PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu is consistently winning global applause for his market-based economic reforms, but he faces criticisms at home regarding how he has gone about some of his policies.
“I am delighted to receive the news that S&P Global Ratings has revised Nigeria’s outlook to Positive from Stable while affirming our ‘B-/B’ rating. This development is yet another clear signal that the difficult but necessary reforms we are undertaking are gaining traction and earning strong recognition from respected global institutions,” said Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, on Saturday.
Mr Edun was reacting to the S&P ratings, which had upgraded Nigeria’s outlook at the weekend on the back of President Tinubu’s sweeping reforms now reshaping the Nigerian economy. “We think authorities are taking steps to improve the economy’s growth prospects and macroeconomic resilience,” the ratings agency said, noting that structural indicators had begun improving due to the reform momentum which started in mid-2023.
President Tinubu introduced some wide-ranging reforms after coming to office in May 2023. Apart from his market-determined exchange rate reform, he deregulated the petroleum sector and introduced tax policies that could benefit several Nigerians.
Similarly, another ratings agency, Moody’s, had in May upgraded Nigeria’s rating to ‘B3’ from ‘Caa1,’ citing significant improvements in the country’s external and fiscal positions.
“The recent overhaul of Nigeria’s foreign exchange management framework … has markedly improved the balance of payments and bolstered the CBN’s (Central Bank of Nigeria) foreign exchange reserves,” Moody’s said in a statement.
Earlier in April, Fitch had upgraded Nigeria’s Long-Term (LT) Foreign-Currency (FC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’, from ‘B-,’ putting the nation’s outlook at ‘stable.’
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“The upgrade reflects increased confidence in the government’s broad commitment to policy reforms implemented since its move to orthodox economic policies in June 2023, including exchange rate liberalisation, monetary policy tightening and steps to end deficit monetisation and remove fuel subsidies. These have improved policy coherence and credibility and reduced economic distortions and near-term risks to macroeconomic stability, enhancing resilience in the context of persistent domestic challenges and heightened external risks,” Fitch had said on its website.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had earlier hailed President Tinubu’s reforms, describing them as positive for the economy. “We have started seeing positive results from our reforms, and the Nigerian people now understand the need for them,” said IMF’s Managing Director, Ms Kristalina Georgieva.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Mathew Verghis, said in October 2025: “The Nigerian government has taken bold steps to stabilise the economy, and these efforts are beginning to yield results.”
Different story at home
In spite of these global praise, several citizens have had time to criticise President Tinubu’s manner of implementing the reforms, which they claim fuels poverty and economic exclusion.
According to Chief Economist, SPM Professional, Dr Paul Alaje, “To economist theorists, the current policies, which include devaluation of the naira, are the best things yet. They hope the economy will rebound. It is just that they cannot tell you when. To us, applied economists, we cannot agree with such policy… The policies are not right. We can change them or review them.”
According to a Nigerian finance expert, Mr Suleiman Abdu, the reforms – as good as they were – had deepened poverty in the land. “President Tinubu started these reforms but was not prepared for the untold consequences. Before you start reforms that would raise prices or trigger inflation, you have to ensure that there are safety nets for the poor. This is what has not happened.”
READ ALSO: Stats show Tinubu’s economic reforms favour the rich but leave the poor behind
The World Bank, which had earlier hailed the government, recently began piling pressure on the Tinubu administration regarding how these reforms had been handled in Africa’s most populous nation. “In 2025 we estimate that 139 million Nigerians live in poverty. So the challenge is clear, how to translate the gains from the stabilisation reforms into better living standards for all,” said World Bank’s Mr Verghis in October.
He noted that food inflation was having dire effects on Nigerians, particularly the poor, and had the potential to undermine political support for the reforms. He therefore urged the Bola Tinubu government to “use public resources more effectively, ensuring that spending drives real development results that benefit people and expanding the safety net so that the poorest and vulnerable get support.”
A Harvard-trained economist, Mr Nonso Mbah, commended the administration’s aggressive reforms but noted that the policies weren’t yet popular with the people.
“The policies are good to us as a nation, but what is the essence of a policy if it does not improve lives? The agression we have seen in the implementation of these policies cannot be equated with what we have seen on the side of providing succour to the people. What do you tell a man whose monthly salary can’t feed his family for two weeks? This is where the problem lies,” he noted.
A university teacher of economics, Dr Oluwadare Olumuyiwa, said: “No matter how good President Tinubu’s policies are on paper, if they do not improve people’s living standards, then they have failed.”
He said though the reforms were urgently needed, considering the rot inherited from the immediate past government of Muhammadu Buhari, “they do not yet have a human face.”
For Iya Kadiri, who sells food at Oshodi market in Lagos, “I do not know why everything has been costly since Tinubu became president. I once supported him, but he has lost my support.”
Iya Kadiri, whose real name is Bunmi Anikulapo, maintained that, “I an 66 years, but I have not seen this kind of hardship in my life.”
