The Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, Dele Oye, has urged the Federal Government to move beyond macroeconomic reforms and focus on ensuring that ordinary Nigerians begin to experience tangible improvements in their daily lives.
Oye said recent economic indicators showed signs of increased stability but warned that stronger foreign-exchange reserves and economic growth would mean little to citizens if they did not translate into lower food prices, productive employment and improved living standards.
In a statement titled “The Economy Is Stabilising. Now Let the People Feel It,” Oye acknowledged what he described as the politically difficult decisions taken by the Bola Tinubu administration, including the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign-exchange reforms, tighter monetary policy and efforts to rebuild external reserves.
He argued that the measures had helped address longstanding distortions in the Nigerian economy and establish a clearer macroeconomic direction.
According to Oye, Nigeria’s gross international reserves reached $53.11 billion as of August 24, 2026, while the economy grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 3.89 per cent in the previous quarter.
He noted that both the oil and non-oil sectors recorded stronger growth, suggesting that the economy was beginning to gain momentum.
However, Oye cautioned that positive macroeconomic figures should not be mistaken for improved welfare.
He referenced an International Monetary Fund assessment estimating poverty at 63 per cent at the national poverty line and 27 million Nigerians facing food insecurity in autumn 2025, saying the figures highlighted the gap between economic performance and the realities confronting households.
Oye said the next phase of the Federal Government’s economic programme should therefore concentrate on turning stabilisation into prosperity.
He stressed that Nigerians should be able to feel the impact of economic reforms through more affordable food, better employment opportunities, improved business conditions and stronger public services.
“The street is not an enemy of economic reform. The street is its final court,” Oye said, arguing that traders, farmers, workers, students and small businesses ultimately provide the clearest measure of whether economic policies are succeeding.
He added that the government should ensure that the benefits of increased economic stability reach households and businesses instead of remaining reflected mainly in official statistics and financial-market indicators.
Oye said the Tinubu administration deserved recognition for confronting economic distortions that previous governments had struggled to address, but added that “courage at the beginning of reform must become competence at the point of delivery.”
He urged the government to make the economy not only attractive to investors but also affordable and sustainable for ordinary Nigerians.
“Nigeria has begun to stabilise. Now it must begin to heal. That is the passage from policy to people and from insight to impact,” he said.
