Since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023, Nigeria has secured over $8 billion in World Bank loans, with an additional $2.23 billion projected for 2025, but these "unacceptable" loans have caused more harm than good. Criticized by groups like SERAP and CNPP as reckless, they deepen Nigeria's N142 trillion debt crisis, with N14.32 trillion of the 2025 budget allocated to debt servicing—nearly a quarter of total expenditure. Conditional reforms like fuel subsidy removal and naira devaluation, pushed by the World Bank, have spiked inflation to a 28-year high, eroded purchasing power, and fueled protests, while only 16% of approved funds have been disbursed, leaving promised safety nets unfunded and fostering corruption as over N233 billion in public funds remains unaccounted for.
These loans entrench a debt trap, prioritizing austerity over human welfare and undermining Nigeria's sovereignty. The $2.25 billion loan meant to cushion subsidy removal has coincided with soaring poverty, with 63% of Nigerians in multidimensional poverty, while foreign investment dropped 26.7% in 2023. Instead of driving production, the loans sustain a consumption-driven economy, rewarding mismanagement and punishing citizens with hardship. Rejecting further borrowing and auditing past loans could reclaim fiscal autonomy; otherwise, Nigeria risks a future of prolonged suffering under the weight of these unsustainable debts.
