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Chairman of Lee Engineering Group, Chief Leemon Ikpea, on this piece, maintains that President Bola Tinubu should resist strain to desert his daring financial reforms. He insists that the measures are essential to reposition Nigeria for sustainable development. For Ikpea, the Tinubu administration’s reform agenda should be assessed not solely by the quick sacrifices it has imposed on Nigerians but in addition by its potential to right longstanding financial distortions, strengthen public funds, enhance nationwide safety and reposition the nation within the world funding neighborhood, writes Emmanuel Addeh.
Why Tinubu Must Continue with Current Reforms
Ikpea causes that Nigeria can not proceed to postpone tough financial selections and count on a unique end result. For many years, the nation operated an financial system that positioned monumental strain on public funds, discouraged funding and restricted the sources accessible for vital infrastructure and social companies. The penalties had been seen within the persistent challenges of insufficient infrastructure, weak public income, international change pressures and the problem of making adequate employment alternatives for a rising inhabitants.
The elimination of petrol subsidy and the reform of the international change market marked a big departure from this sample. Although the results have been tough for households and companies, the measures, the businessman factors out, have created a chance to deal with structural weaknesses and set up a extra sustainable basis for financial development.
For Ikpea, the vital factor is for the federal government to stay centered on its aims quite than succumb to strain to reverse insurance policies whose advantages could take time to materialise.
“President Tinubu has demonstrated the courage to take decisions that previous administrations found difficult to implement. These are not easy decisions, and we must acknowledge that Nigerians are making sacrifices. However, we must look at the bigger picture and ensure that these reforms deliver lasting benefits for the country,” he says.
He argues that consistency is crucial to restoring confidence amongst buyers, who want predictable insurance policies to make long-term commitments. According to him, companies planning investments in manufacturing, power, infrastructure and different productive sectors require a transparent understanding of the financial setting by which they may function.
For Ikpea, frequent reversals of main insurance policies may enhance uncertainty and discourage the very investments Nigeria must increase manufacturing and create jobs.
Therefore sustaining the reforms should contain greater than sustaining present insurance policies, he factors out. It requires enhancing implementation, strengthening establishments, guaranteeing transparency and establishing mechanisms by means of which Nigerians can see tangible advantages from the modifications, he provides.
The authorities, due to this fact, should proceed to pursue insurance policies that increase financial alternatives whereas offering focused help for weak Nigerians. Such an method, he argues, would assist protect public confidence with out sacrificing the aims of the reform programme.
Move for Better Military Welfare
For a rustic confronting terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and different safety threats, the welfare of navy personnel stays a vital nationwide precedence. The Tinubu administration’s approval of a wage enhance for members of the armed forces, in keeping with the Edo-born entrepreneur, represents an vital recognition of the sacrifices made by personnel deployed to guard lives and property.
The enhance, which took impact on September 1, 2026, supplies for changes starting from 30 per cent to 80 per cent throughout totally different classes of navy personnel. The annual navy wage invoice is predicted to rise from N660 billion to N924 billion, reflecting the federal government’s resolution to commit extra sources to enhancing the situations of service.
According to him, the calls for of navy service lengthen nicely past the unusual duties of public employment. Personnel deployed to battle zones, he argued, usually function in harmful environments, spend lengthy intervals away from their households and face the bodily and psychological pressures related to confronting armed teams.
Ikpea believes that those that danger their lives to defend Nigeria deserve the help and appreciation of the federal government and residents.
“Our military personnel are making enormous sacrifices to keep Nigeria safe. Many of them operate in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, often far away from their families. Improving their welfare is not just a reward for their service; it is an investment in our national security,” he says.
He maintains that higher remuneration can strengthen morale and reinforce the popularity that the sacrifices of navy personnel matter to the nation they’ve sworn to guard. “A government that prioritises the welfare of its security personnel also sends an important signal about the value it places on national security,” he provides.
He argues that nationwide safety and financial growth are intently related. For this motive, he sees the federal government’s intervention in navy welfare as a welcome step that needs to be sustained alongside different efforts to strengthen the nation’s safety structure.
Relief Through Fuel Discount, CNG
The elimination of petrol subsidy has elevated transportation prices, placing extra strain on households and companies. The authorities’s efforts to increase Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in its place gas, he emphasises, due to this fact characterize an vital element of its response to the financial difficulties related to the reforms.
Expanding the usage of CNG, in keeping with Ikpea, presents a chance to diversify the nation’s power combine, cut back dependence on standard automotive fuels and decrease working prices for transport operators the place the infrastructure and economics help its adoption.
“This administration has pursued vehicle conversions, refuelling infrastructure and partnerships with private operators to expand access to alternative-energy transportation. These initiatives are intended to encourage transport businesses and individual vehicle owners to consider cheaper fuel alternatives while creating opportunities for domestic investment. The President needs our support,” Ikpea notes.
Initiatives comparable to CNG, alongside focused gas reductions and different reduction measures, he explains, show the significance of mixing structural reforms with sensible interventions to cushion their affect.
“Removing the subsidy was a difficult but necessary decision. However, initiatives such as CNG and targeted fuel discounts can help reduce the burden on households and businesses while allowing the country to move towards a more sustainable energy system,” he says.
For him, the worth of CNG extends past the quick discount in transportation bills. The programme may stimulate funding in gasoline infrastructure, help native engineering and manufacturing companies, create technical employment and strengthen the home utilisation of Nigeria’s pure sources.
He believes that Nigeria ought to reap the benefits of its gasoline endowment to develop an power system that helps industrial growth and reduces the price of doing enterprise. A extra inexpensive transportation system, he states, would additionally assist companies transfer items extra effectively, with potential advantages for agriculture, manufacturing, distribution and retail commerce.
The authorities, he says, can be working with non-public buyers to increase the infrastructure required to make various fuels commercially viable. Fuel reductions have additionally been just lately launched by means of NNPC stations nationwide.
The final goal of this transfer, he argues, is to scale back the price of shifting folks and items with out recreating the fiscal issues related to the outdated subsidy system.
State Police One of Tinubu’s Best Decisions
According to Ikpea, the rising demand for a simpler response to insecurity has spurred the president’s renewed consideration to the institution of state police. The proposal seeks to convey policing nearer to communities, strengthen native intelligence gathering and enhance responses to threats that modify from one state to a different.
He explains that Nigeria’s geographical dimension, inhabitants and sophisticated safety setting place appreciable calls for on the prevailing police system. Communities going through kidnapping, banditry, communal violence and different legal actions usually require fast responses knowledgeable by detailed native information.
For Ikpea, the institution of state police represents a chance to deal with the restrictions of a extremely centralised policing construction and develop a system higher outfitted to reply to native safety challenges.
“Security is prime to growth. Our farmers should have the ability to go to their farms with out worry, companies should function in a secure setting, and communities should have confidence that assistance will come after they want it. State police can convey safety nearer to the folks if the system is correctly designed and carried out, just like the president is doing.
“A decentralised policing construction may enhance intelligence gathering, strengthen neighborhood engagement and allow authorities to reply extra rapidly to safety threats inside their jurisdictions. Local information might be notably priceless in figuring out legal networks, understanding neighborhood dynamics and stopping threats earlier than they escalate.
“Don’t forget, the economic implications are equally important. Insecurity disrupts agricultural production, increases business operating costs, discourages investment and prevents communities from participating fully in productive activities. It can also undermine infrastructure development and limit access to essential services.This is what I believe Tinubu is trying to stop,” he maintains.
Ikpea, nevertheless, believes that state police should be supported by applicable constitutional and authorized safeguards. Questions regarding funding, recruitment, coaching, operational requirements, accountability and respect for elementary rights should be addressed to make sure that the system serves the general public curiosity.
He argues that state police will complement federal safety establishments quite than create competing constructions. “ The president’s priority, I think, is to sustain the political commitment to the reform while ensuring that the resulting framework is practical, accountable and capable of delivering improved security at the grassroots,” he contends.
Not in Nigeria’s Interest to Return Subsidy
Among essentially the most consequential selections of the Tinubu administration is the elimination of petrol subsidy, a coverage that has generated appreciable public debate due to its quick affect on the price of residing.
Before its elimination, subsidy funds positioned a big burden on public funds, limiting the sources accessible for infrastructure, healthcare, schooling, safety and different nationwide priorities. The system additionally created market distortions and alternatives for abuse, whereas the advantages weren’t all the time distributed equitably amongst Nigerians.
Although the transition has been painful, Ikpea believes that returning to the outdated association would danger recreating the fiscal challenges the federal government sought to deal with.
“We cannot continue to spend enormous public resources sustaining a system that is not economically sustainable. The removal of petrol subsidy was a difficult decision, but reversing it would mean returning to the same problems that held our economy back. What we need now is to make the reforms work for Nigerians,” he says.
“The government’s responsibility is to ensure that the resources freed up by the policy are managed transparently and channelled towards productive investments and interventions that improve citizens’ welfare. And I think that is what the Bola Tinubu government is doing,” he stresses.
He believes that investments in public transportation, highway infrastructure, electrical energy, healthcare and schooling might help enhance residing requirements whereas strengthening the productive capability of the economic system, whereas focused help for weak households can be offering reduction with out recreating the broad fiscal commitments related to the previous subsidy system.
The non-public sector, in his view, should play a central function on this transition. A extra predictable financial setting, he explains, can encourage companies to speculate, increase operations and create employment.
He additionally argues that the extra fiscal house created by subsidy elimination has produced seen advantages, with simpler use of presidency sources.
Rising Investor Confidence
Nigeria’s reform programme has attracted renewed consideration from worldwide buyers and monetary establishments, with developments in credit score scores and market classifications offering indications of adjusting perceptions of the nation’s financial outlook.
Chief Ikpea says Nigeria’s enhancing standing with worldwide credit-rating businesses is one other indication of the rising recognition of the Tinubu administration’s financial reforms, itemizing Moody’s, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings as having all taken optimistic score actions on Nigeria.
Moody’s revised the nation’s outlook to optimistic in August 2026, retaining its B3 score, whereas S&P upgraded Nigeria’s score from B- to B in May 2026. On October 9, Fitch revised Nigeria’s outlook from secure to optimistic and affirmed its B score, citing reforms, stronger international change reserves and enhancements within the nation’s exterior monetary place. JPMorgan has softened its disposition to the nation.
These assessments, in keeping with him, counsel that worldwide observers are starting to recognise the potential advantages of the federal government’s coverage modifications.
For Ikpea, the improved assessments may have vital implications for Nigeria’s financial prospects. Stronger credit score scores and optimistic outlooks can enhance investor confidence, assist Nigerian governments and corporations appeal to international capital and doubtlessly cut back borrowing prices over time, notably if additional score enhancements observe.
Greater confidence, he posits, may additionally encourage funding in manufacturing, oil and gasoline, infrastructure and different productive sectors, supporting employment and financial diversification.
“Investors want to see consistency, transparency and a government that is prepared to take the necessary decisions to create a stable business environment. When policies become more predictable and the economy is managed more sustainably, confidence improves and investors are more willing to consider long-term commitments,” he says.
He argues that Nigeria should construct on this momentum by enhancing the enterprise setting, strengthening regulatory establishments and addressing the infrastructure constraints that enhance the price of working within the nation.
For a nation with important alternatives in oil and gasoline, manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure and expertise, stronger investor confidence, he argues, may help financial diversification, increase productive capability and create employment.
Ikpea additionally believes that home companies are benefiting from the altering financial setting. Nigerian firms require entry to financing, dependable infrastructure and a predictable coverage framework to increase their operations and compete successfully.
“The ultimate objective is to convert improved perceptions into investment, stronger production, job creation and better living standards, which I feel is ongoing and the president knows and he’s doing everything to achieve,” he opines.
According to him, Nigeria has a chance to right longstanding financial weaknesses, enhance its safety structure and construct a extra aggressive economic system. Abandoning the reform programme prematurely, he argues, may undermine the progress achieved and restore the distortions that made decisive motion vital.
