Nigeria’s economy may be stabilising, but where is the money going?

Nigeria’s economic conversation needs to move beyond Abuja.

The hardship Nigerians are experiencing is real. Food, transportation, electricity, housing and other necessities continue to put enormous pressure on families. At the same time, government revenues have risen significantly following major economic reforms.

So we must ask a simple question: If more money is entering government coffers, when will Nigerians begin to see the impact?

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must be held accountable for federal policies and federal resources. But Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and 774 local governments. Governors and local government chairmen are also receiving substantially increased allocations. Local governments alone were allocated approximately ₦10.48 trillion between July 2024 and June 2026, according to an analysis of FAAC figures reported by The Punch.

That is more than ₦10 trillion flowing to the tier of government closest to the people. What are Nigerians getting for it?

Look around your community. Are the roads better? Are primary healthcare centres functioning? Have public schools improved? Is clean water more available? Are farmers receiving meaningful support? Are markets and drainage systems better maintained? Are there tangible programmes helping small businesses and creating jobs?

These are not questions for the President alone.

If states and local governments are receiving record allocations, Nigerians deserve to see corresponding improvements in public services. Every governor and local government chairman should routinely publish how much was received from FAAC, how much was generated internally, how the money was spent and what measurable results were achieved.

How much came in? Where did it go? What changed?

We cannot have 36 governors and 774 local governments when allocations are being shared, but suddenly have only one government when Nigerians are looking for someone to blame.

That culture must change.

When a community road collapses, citizens should know which level of government is responsible. When a primary healthcare centre has no medicine, ask who controls it. When a school has no desks, ask who received the allocation to provide them. Nigerians must learn to follow the money from Abuja to their states, local governments and communities.

Improving economic indicators mean little to the market woman struggling to feed her family, the worker struggling with transportation costs or the pensioner unable to afford medication. This is where governors and local governments must become the bridge between macroeconomic reform and household recovery.

States and local governments should invest aggressively in agriculture and food production, repair rural and community roads, improve primary healthcare and public schools, support small businesses, reduce unnecessary local levies and improve transportation, water and sanitation. These interventions may not always produce glamorous commissioning ceremonies, but they directly affect people’s lives.

Local government autonomy must also come with local government accountability. Greater access to public money without transparency simply decentralizes waste and corruption.

This is not about defending President Tinubu or attacking governors. It is about applying the same standard to everyone entrusted with public resources. Hold the President accountable. Hold governors accountable. Hold local government chairmen accountable. Hold legislators accountable for constituency projects and other public resources entrusted to them.

The hardship Nigerians are experiencing is real, but so is the unprecedented amount of money flowing through different levels of government.

The question Nigerians should increasingly ask is not simply, “What is the President doing?”

Ask your governor. Ask your local government chairman. Ask your legislators.

How much did you receive? What did you do with it? What changed in the lives of the people you were elected to serve?

Nigeria does not need to be told repeatedly that governments are receiving more money.

Nigerians need to see what that money is doing.

Yinka Ogunsanya, a US Army Veteran, is a security and strategic affairs analyst

Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.