When The Road Is Hard, The Destination Still Matters

• A Statesman’s Case for Reform with a Human Face

By Senator Ibrahim M. Ida, PhD, CON

Wazirin Katsina

I have spent a considerable part of my life in public service, and one lesson experience has taught me is that governments must be judged both by the circumstances they inherit and by the choices they make after assuming responsibility. No administration begins with a blank sheet. Every government inherits achievements to preserve, problems to resolve and, occasionally, a few economic skeletons that refuse to remain quietly in the cupboard.

It is in that spirit that I have reflected on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I write as a member of the All Progressives Congress, as one who supports the President and as a Nigerian who believes that support should be honest enough to recognise difficulties and constructive enough to propose improvements.

Support must never require the suspension of judgement. Indeed, those who believe in a government should be among the first to help it succeed. Political support is not a blank cheque; it is a covenant founded on trust, shared purpose and performance.

President Tinubu did not inherit an economy without serious wounds. Public finances were under severe pressure. The foreign exchange market had become fragmented and vulnerable to arbitrage. The fuel subsidy arrangement imposed a substantial and opaque fiscal burden. Monetary financing had weakened discipline, while insecurity continued to disrupt agriculture, investment and livelihoods across several parts of the country.

These problems were neither invented by President Tinubu nor capable of being resolved by presidential declaration. They had accumulated over many years, partly because successive governments understood the need for reform but feared its political consequences. Eventually, postponement itself became a policy.

President Tinubu chose to confront some of these difficult issues from the beginning of his administration. The reform of the fuel subsidy system and the foreign exchange market required considerable political courage. It is easy to prescribe painful medicine when someone else is the patient. It is much more difficult to administer it while accepting responsibility for the consequences.

The President deserves commendation  for acting where others hesitated. But courage in beginning reform must be accompanied by wisdom in managing its consequences. A surgeon may be commended for undertaking a difficult operation, but the patient will still want to know whether the bleeding is controlled, whether the pain is being managed and when recovery will begin.

The reforms have contributed to improvements in public revenue, greater transparency in the foreign exchange market, stronger investor interest and a gradual restoration of macroeconomic stability. These are important achievements, and it would be unfair to dismiss them simply because every Nigerian has not yet felt their benefits.

At the same time, it would be equally unwise to deny the hardship in the country. Inflation has reduced purchasing power. Food and transport costs remain high. Businesses face expensive credit and weak consumer demand. Poverty and food insecurity continue to affect millions of Nigerians. The encouraging economic indicators and the hardship experienced by citizens can exist at the same time. One reflects the direction of policy; the other reminds us that the journey is far from complete.

That is why the next phase of reform must focus more deliberately on the Nigerian citizen. Macroeconomic stability is essential, but Nigerians do not live inside statistical tables. Foreign reserves cannot be served for dinner, and higher government revenue cannot by itself pay school fees. Reform must eventually be felt in the market, on the farm, in the workshop and at the family dining table.

The real test is whether reform expands production, creates employment, restores purchasing power and improves access to essential services. It should be visible in farms that are safe and productive, factories that can obtain power and affordable credit, roads that reduce the cost of moving goods, schools that prepare young people for work, and hospitals that do not impoverish families seeking treatment.

This is not an argument for reversing necessary reforms. It is an appeal to deepen and improve them. Government should preserve what is working, correct what is underperforming and reconsider what evidence shows is causing unnecessary damage. Changing the method of implementation does not mean abandoning the destination. Sometimes the wisest way to remain on course is to adjust the steering.

Social protection must therefore become an integral part of the reform programme rather than an afterthought. Assistance should be targeted, transparent and measurable. Beneficiaries must be identifiable, leakages must attract consequences, and programmes should be judged by what they change rather than by the grandeur of their launch ceremonies. In Nigeria, a programme can occasionally receive more publicity than funding. Unfortunately, the citizen cannot eat a press release.

The administration’s interventions in student financing, technical skills, consumer credit, agriculture, infrastructure and industrial development indicate an understanding that stabilising government accounts is not enough. These initiatives should be strengthened, expanded where they are effective and subjected to rigorous evaluation. Nigerians deserve to know not only how much has been spent, but what the spending has achieved.

There is also another side to reform that the government must embrace more visibly. If citizens are asked to endure sacrifice, those who govern must demonstrate restraint. Government cannot continually ask Nigerians to tighten their belts while public office holders appear to be ordering longer belts.

This is not an argument against the dignity of public office. It is an argument for proportion and moral example. Official travel, convoys, vehicle fleets, ceremonies, residences and allowances should reflect the economic circumstances of the country. The message of prudence loses some of its force when delivered from behind conspicuous extravagance.

The President can strengthen public confidence by placing government restraint at the centre of the reform programme. The savings created by difficult reforms must not become additional room for political consumption. They should be channelled transparently into security, infrastructure, education, healthcare, agricultural production and other investments that improve the lives of citizens.

People are more willing to bear temporary hardship when they believe the burden is fairly shared, the destination is clear and the managers of the journey are not travelling in a different vehicle.

Infrastructure development remains an important part of that journey. Roads and railways are not merely construction projects; they are economic arteries. They connect farms to markets, reduce logistics costs, support manufacturing and bring communities into wider economic activity. The administration deserves credit for continuing important projects across the country, including projects inherited from previous governments.

However, public communication must distinguish honestly between projects announced, projects awarded, projects under construction and projects citizens can actually use. A percentage of completion may encourage hope, but only a completed road or railway moves people and goods.

Agriculture requires similar attention. Mechanisation, tractors and processing facilities are necessary, but they are only part of the solution. Farmers need security, affordable inputs, extension services, irrigation, storage, access to finance and dependable routes to market. Agricultural support is provided across the world; Nigeria’s challenge is to ensure that it reaches genuine farmers rather than professional beneficiaries of government programmes.

Above all, security remains the most urgent unfinished business. No economic reform can deliver its full benefits where farmers cannot safely reach their fields, traders fear travelling on the highways, and communities sleep with one eye open.

President Tinubu has demonstrated awareness of the seriousness of insecurity and has directed additional attention to affected areas. That attention must now produce more visible and sustained results. Security is not merely a defence issue; it is also agricultural, industrial, social and economic policy. Its cost appears in food prices, abandoned investments, closed schools, unemployment and displaced communities.

For Katsina State and much of the North West, security must remain at the centre of the conversation with the Federal Government. Our people appreciate federal appointments, infrastructure projects and agricultural interventions. But the greatest benefit government can provide is the restoration of safety. Farmers must return confidently to their farms, roads must become secure, and communities must be able to plan their futures without fear.

The same principle of fair assessment should apply to Governor Dikko Umaru Radda. His administration deserves recognition for its investment in infrastructure, education, agriculture, healthcare, economic empowerment and security. Visible projects provide a basis for public evaluation and demonstrate a commitment to development.

But praise should never exempt any government from scrutiny. Governor Radda must continue to ensure that public resources produce measurable public value, that expenditure remains transparent, and that appointments are guided by competence and service. The discipline expected of the Federal Government should also be demonstrated at the state and local government levels.

Nigeria must learn to combine continuity with correction. Countries do not rebuild themselves by changing direction every morning. Serious reforms require time for institutions, investment and productive capacity to respond. Yet continuity must never become another word for complacency.

Continuity should mean preserving reforms that are working, correcting implementation failures, completing viable projects and strengthening institutions beyond the tenure of individual office holders. Government is a relay rather than a private inheritance, but every runner must still justify receiving the baton.

I support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu because I believe he has shown the courage to confront problems that Nigeria postponed for too long. I also believe that the success of his reforms will ultimately be measured not only by fiscal balances, foreign reserves or investor sentiment, but by the security, opportunity and dignity they deliver to the Nigerian people.

My support therefore carries both hope and expectation. The President should consolidate the progress already made, listen carefully to the concerns of citizens, strengthen social protection, reduce the cost of governance and ensure that the benefits of reform travel more quickly from Abuja’s statistical tables to the homes of ordinary Nigerians.

That is not opposition to reform. It is a call to complete it.

The road remains hard, but the destination still matters. Nigerians should neither deny the progress being made nor remain silent about the hardship that persists. What the country needs is the courage to continue, the humility to correct mistakes and the compassion to ensure that no Nigerian is abandoned by the roadside.

May Allah continue to guide the President and all our leaders, protect our people and grant Nigeria the wisdom to convert the sacrifices of the present into the prosperity of generations yet unborn.