By Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi
Retired Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, former General Officer Commanding GOC, 1 Mechanised Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, and former Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, has defended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, describing them as difficult but necessary measures to prevent Nigeria from sliding into deeper economic crisis.
Oyebade said the removal of fuel subsidy and the foreign exchange reforms were among the boldest decisions taken by the administration, arguing that they were necessary to address years of economic distortions, alleged mismanagement of public resources and the failure of successive governments to implement development plans effectively.
Speaking in an interview, the retired general acknowledged the hardship caused by the reforms but maintained that Nigeria’s economic challenges predated the Tinubu administration and required fundamental changes.
“These reforms are absolutely necessary in order to dismantle the decades of economic distortion, mismanagement of our commonwealth and failure to adhere to national development plans that successive administrations had but fell short in implementing across all tiers of government,” he said.
Oyebade argued that the fuel subsidy regime had imposed an unsustainable financial burden on the country and created opportunities for fraud and smuggling. He alleged that subsidised petroleum products were routinely diverted to neighbouring countries, where they could be sold at higher prices.
“Subsidy was the biggest money heist in Nigeria,” he said.
He also defended the government’s foreign exchange reforms, recalling that Nigeria had previously expended substantial resources defending the naira while multiple exchange-rate windows created opportunities for arbitrage.
According to him, the reforms are intended to redirect public resources towards infrastructure and development. “There are difficulties, no doubt, but we are in the right direction. Our country was on the verge of collapsing,” he said.
On the wider economy, Oyebade identified crude oil theft and illegal mining as major threats to government revenue. He said the reduction in crude theft and improvement in oil production over the past three years represented gains for Nigerians, rather than achievements attributable solely to the President.
He also linked illegal mining to insecurity, alleging that criminal groups use the proceeds to finance armed operations while depriving government of revenue from resources such as gold and lithium.
On security, the former military commander welcomed increased military recruitment, equipment acquisition, intelligence reforms and the proposed establishment of state police. He argued that bringing security closer to communities would improve intelligence gathering and response.
Oyebade acknowledged that the reforms had not eliminated economic hardship, but urged Nigerians to judge them against the structural problems they were designed to address.
“Is the President doing enough? It may not be enough, but we are on course,” he said.
