By Eshioromeh Sebastian
Dr Oby Ezekwesili has offered a measured but critical assessment of the Bola Tinubu administration, acknowledging progress in one area while dismissing claims of broader economic recovery.
The former Minister of Education, speaking on News Central TV over the weekend, said the government deserves credit for taming the volatility that once plagued Nigeria’s foreign exchange market. By sticking to market-driven policies, she noted, authorities have managed to calm the currency chaos that characterised the early months of the administration.
But that, she insisted, is where the good news ends.
“When you look beyond the exchange rate, the picture is far less encouraging,” Ezekwesili said. “Inflation figures may appear improved on paper, but ask any Nigerian about the cost of living, and you will hear a very different story.”
She argued that the spike in inflation was not an inevitable outcome but the result of avoidable policy missteps. “It didn’t have to happen,” she said bluntly, pointing to a combination of poor decisions that sent prices soaring unnecessarily.
Ezekwesili warned against confusing macroeconomic stability with genuine prosperity. She said stability in currency markets does little for a family struggling to afford basic necessities, nor does it create jobs or lift people out of poverty. Without a corresponding rise in productivity, she argued, the economy cannot compete globally or deliver meaningful improvements in living standards.
The former minister also turned her attention to what she described as fiscal disorder at the highest levels of government. She raised concerns about the simultaneous operation of multiple budget cycles, describing the practice as a sign of recklessness.
“In other countries, budgets are passed, implemented, and closed within the fiscal year,” she observed. “Here, you have one year overlapping with another, and another still running—it makes no sense from a management perspective.”
She also criticised the administration’s transparency record, saying Nigerians have been left in the dark about the government’s performance. Without clear reporting, she argued, citizens cannot properly evaluate whether their leaders are delivering on promises.
Ezekwesili stressed that Nigeria’s problems go far beyond economics. Weak institutions, insecurity, crumbling public services, and growing social divisions all point to a state that remains dangerously fragile, according to global rankings.
“Economic growth cannot happen in a vacuum,” she said. “You need strong institutions to provide the rules and predictability that businesses and citizens rely on. That is what Nigeria lacks.”
She urged the government to be honest about the scale of the challenges ahead, rather than pointing to selective indicators as proof of success. Until structural reforms address the root causes of poverty, unemployment, and low productivity, she said, talk of recovery remains premature.
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