A pro-development group has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what it described as “bold and pragmatic” economic reforms that have placed Nigeria on the path of recovery and growth, citing the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the NBS, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 4.23 percent in the second quarter of 2025, compared with 3.48 percent recorded in the same period of 2024. The group said the performance reflects the impact of far-reaching reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration.
Before May 2023, when President Tinubu assumed office, the group noted that the economy was “haemorrhaging,” weighed down by unsustainable fuel subsidy payments, multiple foreign exchange rates that encouraged arbitrage, dwindling reserves, and a widening fiscal deficit.
It stated that the removal of petrol subsidy, unification of the forex market, fiscal consolidation measures, and social intervention programmes have since begun to yield results, despite the initial pain they caused Nigerians.
Among the gains highlighted were improvements in GDP growth, which rose to N100.73 trillion in aggregate, compared with N84.48 trillion in 2024; an increase in external reserves to $42 billion; and six consecutive months of declining inflation, with projections for single-digit inflation by 2026.
The group further pointed out that the agriculture sector grew by 2.82 percent in Q2 2025, boosted by mechanisation and the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), while the industrial sector surged by 7.45 percent, up from 3.72 percent the previous year.
Manufactured goods exports were said to have grown by 173 percent, pushing Nigeria’s trade surplus to over N10 trillion in the first half of the year. Infrastructure projects such as the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway and the $3.02 billion Port Harcourt–Maiduguri Eastern Rail Line were also cited as key drivers of industrial and trade growth.
On social protection, the group said over N330 billion had been disbursed through the Conditional Cash Transfer programme to 8.1 million households, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) had supported more than 400,000 students with loans worth N80 billion.
Commending the administration’s “Poverty Exit Plan” championed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, the group expressed optimism that between 40 and 50 million Nigerians could be lifted out of multidimensional poverty in the next decade.
The statement urged citizens to support the government’s efforts, warning against what it described as “divisive distractions.”
“Nigeria is not just recovering—it is rising,” the group declared.