that had weakened the economy.
According to Oye, the next phase of the economic programme should focus on translating stabilisation into “lived security” for Nigerians.
“The administration now has to convert stabilisation into lived security. It must make the Nigerian economy not only investable, but inhabitable; not only credible to markets, but useful to families; not only resilient on paper, but humane in practice,” he said.
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He argued that the ultimate test of the administration’s economic policies would be whether Nigerians could afford food, secure decent employment, operate businesses without undue pressure and see public revenues translated into public services.
“The street is not an enemy of economic reform. The street is its final court,” he said.
Oye said the trader, farmer, teacher, apprentice, nurse, transport worker, student and small manufacturer were the real measures of economic performance, rather than headline indicators alone.
“Nigeria has begun to stabilise. Now it must begin to heal. That is the passage from policy to people and from insight to impact,” he added.
