By Dennis Okechukwu
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reaffirmed the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to transforming Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030, with the National Chairman of the party, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, declaring that the foundation for the ambitious target is being laid through economic reforms, infrastructure development, investment in human capital and the expansion of Nigeria’s productive capacity.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this yesterday, while representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Special Guest of Honour at the Second Edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series/Asiwaju Policy Roundtable organised by the APC Professional Forum. He conveyed the President’s appreciation to the organisers and participants for creating a platform for constructive engagement on the policies, programmes and achievements of the administration.
According to him, President Tinubu assumed office at a time Nigeria was confronted with a difficult economic inheritance characterised by fuel subsidy distortions, multiple foreign-exchange windows, weak revenue mobilisation, foreign-exchange shortages, rising debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure.
He said the President recognised that the country could no longer continue on that trajectory and therefore took difficult but necessary decisions, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the reform of the foreign-exchange market.
Prof. Yilwatda noted that available economic indicators increasingly demonstrate that the foundation of the Nigerian economy is strengthening, citing the rise in Nigeria’s gross external reserves to about $52.7 billion by August 2026, growth in consolidated non-oil revenue from approximately N13.63 trillion in 2023 to N16.4 trillion in the first two quarters of 2026, and a significant improvement in the country’s merchandise trade position.
He further cited real GDP growth of 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 and the decline in inflation to about 15.4 per cent from its earlier peak.
“These figures do not mean that our economic challenges have disappeared, but they demonstrate that the direction of travel has changed,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, however, stressed that macroeconomic stability was not the ultimate destination of the ķķ Hope Agenda but the foundation upon which Nigerians must experience tangible improvements in their daily lives.
“The ultimate test is when stability translates into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians,” he said.
Prof. Yilwatda explained that the President’s $1 trillion economy ambition should not be viewed merely as a numerical target but as a national development mission aimed at building a Nigeria that produces more, exports more, attracts greater investment, creates more jobs and gives its young population a greater stake in the nation’s future.
He said achieving the target would require Nigeria to fundamentally rethink its economic geography and take full advantage of its strategic location, maritime resources, population, natural resources and expanding consumer market.
According to him, the country must move beyond the traditional concept of infrastructure as isolated projects and develop an integrated national economic and transportation architecture capable of connecting production centres, ports, markets and neighbouring countries.
A statement by Abimbola Tooki
Special Adviser to the National Chairman
(Media and Information Strategy) said
Yilwatda proposed an integrated five-port maritime and logistics corridor connecting major deep-sea ports in Lagos, Ondo, Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar through modern rail and road infrastructure.
He said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Super Highway could serve as a principal coastal road spine, while major rail and road corridors would connect the maritime gateways to Nigeria’s interior and ultimately to the wider markets of West, Central and North Africa.
The Western Corridor, he explained, would connect the maritime gateways to the interior through the Lagos–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, thereby creating a major trade route from Nigeria’s Atlantic coast to markets in the Northwest and the Sahel.
Similarly, the Eastern Corridor would connect eastern maritime gateways through the Port Harcourt–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the proposed Calabar–Maiduguri Trans-Sahara Super Highway.
He said such an integrated network could ultimately connect Nigeria’s maritime gateways to landlocked markets in Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic.
“This is how Nigeria can move beyond being simply a coastal trading nation to becoming the maritime gateway and logistics hub of West and Central Africa, capturing a much larger share of the continent’s trade, logistics, manufacturing and distribution value chain,” he said.
Prof. Yilwatda stressed that the infrastructure plan represented far more than transportation development. “It is a trade architecture,” he declared.
He explained that the corridors would create opportunities in logistics, warehousing, freight forwarding, customs, banking, insurance, manufacturing, distribution and agro-processing, while generating employment, foreign exchange and greater economic activity.
He urged the development of industrial parks, export-processing zones, logistics parks, agro-processing clusters and manufacturing centres along the corridors.
“Where rail reaches an agricultural region, processing industries should follow. Where it reaches mineral resources, processing and manufacturing should follow. Where dry ports are established, logistics and distribution businesses should develop around them. This is how infrastructure becomes an engine of economic growth,” he said.
The APC National Chairman further highlighted the strategic importance of expanding rail connectivity towards Maradi and the wider Sahel, stressing that the project could fundamentally reposition Nigeria as a regional trading and logistics powerhouse.
He explained that improved connectivity would give Nigerian businesses easier access to neighbouring markets while ensuring that significant economic activities associated with trade—including customs, banking, insurance, logistics, manufacturing and distribution—are increasingly domiciled in Nigeria.
“If you are a businessman in Nigeria, the rail to Maradi will ensure that you can trade with all the neighbouring countries,” he said.
According to him, the corridor would also create enormous opportunities for Nigerian manufacturers to produce goods for export across the sub-region, while industrial parks and logistics centres could spring up along the route.
He urged governors in the northern states to see the emerging corridors as platforms for economic transformation rather than merely transportation projects.
“These corridors can become pathways to the development of a billion-dollar economy,” he said.
Prof. Yilwatda maintained that no industrial transformation could succeed without reliable and affordable energy, stressing that Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources provide an opportunity to power a new phase of industrialisation.
He specifically cited the strategic importance of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project in connecting gas resources to major population and industrial centres in Northern Nigeria.
According to him, the project is not simply about transporting gas but about enabling electricity generation, fertiliser production, manufacturing, transportation, household energy supply and broader industrialisation.
He said the government must deliberately encourage fertiliser plants, manufacturing facilities and other energy-intensive industries to locate along the emerging infrastructure corridors, thereby transforming transportation and energy investments into productive economic clusters.
The APC National Chairman also highlighted the administration’s investments in education, skills development and access to productive credit, describing them as strategic investments in Nigeria’s economic future.
He said the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) was designed to ensure that financial circumstances would no longer prevent qualified Nigerian youths from accessing higher education.
Drawing from his experience as a former university lecturer, Prof. Yilwatda said he had personally witnessed brilliant students discontinue their education because they could not afford school fees.
“Even if you don’t like President Tinubu, your children can access the fund and access higher education,” he said, stressing that the programme should be viewed beyond partisan politics.
He explained that by easing the financial burden of education on families, resources that would otherwise have gone into school fees could be deployed into other productive activities, thereby stimulating economic activity.
He also highlighted skills-development programmes and digital training initiatives aimed at preparing Nigerian youths for the global digital economy.
Similarly, he cited the administration’s credit initiatives, including access to loans for small and medium-scale enterprises, as part of efforts to empower Nigerians to establish businesses, expand existing enterprises and create jobs.
He described these programmes as investments in the productive capacity of Nigerians rather than mere welfare interventions.
Prof. Yilwatda said the administration’s economic vision extends beyond roads, railways and trade to critical sectors such as healthcare and solid minerals.
He highlighted investments in cancer treatment infrastructure, noting that additional cancer centres are being developed to address the challenges faced by Nigerians who previously had limited access to specialised treatment.
He also referenced investments aimed at improving maternal healthcare and expanding access to facilities capable of addressing complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
According to him, the development of the solid minerals sector represents another major opportunity for Nigeria to diversify its economy, attract investment, create jobs and develop local processing capacity.
He emphasised that the objective of the Renewed Hope Agenda is to build an economy in which Nigeria does not merely extract and export raw materials but increasingly processes its resources domestically and captures greater value from its production.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the APC Professional Forum, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, welcomed participants to the second edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series and described the forum as an important platform for APC members, policymakers and public officials to explain their contributions to the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He urged members of the party to take advantage of the platform to catalogue and communicate the achievements recorded in the various sectors to which they have been assigned.
Yuguda identified the removal of fuel subsidy as one of the most consequential decisions of the Tinubu administration, acknowledging that the policy was controversial but arguing that its long-term benefits would outweigh the immediate difficulties.
He recalled that the issue of fuel subsidy removal had been debated for many years, saying successive administrations had struggled to address what he described as a system characterised by leakages, opacity and abuse.
According to him, the subsidy regime created opportunities for fraud and diverted resources that could have been used for national development.
He commended President Tinubu for demonstrating the political will to end the regime and argued that the resulting savings have increased the resources available to federal and state governments for infrastructure and development.
Yuguda said the removal of subsidy had therefore expanded the fiscal capacity of governments and created opportunities for greater investment in education, infrastructure and other development priorities.
He warned against any attempt to return Nigeria to the old subsidy regime, particularly as the country approaches the 2027 general elections.
According to him, political parties and candidates must be judged by the sustainability and credibility of their economic proposals rather than by promises that could reverse difficult but necessary reforms.
He specifically cautioned against proposals to restore the old subsidy system, arguing that such a move could return Nigeria to the financial and governance challenges associated with the previous regime.
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