President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Special Adviser on Media and Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, blamed the slow spread of the government's economic reforms among ordinary Nigerians on the country's 230 million population and crumbling infrastructure.
Speaking on ARISE News on Tuesday, Bwala said federal resources, even with higher revenue, cannot stretch far enough to meet the needs of so many people and fix years of neglect in roads, power, water, and other basic services. He acknowledged what many Nigerians already know: the reforms will take time to reach their neighbourhoods.
"The answer is simply population and resources. The population is over 230 million. The resources we have, however—even with the increased revenue—are not enough to match the population and the deficit in terms of infrastructure. So, growth will inevitably be slow, but it will be slow, steady, and consistent," Bwala said.
He pointed to higher allocations to state governments as proof the reforms are working. States, he argued, are using the extra money to improve their administrations and fund development projects. But he refused to compare how different states are spending the funds, saying that fell outside his job as a federal government spokesman.
Bwala listed specific programmes the administration has launched to help poor Nigerians: the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which he said has reached over one million students; a push to convert vehicles to compressed natural gas to cut transport costs; and health subsidies for dialysis and Caesarean sections. He said every policy the government introduced targets the poor.
"When we talk about over one million beneficiaries of the Student Loan Fund, these are not children of the rich; these are children of the poor. Without the intervention in this regard, they may not have had the opportunity to achieve their dreams," he said of NELFUND.
But Bwala admitted a gap between what the numbers show and what Nigerians feel in their pockets. Macroeconomic improvements, he said, take years to translate into better household living standards. He acknowledged that many people see government celebrating rising figures while their own incomes fall.
"The argument most people make is that the administration appears to be too focused on macroeconomic indicators… They are not focused enough on household economics. I think that is the argument—so you are celebrating numbers while citizens are counting their losses. That's a fact," he said.
Still, he insisted the government's hands are tied. With 230 million mouths to feed and infrastructure crises spanning decades, the pace of change cannot be rushed. Poverty reduction, Bwala argued, should be measured by data, not just how people feel, even as he conceded that feelings matter.
