NIGERIA’S GREAT RESET – PART 18
WHAT SUCCESSFUL REFORMING NATIONS CAN TEACH NIGERIA
By Gloria Fraser, MFR
President Tinubu has chosen structural reform over economic retreat—but international experience shows that difficult policies succeed only when discipline, social protection, production and public trust advance together
OPENING REFLECTION
Economic reform resembles rebuilding a bridge while millions of people are still crossing it. The structure must be strengthened, but citizens cannot simply be abandoned halfway over the river.
A Yoruba proverb says, “Ọ̀nà kan ò wọ ọjà”—there is more than one road to the market.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu explained Nigeria’s inherited weakness clearly: “Our economy has been in desperate need of reform for decades. It has been unbalanced because it was built on the flawed foundation of over-reliance on revenues from the exploitation of oil.” He also promised: “As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people and will never turn my back on you.” Reuters
That combination—reform and listening—is essential. Economic courage without social sensitivity can destroy public trust. Compassion without fiscal discipline can preserve the very distortions that created the crisis.
NIGERIA’S REFORM DILEMMA
President Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy, unified foreign-exchange windows, strengthened revenue mobilisation and pursued tax, energy and investment reforms.
Reform was necessary; sequencing and protection were insufficient. The lesson is not that Nigeria should restore every failed arrangement. It is that sound reform must be accompanied by credible safety nets, transparent savings, competitive markets and visible improvements in daily life.
Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo said Tinubu’s structural reforms had rescued the economy from a “tipping point” and returned public finance towards solvency. His assessment reflects the macroeconomic case for change, although recovery must ultimately be measured beyond government accounts. State House
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq expressed the necessary human balance: “The last one year has been a period of determined economic reforms and these reforms are meant to refocus our economy and achieve long-term sustainable growth for our country.” He immediately acknowledged “how the reforms have affected the purchasing powers of our people.” Arise News
SOUTH KOREA: BUILD PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY
South Korea emerged from war and poverty by combining disciplined government, education, export-oriented industry and cooperation with private enterprise. It did not become prosperous by importing everything cheaper countries could produce. It deliberately built domestic firms capable of competing globally.
Nigeria must similarly connect reform to production. Exchange-rate adjustment alone cannot diversify an economy. Government must provide reliable electricity, transport, ports, technical education, development finance and predictable regulation so manufacturers can produce competitively.
Protection should not become permanent shelter for inefficient companies. Support must be conditional upon investment, employment, exports, innovation and measurable performance. Nigeria needs businesses that graduate from assistance into competition.
INDONESIA: REFORM WITH SOCIAL PROTECTION
Indonesia reduced fuel subsidies while expanding targeted assistance, health coverage, education support and infrastructure. Its experience shows that subsidy reform gains legitimacy when citizens can identify where the savings go.
Nigeria should publish subsidy-removal savings and their uses through an accessible monthly dashboard. Nigerians should see how much has accrued to federal, state and local governments and which roads, buses, schools, hospitals, power projects and productive programmes were financed.
Cash transfers can ease immediate suffering, but reliable public transport, affordable food, healthcare and employment provide stronger protection. Reform cannot depend upon citizens accepting indefinite pain in exchange for invisible future benefits.
INDIA: SCALE, DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND INCLUSION
India demonstrates how digital identity, bank accounts and mobile technology can deliver public services at enormous scale. Technology can reduce duplication, improve tax administration and move assistance directly to beneficiaries.
However, digital systems can exclude people lacking documentation, connectivity or literacy. Nigeria’s National Identification Number and digital-payment systems should therefore include assisted registration, accessible appeals and offline alternatives.
Efficiency is not achieved when fraud declines but genuine beneficiaries disappear from the system. Technology must serve citizens rather than becoming another gate they cannot pass.
VIETNAM: CONSISTENCY ATTRACTS INVESTMENT
Vietnam moved from centralised stagnation towards a more open, export-driven economy through consistent reforms, investment in human capital and integration into global supply chains. Investors responded because policy direction became clearer and production was supported.
Nigeria requires the same consistency. Businesses cannot plan around abrupt import restrictions, contradictory taxes, uncertain foreign-exchange access and changing regulations. Reform must survive electoral seasons and institutional changes.
Yet consistency does not mean refusing correction. Government should preserve the destination while adjusting policies that create avoidable damage. A captain may alter the sails without abandoning the voyage.
RWANDA AND MAURITIUS: INSTITUTIONS MATTER
Rwanda illustrates the value of administrative discipline, measurable targets and service delivery, although its political model should not be copied uncritically. Mauritius demonstrates how stable institutions, education, trade openness and economic diversification can turn a small, resource-limited country into a relatively prosperous economy.
Nigeria’s size is an advantage only when institutions work. Presidential directives must become budgets, contracts, construction, services and independently verified outcomes. Ministries should publish targets and explain missed deadlines. Regulators must protect competition rather than favoured interests.
Corruption can consume the benefits of reform faster than fiscal policy creates them. Citizens will not accept sacrifice while political office appears insulated from restraint. Government must reduce waste, enforce procurement rules and demonstrate that reform applies to leaders as well as households.
NIGERIA MUST CHOOSE ITS OWN ROAD
Other nations can lend Nigeria a map, but they cannot walk the road for us. Their experience can identify dangerous bends and useful shortcuts, but Nigeria must choose a route suited to its own people, institutions and terrain.
The country’s federal structure requires states and local governments to share responsibility. Increased allocations must produce roads, water, schools, clinics, agricultural support and local industry. Abuja cannot stabilise household welfare while subnational governments spend without transparency.
Nigeria should establish a public reform scorecard measuring inflation, food affordability, employment, manufacturing, exports, electricity, transport costs, poverty reduction and service delivery. Macroeconomic improvement matters, but citizens experience the economy through meals, rent, medicine, school fees and wages.
THE FINAL WORD
President Tinubu was right to confront an economy weakened by subsidy dependence, oil reliance, low revenue and currency distortions. Retreating to unsustainable arrangements would postpone the reckoning, not prevent it.
But successful nations teach that bold decisions are only the beginning. Reform must build production, protect vulnerable citizens, reward enterprise, strengthen institutions and earn public confidence through visible results.
Nigeria’s bridge is being rebuilt while the nation crosses it. The work must continue, but government must provide guardrails, repair dangerous gaps and ensure that no citizen is casually pushed into the river.
The Great Reset will succeed when stability becomes affordability, revenue becomes infrastructure, sacrifice becomes opportunity and economic statistics become better lives, with discipline and fairness.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“A nation should learn from every road travelled by others, but it must still build the road that carries its own people safely into prosperity.”
THE NATIONAL PATRIOTS’ POSITION
The National Patriots supports President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s determination to correct Nigeria’s structural economic weaknesses and build a productive, competitive and sustainable economy.
We call for transparent reporting of reform savings, stronger social protection, disciplined public expenditure, reliable infrastructure, competitive domestic production and measurable implementation across all tiers of government.
Nigeria should learn from successful reforming nations without copying them mechanically. Reform must remain courageous, compassionate, accountable and Nigerian.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
President, The National Patriots
Former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR
Vice-Chairman, Strategic Communications Committee, Buhari PCC 2019
Member, Strategy Committee, Presidency, 2023
