Any Presidential Aspirant Who Promises To Move Nigeria From Consumption To Production Nation Is Naive, Lacks A Grasp Of Economic Realities – Tade Makinwa

A social media influencer, Tade Makinwa,  has described as lacking the grasp of economic realities, naive or a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, if any Presidential Aspirant  promises to transform Nigeria from a consumption to a production nation in just four years.

 

On her facebook page, Tade described President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president who is on the right track to making this transformation a reality by building platforms, rail by rail, tax reform by tax reform, policy by policy, for a Nigeria that can stand tall in global supply chains.

According to her,

Anytime I hear or read from a presidential aspirant that he will make Nigeria move from a consumption nation to a production economy within the space of 4 years, I always smile, because it’s either the aspirant who promises this transformation is naive, lacks a grasp of economic realities, or is deliberately misleading the public.

 

And the loudest voice making this promise now is Mr Peter Obi. While his intention may be noble, the idea that Nigeria, a nation of over 200 million people with decades of structural decay, can achieve self-sufficiency and industrial dominance in just four years is a profound oversimplification of nation-building, and very, very unrealistic.

 

And before you foam at the mouth, let’s talk facts.

 

First of all, industrial transformation is not built on rhetoric, it’s built on infrastructure, energy, logistics, institutional strength, fiscal stability, human capital, and most importantly, time. Take a good look at countries that have successfully made this leap, talk of China, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam, they didn’t achieve it in four years. These countries achieved it through consistent leadership, investment, policy discipline, and private sector partnerships spanning decades. But someone who didn’t even build a single school, not to talk of good roads during 8 years as a governor, wants to take Nigeria from consumption to production in four years. The antecedent of any man will always lay a pointer to what the future will birth.

 

For any country to move from consumption to production, an enabling environment where industries can grow, thrive, and export must be developed.

 

Transport infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, and airports must be fixed. Stable power supply must be addressed because industrial zones need uninterrupted power. There must be access to finance because industries need working capital, favourable tax policies must be implemented because the system must encourage production, not overtax them. Public-private partnerships need to be established. Also, there has to be a lot of regulatory reforms in order to cut through the red tape that discourages manufacturing, and there has to be a skilled labour force that must go through technical education and vocational training before a country can start to talk of becoming a self-sufficient country.

 

All of these are not things that any man can achieve in four years. They are not overnight fixes, they are systematic investments.

 

The good news is that all of these foundational requirements that need to be put in place for a country to reach that productive potential or capacity are exactly what this present administration is putting in place and implementing.

 

We have agreed that we need transport infrastructure, right? Then I need to remind you of the Lagos-Calabar coastal railways project, which is ongoing, and by the time that project is completed, it will become a pivotal part of connecting southern coastal cities and enabling cargo movement from Lagos through Calabar, there are many other infrastructure projects such as this, which have been put in place before now and functioning.

 

We have agreed that we need a skilled labour force, right? I’ll also remind you of the 3 Million Technical Talent program that was launched in October 2023, which is now in full swing through 2024–2025. This program has attracted over 1.8 million applications and is training Nigerians across highly demanded digital and technical skills towards the 2027 goal of three million technicians and developers. Under this same Tinubu, the ITF (Industrial Training Fund) was directed to upscale artisans and vocational training in alignment with industrial needs in construction, manufacturing, and service.

 

We have also agreed that for Nigeria to become a productive country, there has to be favourable tax policies, right? We saw this just last month with the creation of the Nigeria Revenue Service, which harmonizes over 100 tax agencies into a streamlined system, thereby collapsing over 60 tax categories into 8 core taxes.

 

A key policy of this reform is that there will be zero tax on essentials, businesses whose revenues are between ₦25–₦50 million are exempted and offered zero CIT, thereby easing the burden on emerging local businesses, and this reform is expected to take effect starting from January 2026.

 

We have also agreed that there has to be a systematic synergy and alignment in vision between the public and private sector, right? I am saying it for a fact that in the history of this country, there’s never been an administration that engages and sits with the private sector and industry leaders on broader economic strategy like that of President Tinubu. As we speak, he is cultivating public-private partnerships across infrastructure, industrial zones, and skill training, and he’s also opening access to industrial financing through development banks.

 

These and many more are the things I’ve seen in this new administration that makes me believe we are truly on the right path.

 

This is why myself and many other people with better understanding can tell you for a fact that whatever Mr Peter Obi may be saying in his writings and public speeches is nothing but a fallacy. “From consumption to production” sounds good on campaign posters and Twitter posts, but we all know that words don’t lay rail tracks, they don’t generate electricity, they don’t attract foreign investors, they don’t train a workforce or make SMEs competitive, and we know that all ideas succeed on paper.

 

I must also say that it is intellectually dishonest for any aspirant to make promises that reality cannot deliver. I know that we deserve hope as a country, but false hope wrapped in economic fantasy is nothing but an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians.

 

President Tinubu is building platforms, rail by rail, tax reform by tax reform, policy by policy, for a Nigeria that can stand tall in global supply chains. That is how real nations move from consumption to production, not through magic.

 

So the next time someone tells you they’ll take Nigeria from consumption to production in four years, ask them: With what roads? With what ports? With what power? With what policies? With what workforce? Because talk is cheap, transformation is not.

 

But I know you will not ask questions, because you like LAMBA