Wema Bank Empowers Tech Innovators at Akure, Zaria, Ibadan, and Lagos with Hackaholics 6.0

Wema Bank, Nigeria’s most innovative bank and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, has continued to deepen its commitment to youth innovation and entrepreneurship with Hackaholics 6.0, its flagship campus ideathon. This year, the Hackaholics train has toured four Nigeria cities from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, to the University of Ibadan (UI) and Purple Academy, Lagos, bringing together some of the brightest young minds in Sub-Saharan Africa to create transformative solutions to real-world problems.

With over 3,000 entries submitted so far, at each location, hundreds of students and young entrepreneurs gathered to receive industry-led masterclasses, and develop ideas aimed at solving challenges in the ecosystem. For four days in each location, participants were immersed in the full Hackaholics experience, from ideation to mentorship to pitch readiness, culminating in high-energy final pitches where the best ideas emerged. In every location, three Ideathon winning teams; including one women-led group and two Hackathon teams walked away with invitations to compete at the Hackaholics 6.0 Grand Finale. These teams now stand a chance to scale their solutions with the backing of Wema Bank’s innovation ecosystem.

Speaking on the initiative, MD/CEO Wema Bank, Plc, Moruf Oseni, said, “Hackaholics has always been about more than technology. It is about empowering young people to think differently, create boldly, and contribute solutions that can move our industry and nation forward. The level of talent and creativity we have witnessed so far further reinforces why we continue to invest in this programme. The innovative ideas and solutions coming out of the participants have the power to shape the future of financial services and beyond, and we are excited to see them come to life.”

Since its launch in 2019, Hackaholics has grown into a cornerstone of youth engagement and innovation in Nigeria. With over 12,000 applicants from 15 schools, and a total of over $300,000 disbursed in funding, including ₦75 million awarded to women-led teams between 2023 and 2024, the program has consistently delivered on its mission to create a vibrant ecosystem where students, innovators, and early-stage founders can collaborate, learn, and grow while building long-term relationships with Wema Bank.

As the Hackaholics 6.0 train continues its journey to more cities before the Grand Finale, Wema Bank remains committed to empowering the next generation of Nigerian innovators. Students and young entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit https://hackaholics.wemabank.com/ for more information on how to participate and submit their entries.

OPINION ARTICLE: CBN’s N75 Trillion Credit Milestone to Private Sector Falls Flat as Productivity Crisis Deepens

BY BLAISE UDUNZE

Nigeria’s financial system is flashing red, and not because of a scarcity of money. Ironically, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the nation’s banking proudly tout a historic rise in private-sector credit, announcing figures hovering around N75 trillion throughout 2024-2025. On paper, this looks like a funding boom, a sign that businesses are borrowing, investing, expanding, and building. But on the ground, the country’s real sector tells a very different story.

Manufacturers that are the backbone of industrial output have withdrawn en masse from bank loans, their loan books collapsing by an alarming 20.3 percent within a single year. SMEs, which constitute over 90 percent of Nigeria’s businesses and nearly half of the national GDP, remain shut out of formal credit. Banks themselves are quietly battling rising non-performing loans (NPLs), with several institutions breaching the CBN’s 5 percent regulatory threshold. Meanwhile, the official “N75 trillion” credit figure hangs in the air like an illusion that appeared to be big, impressive, but dangerously misleading. This feature unpacks the contradiction. If credit is indeed booming, where did the money go? And why is the real economy shrinking away from bank financing at a time when it should be expanding?

The financial statements of Nigeria’s top manufacturers for the first nine months of 2025 show a coordinated withdrawal from bank credit. Their aggregate bank borrowings plunged from N2.526 trillion in 2024 to N2.014 trillion in 2025, a dramatic 20.3 percent drop. The details are striking:

– BUA Foods fell from N1.559 trillion to N1.105 trillion;

– Nestlé Nigeria from N653.7 billion to N521.01 billion;

– Nigerian Breweries from N204.17 billion to N162.17 billion.

– NASCON’s borrowings dropped 98percent, from N3.3 billion to N67 million.

– Others: Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, Guinness, and International Breweries took no new loans.

These are not marginal firms but some of the most capital-intensive, employment-generating entities in the country. Their exodus from bank borrowing is a referendum on Nigeria’s brutal credit environment, where the Monetary Policy Rate of 27-27.5 percent has pushed effective lending rates well above 30 percent, making loans unaffordable even for working capital.

The retreat has slashed their financing costs by 52.8 percent, from N1.4 trillion to N662 billion. This is not because interest rates fell; they didn’t. Businesses simply stopped borrowing.

Finance expert David Adonri describes it bluntly: “Borrowers shun bank credit… lending rates have not come down materially. Banks’ income may fall below expectations.”

But the bigger concern is not banks’ income, it is the economy’s ability to invest and grow.

This is the question that unsettles economists, industry players, and SMEs alike.

If manufacturers pull back, SMEs remain excluded, and retail borrowing is suppressed; who receives the N75 trillion? What did it finance?

The answer reveals that Nigeria’s credit allocation remains opaque; however, historical patterns and recent financial data point in three directions. Even more concerning are recent claims that the modest loan growth recorded in 2024-2025 is not commensurate with the explosive expansion of banks’ balance sheets.

This suggests that the system is growing with deposits rising, assets swelling, FX revaluation inflating balance sheets, but actual lending to the productive economy is barely moving.

The credit growth being celebrated is therefore not only concentrated but also superficial and disconnected from balance sheet realities.

1. Lending concentration in big corporate and government entities

For decades, banks have preferred lending to large corporations and government-linked entities like:

– Oil & Gas

– Conglomerates and trading groups

– Government contractors

– Financial market operators

– Large borrowers with FX exposure

Even CBN’s earlier research shows that only 5-6 percent of total bank credit historically reaches SMEs.

Given the lack of detailed public data, it is reasonable to infer that the bulk of the N75 trillion still flows to:

– Large corporations

– Treasury operations

– Prime customers

– Big-ticket borrowers with government-linked contracts.

Experts warn that this reflects a financial system drifting away from the real economy, a trend Muda Yusuf describes as “worrisome and dangerous.”

2. Banks are also parking funds in government securities.

Commercial banks prioritized lending to the government by investing in T-bills, FGN Bonds, and OMO instruments, where returns are high and risk-free. Over the past two years, Nigerian banks have channeled N20.4 trillion into treasury bills, bonds, and other fixed-income instruments, reaping risk-free returns rather than funding productive ventures. This “securities trap” is profitable for banks but disastrous for the economy.

A government-backed 19–22 percent yield is more attractive than lending to an SME at 27-35 percent with a high probability of default.

3. FX revaluation effects and rollovers

Portions of the N75 trillion may not be new lending in the real sense but the result of regulatory reclassifications, rollovers, FX revaluation on foreign-currency loans, and large concentrated credit exposures. This creates the illusion of expanded credit without tangible productivity gains.

However, SMEs, which contribute 46.3 percent of GDP and employ millions, remain locked out of the credit system due to punitive interest rates, high collateral demands, lack of financial documentation, bureaucratic processes, and weak credit-scoring systems. Despite accounting for 97 percent of businesses and nearly 90 percent of informal jobs, SMEs receive only 5 percent of commercial bank lending. This is a structural failure. SMEs remain almost entirely disconnected from Nigeria’s celebrated “N75 trillion credit boom.”

Manufacturers’ 2025 results show turnover up 37.9 percent and profit swinging from a N116 billion loss to N2.5 trillion gain. But experts like Muda Yusuf and Clifford Egbomeade warn that these improvements are driven primarily by:

– Inflationary pricing adjustments, not increased production.

– Gains are also supported by exchange-rate stability.

– Reduced debt burden, not operational efficiency.

Nigeria risks mistaking nominal growth for real productivity.

Meanwhile, rising non-performing loans fueled by high interest rates, inflation, weakened consumer demand, and FX volatility have pushed some banks above the CBN’s 5 percent NPL ceiling, further restricting their willingness to lend, especially to SMEs.

Even the private-sector credit trend contradicts the headline figure. Throughout 2025, credit levels have shown repeated declines:

– February’s N77.3 trillion dropped to N76.3 trillion,

– N75.9 trillion in March,

– Followed by a temporary rebound to N78.1 trillion in April,

– May-August declined to N75.8 trillion.

These repeated drops reflect weakened appetite for borrowing, tighter bank lending, liquidity pressures, and borrower distress. A true credit boom does not move in this direction.

The Human Cost of an Economy without Productivity

The consequences of weak productivity are not abstract. They show up in hunger, jobs, poverty, life expectancy, and living standards. Below is where Nigeria’s crisis becomes undeniable.

– It is Not Just Rising, it is deepening

– According to the World Bank, 139 million Nigerians now live in poverty. That is six in ten Nigerians. No country with this scale of poverty can claim real economic progress.

SBM Intelligence, in a scathing review of the government’s economic reforms, noted that this administration of government has failed to lift Nigerians’ living standards, despite the loud claims of macroeconomic stability.

Life Expectancy in Nigeria Is Now the Lowest in the World

The UN’s 2025 Global Health Report ranked Nigeria’s life expectancy at 54.9 years, the worst globally, far below the world average of 73.7 years. This decline is attributed to:

– Insecurity

– Poor healthcare access

– Rising poverty

– Nutritional deficiencies

– Weak social welfare

A productive economy increases life expectancy; a collapsing one shortens it.

Hunger Is the Real Inflation Index

While official inflation reports show “stabilisation,” the lived reality says otherwise.

In the kitchens of Lagos, in the cries of hungry children, and in the struggles of market women, a harsher truth is spoken daily: Empty pots do not lie, and hunger, not percentages, is Nigeria’s real inflation index.

Debt Explosion Is Eroding Nigeria’s Future

Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office in 2023:

– Nigeria’s public debt surged from N33.3 trillion-N152.4 trillion. A staggering 348.6 percent increase in less than two years

Economies don’t collapse overnight; they deteriorate gradually. Nigeria is flashing every warning signal.

Unemployment Appears “Stable,” But Youth Joblessness Is Rising

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that while Nigeria’s headline unemployment rate has fallen to 4.3 percent, youth unemployment has risen to 6.5 percent. A youthful population with no jobs is a time bomb for the economy.

Financial System Delinking from the Real Economy

Nigeria’s financial system appears to be delinking from the real economy. High interest rates make loans too expensive, manufacturers cut borrowing, SMEs are excluded, banks channel funds into T-bills, NPLs rise, banks tighten further, and private-sector growth slows. This feedback loop is dangerous.

Monetary authorities have prioritised stabilization, achieving a firmer naira, temporary FX calm, and reduced speculative pressure, but at the cost of choking credit, suppressing investment, weakening job creation, and widening the disconnect between banks and the productive economy. The recovery, as Egbomeade notes, is “fragile and easily reversible.”

To reverse the trend, Nigeria must rebuild the credit pipeline. To break the cycle, three urgent reforms are needed:

1. The CBN should publish transparent, disaggregated credit data.

This must show credit allocation by firm size, region, sector, and performance.

2. Expand targeted credit guarantees for SMEs and manufacturers.

Deposit money banks and the government must strengthen SME and manufacturing credit channels through expanded guarantees.

3. Reduced collateral barriers and adopted alternative credit scoring, stronger BOI pipelines.

4. Incentives for real-sector lending through tax breaks and prudential relief.

5. Most importantly, interest rates must gradually fall to levels that support investment and production while maintaining FX stability. Credit cannot revive with 30-35 lending rates.

Nigeria’s N75 trillion private-sector credit figures may look impressive, but manufacturers have withdrawn, SMEs have little access, banks are risk-averse, NPLs are rising, the real sector is struggling, debt is exploding, Life expectancy is collapsing, hunger is spreading, productivity remains weak, and credit levels are trending downward. The real question is no longer how large the number is but who actually received it, what it financed, and what it produced. Until credit flows to production, industry, SMEs, and innovation, Nigeria will continue celebrating large numbers while the real economy gasps for oxygen. It is time to stop counting the trillions and start counting the impact.

Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos, can be reached via: [email protected]

Civil Society Coalition Demands Apology From Wike Over Remarks Against Buratai

Abuja, Nigeria — November 16, 2025

A coalition of civil society organisations has condemned the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, over recent comments made against former Chief of Army Staff and ex-Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lt. General Tukur Yusufu Buratai (rtd.), describing the remarks as “reckless, inconsistent, and lacking in evidence.”

The Coalition of Civil Society Groups Against Terrorism in Nigeria issued the strong-worded response on Thursday, urging the Minister to either present concrete proof to substantiate his allegations or tender an unreserved public apology to both Buratai and the Nigerian public.

Coalition Faults Wike’s “Shifting Allegations”

In a statement signed by its Convener, Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi; Secretary, Barr. John Atani; and Public Relations Officer, Comrade Jide Alofe, the coalition accused Wike of making “inflammatory and unsubstantiated” claims that undermine public trust.

The group alleged that the Minister had a “pattern of shifting accusations,” noting that similar claims had been previously directed at a former GOC and ex-Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, before resurfacing years later with Buratai as the new target.

“Consistency is born of truth; inconsistency is borne of convenience,” the coalition said. “Nigerians remember who was accused originally, and they can see that this sudden redirection raises questions about motive, timing, and credibility.”

Calls for Evidence Instead of Political Drama

The coalition challenged Wike to submit any proof he has about alleged electoral malpractice or wrongdoing by Buratai to the appropriate investigative authorities. It said public grandstanding without verifiable documentation amounted to “political theatre” rather than accountability.

“In a democracy governed by law, allegations do not become facts simply because they are made at a press conference,” the group said. “If the Minister truly has evidence, he should step away from the microphone and step into the courtroom.”

Buratai’s Service Record Defended

The coalition highlighted Buratai’s decades-long service in the Nigerian Army—spanning from 1983 to his tenure as the 20th Chief of Army Staff—and his subsequent diplomatic role, describing him as a “national icon whose contributions to Nigeria’s security and global representation remain undeniable.”

They argued that comparing a retired military leader with a lifetime of national service to a partisan political figure was “deeply unfair,” adding that Wike’s own political ambitions, including his failed 2022 presidential primary bid, should not be used as a platform for “attacking a national hero.”

Demand for Public Apology

The group urged the FCT Minister to retract his comments and apologise to Buratai, stressing that a public office holder is expected to display restraint, civility, and respect for national institutions.

“The language employed by the Minister is beneath the dignity of his office,” the coalition stated. “It is an insult not just to General Buratai, but to Nigerians who value truth, honour, and responsible public leadership.”

A Broader Call for National Decorum

Concluding its response, the coalition appealed to Nigerians to uphold respect for national heroes and avoid allowing political rivalries to distort historical facts or tarnish the reputation of those who served the country with distinction.

“Ambassador Buratai represents the best of Nigeria’s values—duty, sacrifice, and honour,” the statement read. “We will not remain silent while his record is undermined by baseless claims.”