…As ₦65.9tr debt surge raise fresh concerns
Nigeria is facing mounting concerns over worsening insecurity and rising public debt, with fresh figures suggesting a deepening strain on both the nation’s economy and social stability.
A security expert, Prof. Aremu Oyesoji revealed that the country recorded about 2.2 million kidnapping incidents within a year, with ransom payments estimated at ₦2.2 trillion, describing the development as evidence of an expanding “ransom economy” fuelled by banditry, kidnapping syndicates and insurgent networks.
Speaking during a public lecture organised by the Social Sciences Students’ Association (SOSSA) of Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, Aremu said the figures, attributed to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), highlighted the growing human and economic burden of insecurity across Nigeria.
The security concerns were echoed by several groups and stakeholders. The South-West Youths Forum warned that the region’s long-standing reputation for relative peace was increasingly under threat due to rising cases of kidnapping, banditry, farmer-herder clashes and the infiltration of criminal elements. Similarly, the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Francis Wale Oke, lamented what he described as the erosion of the value placed on human life, citing persistent killings, kidnappings and violent attacks across the country.
University authorities also stressed the need for broader collaboration to tackle insecurity, with Vice-Chancellor Olugbenga Ige, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Adebisi Daramola, describing the lecture as timely, while Dean of Social Sciences, Prof. Adesuyi Adebukola, said insecurity remained a major obstacle to national development.
Amid the security concerns, economic analysts have also raised alarm over Nigeria’s debt profile.
Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics, Dele Oye, said President Bola Tinubu’s administration had borrowed ₦65.9 trillion in two years — an amount he claimed exceeded more than five times the ₦12 trillion Nigeria accumulated during its first 55 years of independence. According to him, Nigeria’s total public debt had reached ₦159.28 trillion as of April 2026, citing data from the Debt Management Office (DMO). He added that the figure translated to an estimated debt burden of ₦670,000 per Nigerian.
Oye traced Nigeria’s debt trajectory from the debt relief secured under former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 to subsequent increases under later administrations. He argued that while Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 35.5% remained below the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s distress threshold of 55%, debt servicing had become the more critical concern. He cited figures showing debt service-to-revenue ratios of 116.8% in 2024 and 113% in the first quarter of 2025, while noting that January 2025 debt service stood at ₦696.27 billion against retained revenue of ₦483.47 billion.
Calling for urgent reforms, Oye advocated stronger fiscal discipline, expansion of the tax base, restructuring of debt obligations, and greater revenue generation by states.
The combined warnings from security and economic experts have renewed debate over the challenges confronting Nigeria, as concerns grow over the impact of rising insecurity and increasing debt pressures on national development and citizens’ welfare.
