By Matthew Maxwell

WHEN in 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office, he came in sailing on stormy waters, tempest tossed. First, he contended with a very turbulent economy, on a paradoxically dry treasury that had been desertified by subsidies and siphoned wealth.

This arbitraged benefits for a few while bringing hardship for many through multiple exchange rates. Inflation was digging deep convulsive holes into the purchasing power of the common man and eroding investors’ confidence.

The choices before President Tinubu were few but direct: stabilize, restructure, and grow. Unfortunately, as a politician, he understood that all politicians want to win elections. Therefore, the people must be able to interpret the pains they feel as a temporary sacrifice for a greater purpose.

This was the takeoff point of the voyage. It is not a mere slogan; it is an intentional and deliberate, well-calculated paradigm shift from a consumption-driven, rent-seeking economy to an investment and production-driven economy.

At the onset, the vehicle had a tough and rough start, with the removal of fuel subsidy, the FX unification, and the tax reforms. Each step drew excruciating pains and very loud noise. However, the target was clear: eliminate all distortions and make Nigeria investor-friendly.

Today, the story has turned into testimonies. The voyage has set sail and is bringing in results, especially with the coming in of Mr. Taiwo Oyedele and his Midas touch. There is macro stability as the FX market is unified. The multiple-rate circus is gone, and investors can now price risk without guessing which rate applies.

As for inflation, the month-on-month figures reveal that supply chains are adjusting and monetary policy is biting. Though still high, the direction is right. This is because external reserves are stabilizing as oil production edges up and non-oil exports receive policy support.

On fiscal discipline, while subsidy removal freed up fiscal space, that money is now in the budget for capital projects such as education, health, and targeted transfers, while also bringing revenue collection up.

Unarguably, the tax reforms and digitalization are closing leaks that existed for decades. This is making debt servicing as a share of revenue trend downwards because revenue is growing faster than debt.

The signals from the real sector also reveal appreciably positive momentum. Local contractors are getting back on site in several states because payment cycles are shortening. Meanwhile, the agriculture and manufacturing sectors are getting targeted FX allocations and input support. The stock market is improving with renewed foreign interest as policy clarity improves.

These certainly are not miracles. They represent the outcome of unpleasant but necessary work done in clearing arrears, fixing processes, and sticking to a plan even when it seemed unpopular.

Indeed, it is abundantly clear that the appointment of Mr. Taiwo Oyedele as the Minister of Finance was not politically driven, but competence-driven. His Midas touch has brought solutions to challenges that had hitherto defied all forms of solutions.

First, Mr. Oyedele inherited a situation where contractors were owed for up to 18 months of stalled payments, with no clear timeline. There was an opaque verification process where ghost contracts mixed with real ones. The Ministry’s management team was working in silos, at variance with each other, without coordination or synergy. Painfully too, patriotic contractors desirous of completing their jobs had to borrow at 25% interest rates, only for their money not to be paid even after completion.

Given that local contractors can best be described as canaries in the local mine, stalling their payments for that long was a clear invitation to chaos. This was why projects all over the country collapsed, thousands of citizens whose livelihoods depended on jobs from the contractors were laid off, banks had to cut credits, leading to cash flow destruction and a vicious cycle that contracted the economy.

A man determined to change the status quo and make a difference, Mr. Oyedele altered the narrative from the usual “we’re working on it” to a clear, precise payment schedule, which he instinctively tied to budget releases.

He proceeded to also give details of the verification process so as to put paid to the problem of ghost contracts. To put action where his words were, he proved commitment by releasing monthly payment updates.

Mr. Oyedele is not alone, but he fits the mold. He has the capacity, competence, and capability to sit with IMF technocrats as well as local wielders of influence in the nation’s capital without losing credibility in either place.

Mr. Oyedele’s Midas touch was strengthened by the fact that he is no longer working with competing fiefdoms but with clear responsibilities and work specifications.

Finance is to manage cash, debt, and entrench budget discipline, while trade and industry push non-oil exports and industrial policies. The Central Bank is to focus on coordinating monetary policy, fostering a predictable and efficient, result-oriented fiscal direction. To achieve its mandate, each of the different ministries was expected to deliberately provide to the citizens tangible, verifiable infrastructure, tested against the capital allocation released to each of them.

Mr. Oyedele brought with himself a rare blend of technical depth, private sector fluency, and an astute mind with sagacious political discipline.

A man who does not theorize, Mr. Oyedele prefers talking in cash flows, timelines, and deliverables. This certainly was the imperative of the context of his interface with the local contractors on the 4th of May, 2026.

The 4-Part Reform Framework agreed upon with the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria is the demonstration of a man who met a challenge and is deliberate about solving it.

His multifaceted approach, which includes structured reconciliation with monthly updates, claims verification before scheduling, and a robust joint institutional effort that has tied payment schedules to budget releases, has effectively reduced cash flow stress and restored confidence and trust.

The verification-first process is intended to separate legitimate obligations from inflated or varied contracts, focusing spending on capital expenditure claims, delayed payments, and contract variations. While the structured settlement did not make room for lump-sum blowouts, it based payments on fiscal reality. The institutional coordination brought together all the principal officers, aligning thoughts and expenses and eliminating cross-purposes.

To further build trust, Mr. Oyedele pledged a ‘clear and sustainable payment structure, scaling liability and ensuring that the budget lines are supported by current allocations.’

On the sidelines of this brilliant, pragmatic dispute resolution strategy is the first superlative official engagement of Mr. President and the Finance Minister in France.

The meeting, which brought together top investors at President Tinubu’s France engagement, revealed global confidence in Nigeria’s economy and a rapidly increasing trust in the nation’s direction.

Indeed, President Tinubu and his counterpart from France, President Emmanuel Macron, met in a strategic ongoing effort to market the country as an investment destination.

The meeting with representatives of reputable global institutions such as Citibank, Amundi, PGIM and Ninety One — high-net-worth institutions with Assets Under Management (AUM) running into trillions of dollars across the world, including Blue Crest, Kirkoswald, Principal, Finisterre and Mesarete Capital — represents the world’s multinational institutions with highly established global ratings.

This resonates as a major vote of confidence in the effective handling of Nigeria’s economy by the President Tinubu administration. It is not contradictory to agree that no institution of the calibre of those at the meeting will waste their time if there was nothing at stake.

With discussions largely centred on securing investments for Nigeria to accelerate its quest for a $1 trillion economy by 2030, detractors can now be convinced that the Midas touch of Mr. Taiwo Oyedele is working in lifting citizens from poverty to prosperity in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.

There is no doubt that Taiwo Oyedele is a superlative addition to the administration. His recent interface with local contractors was heart-touching. He delivered a heart-touching speech that reinforced confidence in the government.

The recent economic voyage has returned results showing that Mr. President and the economy team are indeed meeting with the best of the best, and doing their best in moving Nigeria and Nigerians from poverty to prosperity.

Maxwell writes from the National Assembly.