Don’t let anyone deceive you: Nigeria was never done well before Tinubu came into office. Social media is often flooded with nostalgic and selective memories, where people pine for a fictitious golden era. Nigeria posts shared how a brand-new car cost ₦2,000 in 1975 on X, sparking outrage and emotional commentary. But emotions do not solve complex economic problems; empirical facts and actions do.

I wasn’t surprised when I opened the comment section, it was a total battleground filled with verbal warfare, emotional insults, and curses. I left a comment pointing out that the minimum wage in 1975 was ₦125. Shortly after, someone replied: ‘Even if you saved for all year today, you couldn’t even buy 16 tires.’

When you examine the actual numbers behind the narrative, the illusion falls apart. In 1975, when a car cost ₦2,000, the entry-level civil servant earned roughly ₦125 per month. To buy that car outright, a worker would have to save every single kobo of their salary for 16 solid months. Realistically, after taking care of basic living expenses, housing, and family upkeep, an average worker could barely save ₦20 a month because most times, the salary had already been exhausted before payday. Let’s assume they save, at that rate, it would take 100 months over 8 years of disciplined saving just to purchase a single automobile.

The story was similar in higher education. Elders often recall paying ₦500 as university fees at Ahmadu Bello University in 1977 while enjoying free meals and lodging. Yet, against a ₦125 monthly wage, paying ₦500 represented four full months of income. The structural pressure on ordinary citizens was real; it was simply masked by a smaller population and temporary oil windfalls. Older generations largely failed to build sustainable institutions or reinvest that early wealth into future proof infrastructure, enjoying the immediate returns without creating structural value for the generations coming behind them.

To understand Nigeria’s true economic trajectory, look at the cold, hard numbers comparing Nigeria and Brazil between 1980 and 2022. In 1980, during the peak of Nigeria’s oil boom, the country generated about $28 billion in federally collected revenue for a population of roughly 70 million people, while Brazil generated about $22 billion for 123 million people. Per capita, Nigeria was generating more revenue than Brazil. Fast forward 42 years to 2022, and Nigeria’s population tripled to 222 million, yet federally collected revenue dropped to approximately $17 billion. Meanwhile, Brazil expanded its industrial and tax capacity, growing its revenue to about $429 billion for 203 million people. While Brazil grew its revenue base over 25 times, Nigeria’s revenue shrank by nearly 50% in dollar terms while its population tripled.

For decades, particularly between 1999 and 2023, Nigeria operated on an unsustainable model. State governments regularly owed 7 to 10 months of wages, while public institutions suffered endless closures. Roads fell from potholes to craters, health systems deteriorated leading to being referred to as mere consulting clinics, and basic amenities more than but disappeared. Decades ago, even in major urban centers like Lagos, hundreds of residents in dense face-me-I-face-you compounds had to crowd into tiny rooms just to watch a single television set powered by a private generator. The government borrowed trillions not to build infrastructure, but to subsidize consumption, wasting national reserves to keep prices artificially low while pushing the nation toward bankruptcy.

Tinubu came into office and stopped funding consumption. By removing unsustainable subsidies, unifying exchange rates, and restructuring fiscal administration, the tide is turning. The numbers speak for themselves. Tax collections under the Nigeria Revenue Service rose from ₦14.27 trillion in the first half of 2025 to ₦21.6 trillion in the first half of 2026, representing a 50% year-on-year increase driven by non-oil tax growth, digitalization, and compliance. At the same time, the Nigeria Customs Service exceeded its previous annual target by generating ₦7.28 trillion. By ending unsustainable consumption subsidies, Nigeria’s fiscal foundation is stabilizing, restoring international economic credibility and building real structural value.

Facts rule the world, not emotions. Emotional debates on social media do not build roads, fund schools, or clear national debt. Nigeria cannot and should not be judged through the lens of sentiment or emotions. The data proves that President Tinubu is dismantling decades of structural decay and positioning the nation for true self-sufficiency.

Tinubu till 2031 no leave, no transfer.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting and political social worker