Borrowing the Future: How Bola Ahmed Tinubu Is Deepening Nigeria’s Debt Trap
By Matthew Eloyi
By all appearances, the latest request by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to secure a fresh $516 million loan for the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway may sound like another bold infrastructure move. But beneath the appealing promise of highways and connectivity lies a troubling pattern: a government that is borrowing at a pace Nigeria can scarcely sustain.
Since assuming office in 2023, Tinubu’s administration has embarked on an aggressive borrowing spree that raises serious questions about fiscal discipline. Within just over a year, Nigeria secured approximately $6.45 billion from the World Bank alone, alongside additional loans from institutions like the African Development Bank and international capital markets.
Even more concerning is the broader trajectory. Reports indicate that the administration has pursued borrowing plans running into tens of billions of dollars, including a proposed $24 billion external loan package that could push Nigeria’s total public debt toward a staggering ₦183 trillion.
This is not abstract economics; it has real consequences. Nigeria is already spending an overwhelming share of its revenue on debt servicing, with figures reaching as high as 69% in recent years. That means less money for healthcare, education, security, and the everyday needs of citizens.
Against this backdrop, the proposed Sokoto–Badagry loan begins to look less like strategic investment and more like another brick in an increasingly fragile wall of debt. Infrastructure is important, no serious observer disputes that. But development financed almost entirely through borrowing, especially in foreign currencies, exposes the country to exchange rate shocks and long-term repayment burdens that future generations will inherit.
What makes the situation more troubling is the speed. Analysts note that Tinubu’s borrowing profile has risen at an unprecedented rate compared to previous administrations, driven largely by external loans taken under a weakened naira. The implication is simple: Nigeria is borrowing more, and paying more for it.
The government argues that these loans fund growth. Yet growth built on unsustainable debt is a dangerous illusion. Without corresponding increases in revenue, productivity, and transparency, these projects risk becoming monuments not to progress, but to fiscal recklessness.
The National Assembly, led by Godswill Akpabio, must resist the temptation to rubber-stamp yet another loan request. At a time when Nigerians are grappling with inflation, currency depreciation, and rising living costs, what is needed is restraint, accountability, and a clear plan to reduce (not expand) the nation’s debt burden.