Edun Details Poverty Alleviation Measures, Defends Economic Reforms
By Patience Ikpeme
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, on Tuesday assured Nigerians that the Federal Government’s ongoing economic reforms are being implemented with a direct focus on easing the hardships faced by citizens, particularly the poor and vulnerable.
Speaking at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference in Abuja, the minister acknowledged the severe economic challenges confronting Nigerians, including rising food and transport costs. He maintained that measures were already in place to cushion the effects of the reforms.
The Minister disclosed that the government has established a transparent and robust system for providing direct payments to 15 million households across the country.
“Each individual beneficiary is identified by name and their national identity number, and payments are made digitally—either directly to their bank accounts or mobile wallets,” the minister explained.
He added that this process ensures transparency and accountability while enabling the government to monitor disbursements in real time. Responding to concerns that some communities had yet to benefit, Mr. Edun said data would soon be released showing the names of beneficiaries who had received the first, second, and third tranches.
Beyond the cash transfers, the Minister stated that the government was implementing a ward-based development programme designed to take resources, information, and funding directly to the 8,809 wards in Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
“The initiative will empower economically active people at the ward level—supporting small businesses, cottage industries, and local entrepreneurs to boost production and create sustainable livelihoods,” he noted.
He concluded that the reforms aim not only to stabilize the economy but also to ensure that their benefits “reach right down to the lowest levels of society.”
Contributing to the discussion, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and current Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said that the country’s current economic hardship is the cumulative consequence of failing to remove the fuel subsidy more than a decade ago.
Sanusi stressed that the removal of the fuel subsidy was a necessary correction to an unsustainable policy.
“If you pay N65 per litre and suddenly begin to pay N160, of course there will be hardship,” Sanusi said. “The duty of leadership is to recognise that there will be costs and to mitigate them—not to avoid reform entirely.”
He described the old subsidy arrangement not as a subsidy but a “hedge” that exposed the country to unlimited financial liability, noting that Nigeria eventually reached a point where it was borrowing money not just to pay subsidies but also to service the interest on those loans, a trajectory he described as “bankruptcy by policy.”
Reflecting on the past, he recalled: “If we had removed it then, inflation would have risen slightly, from 11 to about 13 percent, and stabilised. Now we are facing inflation above 30 percent. This is the cost of delay.”
Sanusi commended the current CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, describing him as a competent and principled professional. “The central bank’s role is not to create growth or employment but to provide stability and an environment conducive to growth—and I believe the current leadership has made progress in that regard,” he concluded.
Also speaking at the event, Ms. Arunma Oteh, former Director-General of the SEC and Founder of the Oxford Global Think Tank, called for urgent action to mobilize long-term capital, accelerate infrastructure development, and decentralize the management of Nigeria’s mineral resources to unlock sustainable growth.
Oteh, a former Vice President at the World Bank, said Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit remains a major barrier to growth. Citing data from China, she noted that the Asian country invested about 24 per cent of its GDP in infrastructure, compared to Nigeria’s 4–5 per cent.
“If we want to bridge our infrastructure gap, we must increase that investment to at least 12 per cent of GDP,” she stated.
Beyond infrastructure, she pointed out that the country possesses at least 40 commercially viable minerals that remain underexploited.
She questioned: “Why are minerals still on the exclusive legislative list? We should decentralize the sector so that each state can develop and benefit from its natural resources. That is how to expand our revenue base and create jobs.”
Oteh concluded by urging collective action: “We all need to put our hands on deck—government, business, and citizens—to invest in our nation and create opportunities for everyone.”
