#Tinubunomics: No matter how delicious, Nigerians cannot eat GDP
By Paul Ibe
The Tinubu administration has perfected the art of celebrating statistics. GDP is up. Trade figures are up. Government revenues are up. Foreign-exchange reserves are up. Inflation, we are told, is coming down. From the podiums of government, this is presented as evidence that #Tinubunomics is working.
But there is one inconvenient question the government cannot answer with all these impressive statistics: How is the economy working for the ordinary Nigerian?
Because Nigerians cannot eat GDP. They cannot take improved trade figures to the market and exchange them for a bag of rice. They cannot use rising government revenue to pay their children’s school fees. They cannot cook foreign-exchange reserves for dinner. And they certainly cannot feed their families with the government’s repeated assurances that the economy is on the right trajectory.
For millions of Nigerians, the economic reality remains brutally different from the picture painted by government statistics. The cost of food, transportation, housing, electricity, healthcare and other basic necessities has risen dramatically. Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living, while the purchasing power of the naira has been severely eroded.
What matters to the average Nigerian is not merely whether GDP grew by a few percentage points. What matters is whether that growth translates into better jobs, cheaper food, higher real incomes, affordable housing, reliable electricity, accessible healthcare and a decent standard of living.
An economy such as Tinubu’s can grow on paper while households become poorer in real terms. That is the fundamental disconnect at the heart of Tinubunomics. The administration appears increasingly obsessed with macroeconomic indicators while millions of Nigerians are struggling with the microeconomic realities of daily survival.
The government celebrates increased revenue. Nigerians see increased taxes and levies. It celebrates rising GDP. Nigerians see rising prices. It celebrates improved trade figures. Nigerians see shrinking purchasing power. It celebrates foreign-exchange reforms. Nigerians see the devastating consequences of a currency that buys far less than it did before.
This is not to suggest that GDP growth, improved revenues or stronger external balances are irrelevant. They are important economic indicators. But they are means, not ends. The ultimate purpose of economic policy must be to improve the welfare of citizens. If the economy is growing while hunger is spreading, unemployment and underemployment remain widespread, businesses are struggling with high operating costs, and families are cutting back on essential needs, then the government must ask a more important question than whether the statistics look good.
Who is benefiting from the growth?
That is the question Nigerians deserve an answer to. There’s no denying that Tinubu’s abrupt removal of fuel subsidy and the subsequent currency reforms imposed enormous costs on households and businesses. Nigerians were asked to endure hardship in anticipation of future prosperity.
The problem is that for many Nigerians, the promised future prosperity remains exactly that—a mirage. A government cannot indefinitely ask citizens to celebrate economic indicators while they struggle to afford basic necessities. Economic growth must ultimately be felt in the homes, markets, workplaces and communities of ordinary Nigerians.
The real measure of economic success is not simply how much the economy produces, but how much ordinary citizens can afford to consume, save, invest and enjoy from what the economy produces.
That is why the purchasing power of wages matters. A nominal increase in the minimum wage means little if inflation and the cost of living have risen much faster. A worker earning more naira today is actually poorer because those paper naira is buying significantly less than they did previously.
This is the difference between nominal prosperity and real prosperity. The Tinubu administration should therefore stop treating economic statistics as an end in themselves and begin measuring success by the lived experiences of Nigerians.
Can families afford three decent meals a day? Can parents afford school fees? Can workers afford transportation to work? Can young Nigerians find productive employment? Can small businesses survive the cost of energy, credit, taxation and logistics? Can pensioners live with dignity? Can Nigerians afford decent housing and healthcare?
These are the questions that should define the success or failure of any economic policy. Nigeria does not need an economy that merely looks impressive in government presentations. It needs an economy that works for its people.
Nigerians cannot eat GDP. They cannot eat trade surpluses. They cannot eat foreign-exchange reserves. They cannot eat government revenue. They need food. They need jobs. They need purchasing power. They need security. They need affordable healthcare, education, housing and transportation.
Tinubu is touting improved numbers. But for millions of Nigerians, life is not. Indeed, it is hellish!
- Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to Atiku Abubakar, writes from Abuja.
