Kí ni gbígbá owó yáwó tí ìjọba ṣe túmọ̀ sí fún ọrọ̀-ajé orílẹ̀-èdè náà?

The moral obscenity at the heart of this scandal demands to be named plainly. For three years, the Tinubu administration has subjected ordinary Nigerians to an unrelenting programme of economic austerity without precedent in our democratic era. The removal of the fuel subsidy, executed without preparation, without social safety nets, and without honest public accounting of the savings, detonated the cost of living across every stratum of Nigerian society. The Naira has been serially devalued, wiping out the purchasing power of workers, traders, small business owners, and pensioners. Interest rates have been driven to levels that have effectively shut small and medium enterprises out of the credit market, strangling the productive base of the economy and accelerating unemployment at a time when Nigeria's youth population is growing faster than any other demographic on earth. Nigerians have been told, repeatedly and firmly, that the treasury is empty, that there is no alternative to the pain being administered, and that sacrifice today is the price of prosperity tomorrow. The government has borrowed at punishing interest rates on international markets, adding to a debt burden that will constrain the fiscal choices of Nigerian governments for a generation, all the while telling the public that every kobo of expenditure is being carefully accounted for and prudently managed.