Man proposes, God disposes!

Shettima says you shouldn’t expect too much from the 2025 budget

May 15, 2025

Good morning, Big Brains. By now, you should have seen the insanity that JAMB pulled yesterday. You’ll unfortunately have to prepare yourself for more insanity because it's manifesting in today’s edition too.

- Margaret

Word count: ~ 1,000
Reading time ~ 5 mins

Let’s get into today’s edition:

Shettima says you shouldn’t expect too much from the 2025 budget
CBN isn’t allowing Trump to stop its bag

The Big Deal

Shettima says you shouldn’t expect too much from the 2025 budget

You’re probably hoping that Nigeria’s biggest budget yet (₦54.99 trillion) would be the one that changes everything for good. But as our fine country has now clarified, man proposes, God disposes.

According to the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, the Tinubu administration didn’t design the 2025 budget for survival; it’s supposed to "transform" the economy and guarantee long-term growth.

In Shettima’s words, budgeting shouldn't be a “haphazard” or emotional exercise. Instead, he wants Nigerians to think of the budget as a long-term investment because that’s the mindset the current government is working with.

Why is this a big deal?

Budgets are typically supposed to be for survival and growth, so we’re not sure why the vice president is suggesting the two goals cannot coexist.

If the budget doesn’t help average citizens survive the economic effects of Tinubu’s reforms, what is it supposed to do? This isn’t us trying to hate; the World Bank has similar questions in its latest report, too.

According to the World Bank, the government is a little delusional about how it plans to operate the budget, and would throw Nigeria into more debt if it’s not closely monitored.

If that happens, the government will likely switch its focus to tax collection to cover the budget deficit. For people already dealing with inflation and rising cost of living, that would be the beginning of more suffering because there’s only so much money you can squeeze from a population already stretched thin.

Any budget that doesn’t bring actual relief to people’s pockets will feel more like a PowerPoint presentation than a national transformation plan. And honestly, that’s the last thing we need; it’s pointless to prepare for the future when people can barely survive the present.

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CBN isn’t allowing Trump to stop its bag

Nigeria doesn’t have the best track record for proactiveness, but the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is beating the stereotype. Yesterday, we mentioned that the United States (US) is planning to pass a bill that will make it more expensive to send money back to Nigeria. Trillions of naira will be lost once this happens, but the CBN’s latest move could soften the blow on the economy.

On Tuesday, May 13, the CBN launched the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) platform, which is basically a digital way for Nigerians in the diaspora to get a BVN without being physically present in the country. The plan is to make it easier for diaspora Nigerians to send money home through official channels. If it works out, the country can rake in $1 billion in remittances every month.

CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso called it a big step in Nigeria’s journey to financial inclusion. We know it’s more about the profit to the federal government, but a win is a win because Nigerians in the diaspora will finally have access to Nigerian financial services from abroad.

The NRBVN will come with full Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering protocols to check all the boxes for international transparency.

If we don’t end up hearing stories that touch, this could be a great thing.

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