Crushed by Corruption: Nigeria’s Journey from Wealth to Worthlessness.” (A Nation that eats its own currency/future)

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

Not too long ago, the Nigerian Naira was stronger than the American Dollar and British Pound. In 1973, one Naira was equivalent to $1.52, and by 1980, Nigeria was not just Africa’s largest oil producer but one of the world’s most promising developing economies. Fast-forward to 2025, one Dollar is now nearly ₦1,700, while the Pound hovers around ₦2,200; this is not just a currency collapse, it’s NATIONAL Disgrace. The question on everyone’s lips is: How did we fall so TRAGICALLY and so IRREPARABLY? The answer lies in decades of economic mismanagement, political irresponsibility, unbridled corruption and systemic illiteracy masquerading as leadership. Nigeria’s fall did not happen overnight; it was a slow-motion car crash and we were all passengers in a bus driven by blindfolded leaders who ignored every warning sign on the ROAD to RUIN.

The Beginning of the Fall: 1980’s Structural Adjustment Betrayal. Nigeria’s economic nosedive began with the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1986 under the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. SAP was packaged as a reform to diversify the economy and reduce Nigeria’s reliance on oil. Instead, it devalued the Naira, dismantled local industries and opened the floodgates for imported goods, killing our textile, automobile and manufacturing sectors. Economist Dr. Reuben Ifeanyi noted in a 2023 interview: “SAP was the poison that killed Nigeria’s economy slowly, but made Nigeria addicted to imports, destroyed its productive base and left the Naira to bleed.” That was the beginning of the economic coup against the Naira. A policy meant to save the economy instead became the scaffold for its execution.

The Curse of Oil and the Culture of Looting. While oil should have been our blessing, it became our biggest curse; rather than use oil revenue to invest in infrastructure, education and industry like Norway or the UAE, Nigerian leaders looted the wealth. Between 1999 and 2023, Nigeria reportedly earned over $1.2 trillion from crude oil exports, yet over 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty. Where did the money go? Into private pockets. STOLEN. Hidden in offshore accounts. Lavishly spent on frivolities and elections. Now, we have a debt profile of over ₦97 trillion, with debt servicing consuming more than 90% of federal revenue in some years. A Nigerian development economist Kingsley Moghalu said: “The problem is not that Nigeria lacks resources; the problem is that Nigeria lacks resourceful leadership.”

The Politicization of the Economy. Every four years, elections are turned into a bazaar, politicians exchange RICE, SALT, plus LIES for votes. Power is rarely attained through merit but through ETHNIC-ALLIANCES and GODFATHERISM. No one asks about economic plans; no one debates foreign policy. All that matters is “NA OUR TURN.” This political recklessness has resulted in nearly 70% of the federal budget being recurrent expenditure (salaries, overheads and allowances) while capital expenditure continues to shrink. We wonder why our roads are death traps and our schools look like poultry farms. Political commentator Aisha Yesufu put it plainly: “You cannot keep electing criminals and expect saints to govern you. Nigeria’s problem is the normalization of nonsense.”

The Currency of Shame: Why the Naira Crashed?Beyond SAP and bad leadership, the collapse of the Naira stems from a deadly combination:

DOLLARIZATION of the ECONOMY. Everyone wants to save in dollars, trade in dollars, rent houses in dollars; the Naira has been demoted even within its own borders.

OVER-RELIANCE on IMPORTS. From toothpicks to fuel, Nigeria imports everything. Our import bill exceeds $70 billion annually, while exports (outside oil) are negligible.

CORRUPTION in FOREX-ALLOCATION. Under Buhari and Tinubu, powerful cronies accessed dollars at official rates and resold at black market prices; a criminal enterprise masquerading as policy.

NO PRODUCTION-BASE. You cannot defend a currency you don’t produce anything with; the Central Bank has become a prayer camp, hoping divine intervention will fix a secular mess.

According to Bloomberg’s African Economic Review 2024, “Nigeria has the weakest performing currency in Africa, despite being one of the continent’s largest economies. The cause is not global economic trends but domestic dysfunction.”

Africa No Longer Sees Us As The Giant. The phrase “Giant of Africa” used to command respect. Today, it elicits sarcasm and laughter; even smaller countries like Rwanda and Botswana outperform Nigeria in governance, healthcare, education and per capita income. South Africa used to look up to Nigeria politically; now, they deport our citizens like flies and Ghana, once a recipient of Nigerian aid, now closes its borders to our goods. To make it worse, we are now the world capital of youth migration, with over 2 million Nigerians fleeing through “JAPA” routes in just the last 5 years. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated in a recent lecture: “A country that treats its young people as disposable should not expect loyalty, it should expect flight.” Nigeria is no longer the pride of Africa, but a cautionary tale. We are mocked for our electricity failures, laughed at for our elections and pitied for our economic tragedy.

The Tinubu Administration: From Hope to Horror. The 2023 elections offered a flicker of hope; that light has dimmed into darkness. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with his so-called “RENEWED HOPE AGENDA,” has worsened the pain. Removing fuel subsidies without building refineries, floating the naira without stabilizing reserves and appointing political loyalists into economic roles has backfired. Today, Nigeria faces:
A. 50% FOOD-INFLATION.
B. Over 45% YOUTH-UNEMPLOYMENT.
C. INSECURITY from ALL-DIRECTIONS.
D. Highest OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN in the WORLD. (over 20 million)

We are a nation ADRIFT. A failed giant on LIFE-SUPPORT. The world has stopped waiting for us to catch up.

Final Thoughts: Where Do We Go From Here?
We cannot fix Nigeria without confronting the truth: Our failure is man-made. Our leaders are the architects of our downfall and until we prioritize COMPETENCE over CONNECTION, VISION over TRIBE and IDEAS over MONEY, we will keep digging our own grave. ILLITERACY, both INTELLECTUAL and MORAL, must be fought with everything we have. We need an economic war cabinet not RECYCLED ministers. We need to invest in agro-processing, ICT and manufacturing. We must cut the cost of governance, fix our education system and restore trust in public institutions. David Hundeyin, investigative journalist and public policy analyst said: “Nigeria is a failed state not because it lacks potential, but because it is actively structured to prevent progress.” Unless we change that leadership culture (not just who is in power, but how they govern) the Naira will fall further, Africa will move on without us and the “GIANT of AFRICA” will be nothing more than a dusty relic in old history books.

Written by George Omagbemi Sylvester
Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com