Structural Reform and the Importance of Shared National Responsibility.

It is particularly concerning when elements of the political opposition otherwise presumed to understand the basic mechanics of public finance choose to privilege populist theatrics over analytical honesty. In periods of deep structural reform, international experience consistently shows that broad-based political support is essential, irrespective of partisan alignment. Macroeconomic stabilization and fiscal correction are not ideological luxuries; they are preconditions for sustainable growth and social protection.

Many of the reforms currently being implemented were long acknowledged as necessary, yet repeatedly deferred due to political cost. What distinguishes the present moment is not novelty, but resolve. Policies that were previously avoided are now being undertaken with clarity and courage, precisely because the costs of delay had become greater than the costs of action.

Reactionary narratives that deliberately conflate fiscal concepts or exaggerate hardship for political mobilization risk undermining reforms whose primary beneficiaries are the very citizens being misled. International reform episodes from subsidy rationalization to exchange-rate liberalization demonstrate that while adjustment periods are difficult, the long-term gains in stability, service delivery, and inclusion are substantial and widely shared.

There is a well-documented reform paradox in political economy: those who benefit most from systemic change often provide limited immediate support, while those who benefited from distortions possess both the incentive and the capacity to resist, distort, and misinform. This dynamic has been observed repeatedly in transitions toward more transparent, rules-based economic systems.

Nigeria is not exempt from this pattern. However, nation-building requires a conscious rejection of misinformation, selective arithmetic, and the politics of deliberate confusion. Fiscal reform is not a zero-sum contest between government and citizens; it is a collective investment in macroeconomic stability, institutional credibility, and intergenerational equity.

The task before the country is therefore not one of political point-scoring, but of shared responsibility. Sustained reform demands honesty in public discourse, analytical rigor in critique, and a commitment to national outcomes over short-term advantage.

Nigeria has a nation to build. That task cannot be achieved through the politics of illusion, distortion, or falsehood but through discipline, truth, and collective purpose.

Otunba Segun Showunmi 

Dan Maliki

The Alternative.