With respect, this post raises valid pains but suspends logic for emotion and selective facts. Reforms are not “reckless punishment”, they are necessary corrections to decades of unsustainable distortions.
Now, let us examine your points with evidence, not assumptions, as it appears to me, no any logical or factually grounded counter has been offered, just heat.
Point 1 - “Strips benefits, offers virtually nothing”:
False. The FG has deployed massive palliatives: N5bn per state in food/fertiliser, expanded cash transfers (HoPE-CT/NG-CARES reaching millions), ₦25k wage awards, pension support, and NELFUND student loans (hundreds of billions disbursed to over a million students). CNG initiatives are rolling out conversion centres and stations nationwide to cut transport costs. These are documented bridges, not “nothing.” World Bank and IMF have noted these efforts alongside stabilisation gains.
Point 2 - No investments, factories, or electricity:
The savings and new revenues are funding real infrastructure. Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, AKK Gas Pipeline, rail expansions, PHC revitalisation (thousands upgraded), and power reforms under the Electricity Act enabling states/private players. CNG push is creating jobs in conversion and maintenance. IMF 2025 Article IV praises bold reforms (subsidy removal, FX unification) for improved resilience, revenue, and investor confidence. No “Industrial Revolution” overnight, structural change takes time, but direction is clear. Pre-reform trajectory was fiscal collapse.
Point 3 - Wealth transfer to elites:
Increased FAAC allocations have enabled many states to pay salaries consistently (impossible pre-2023 in several cases) and fund projects. Yes, governance challenges and leakages exist, so it is in order to demand accountability. But dismissing all as “private pockets” ignores visible projects, tax reforms for equity, digital registries for transparency, and private sector responses (NGX rally on reform signals). Local Government autonomy ruling further decentralises development. Not perfect, but not “purely wealth transfer.”
Point 4: Hardships & “Suffering without purpose”:
Hardships are real; inflation, fuel costs hit hard. No denial. But calling it purposeless ignores expert consensus: World Bank notes reforms stopped Nigeria from “fiscal cliff” and created space for people-centred actions (social safety nets, food inflation fight). IMF highlights stabilisation, growth potential, and resilience. Electricity/security are inherited multifaceted problems; efforts like CNG/gas value chain and state police pushes address them. Reversing to old subsidy regime solves nothing, it returns debt and shortages.
I agree, implementation can and must improve, better targeting, communication, anti-corruption. But your response presents a one-sided “elitist, futile” narrative that downplays necessity and documented progress.
True reform serves people long-term by fixing fundamentals. Painful? Yes. Reckless? No. Evidence shows deliberate direction with light ahead for those who see beyond immediate emotion.
Disagree on gaps? Fair game. But let’s engage facts, not suspend logic. Demand better execution from all leaders across all levels of government, without cherry-picking.
Reforms itself is not the issue. I have no fundamental objection to reforms or the urgent need for better revenue generation which is the sole aim of tinubus reforms, none of them ensures lives of Nigerians will be better than he met the country. What I have consistently highlighted and what remains deeply troubling is the reckless manner in which these reforms are being implemented.
True reform should serve the people, not punish them. Yet this administration has pursued a one-sided approach that fails on every critical measure:
1. It strips ordinary citizens of the few benefits they once received from the country, subsidies, palliatives, and basic protections of lives and properties, while offering virtually nothing in return.
2. It has failed to channel the savings and new revenues into direct, visible investments that create jobs and build industries. Billions are being “saved” or raised, yet there is no corresponding explosion in manufacturing, agriculture value chains, solid minerals processing, or public works that put money directly into pockets of citizens who are ready to work hard. Where are the factories? Where is the Industrial Revolution ? Where is the electricity compared to other countries that tax as high as Nigeria is currently taking from citizens that get absolutely nothing in return as a citizen?
3. It simply hands over the additional funds as increased allocations to the same political class that has repeatedly proven it cannot be trusted with public money. We all know what happens next: the funds disappear into private pockets, inflated contracts, and patronage networks. This is not economic reform, it is purely wealth transfer from struggling citizens through stripped benefits and x10 taxes to political elites who use the money to buy cars for party faithfuls and political allies
life is becoming measurably harder for the average person. Fuel prices have soared, inflation has crushed purchasing power, electricity remains a joke in 2026, and taxes are being piled on an already impoverished population. Meanwhile, the political class and their cronies grow richer. And more taxes and borrowings ate still coming
This is suffering without purpose.
There is no discernible light at the end of this tunnel bro, only deeper darkness for the masses while the elites feast.
Until a government shows the political will to balance its revenue drive with genuine industrialisation, job creation, and protection for the vulnerable, it can not be in the interest of the masses. Right now tinubus reform is working against them.
The tragedy is not that we are reforming. The tragedy is that we are reforming in the most painful, elitist, and ultimately futile way possible.
If atiku, Obi or whoever also campaigned about these reforms, I have no problems with them, my sole problem is this type of implementation, it’s shady and only benefits politicians, this cannot be the only way, and these old politicians are not the only ones, the fact that these are our major options alone saddens me, security is literally in shambles, as an insider what I know about the insecurity breaks my heart daily. And we have not even seen the worst, but the government could care less. 😞