KEY POINTS
- Daniel Bwala says Nigeria’s large population and infrastructure deficit are slowing the gains from the administration’s reforms.
- He argues higher revenue has lifted state allocations and improved governance and development projects nationwide.
- Bwala points to NELFUND, the CNG program and healthcare subsidies as interventions aimed at low-income Nigerians.
A Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has linked the slow impact of the administration’s economic reforms on ordinary Nigerians to the country’s large population and wide infrastructure deficit. Speaking on ARISE News on Tuesday, Bwala said federal resources, despite higher revenue, still fall short of the needs of more than 230 million people.
Population and resources slow the gains
According to Bwala, the sheer scale of Nigeria’s population means citizens will feel the benefits of reform only over time. “The answer is simply population and resources. The population is over 230 million. The resources we have, however, even with the increased revenue, are not enough to match the population and the deficit in terms of infrastructure. So, growth will inevitably be slow, but it will be slow, steady, and consistent,” he said.
Nevertheless, Bwala argued that the policies already show results through higher allocations to state governments. Indeed, he said increased revenue had lifted state administrations and improved development projects nationwide. However, the adviser declined to compare individual states, because such comparisons would stray from his focus on federal performance. Instead, he stressed that federal reforms produce measurable outcomes that surface in the states.
Interventions target low-income Nigerians from Tinubu economic reforms
Furthermore, Bwala highlighted several interventions aimed at the poor. For instance, he pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the Compressed Natural Gas transportation program, and healthcare subsidies for dialysis and Caesarean section procedures. Specifically, he said more than one million students have benefited from the loan fund, and he described most of them as children of poor families rather than the rich. Moreover, he insisted that every policy the government introduces names the poor as its direct beneficiary.
On poverty, Bwala said empirical data, rather than public perception, should measure whether the policies work. Still, he acknowledged that macroeconomic gains often take time to reach households. “You are celebrating numbers while citizens are counting their losses. That’s a fact,” he said, summarizing the common criticism. Ultimately, Bwala maintained that limited resources and rapid population growth continue to slow poverty reduction despite the ongoing reforms.