You fool me twice, shame on you

Nigerian officials are dragging the IMF’s latest poverty report…again

Jul 09, 2025

Good morning, my Shaylas. I’m officially back to capitalism, and I still don’t know how to feel. Shout-out to Chigor for keeping you guys informed while I was pretending to be a fun-employed babe.

- Margaret

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

Let’s get into today’s edition:

FG is dragging the IMF’s latest poverty report…again
The first-ever malaria drug for babies is about to be dispatched to Africa

The Big Deal

FG is dragging the IMF’s latest poverty report…again

To the average Nigerian, poverty is a familiar bastard. To the Tinubu-led administration, poverty is the classic smear campaign card the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays to paint Nigeria as the poster child for economic doom.

On Monday, July 7, the IMF released a report titled ‘How Nigeria Can Unleash Its Economic Potential,’ which broke down how President Tinubu’s reforms have failed to protect vulnerable Nigerians from the harsh effects of the reforms.

While the IMF tried to keep things cute and simple with verifiable data, the federal government chose to go down the messy lane by dismissing the report as a “very fatalistic” assessment of Nigeria’s inflation and poverty rate.

Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, decided to particularly carry the matter on his head during an interview with Channels TV. In his opinion, this administration has done some of the “deepest reforms” the country has ever seen. He described the IMF’s constant warnings as “heckling”. He reminded the class that Nigeria recently repaid $3 billion from its COVID-19 loan— a milestone many other countries haven’t hit, yet the IMF still wouldn’t give the Tinubu-led administration a break.

He warned that the IMF’s constant critiques could turn Nigerians against the government and pleaded with the organisation to give this administration a break.

In what looks like another attempt to convince and not confuse the masses, Fasua also accused the IMF of being two-faced, saying their lending and advisory roles typically clash. In his words, “We’ve done the right things. They say they want more, but the government also has a right to say, ‘Let us see how what we’ve done turns out.’ Like the president would say, ‘Let the poor breathe.” Yes, he really added that last line to his defence speech.

When asked about the cost-of-living crisis, Fasua doubled down, saying progress is being made. He spoke against the IMF’s inflation concerns, saying it’s unrealistic to expect inflation to drop to single digits overnight.

Fasua also said, “Screw media training,” and called the economists at IMF fantasists on live television. He also took that chance to pitch the idea of Nigeria ditching the IMF statistics altogether and conveniently proposed that we rely on “our own data.”

Why is this a big deal?

A generally adopted rule is to hate the message, not the messenger, but Fasua clearly doesn’t see why he can’t do both.

Let’s start with what the IMF said in clear detail and compare it to the reality of the average Nigerian. The report acknowledged that Tinubu’s reforms are not bad at all, but the execution is weaker than Brother Bernard’s knees. Some of the effects of that weak execution are Nigeria’s stubbornly high inflation rate, worsening poverty, and poor infrastructure. To fix things, the IMF advised the government to adopt a better budgeting strategy, invest more in agriculture and electricity, and redirect savings from fuel subsidy removal into social investments.

This is the second time a Nigerian government official has dragged the IMF for its report on Nigeria’s poverty rate, but with nearly 50% of Nigerians living in poverty, it’s hard to believe that the IMF’s numbers are off the mark.

When countries implement economic reforms like removing fuel subsidies and floating their local currency, they typically set up social safety nets for their citizens. Egypt, for example, has been implementing similar reforms since 2020 and has created social buffers to help its citizens stay afloat since then.

Two truths can coexist, and according to the IMF, even though the reforms are good, they will not translate to any real change for average citizens unless the government ensures it.

Instead of constantly dragging the IMF through the mud, we expect the Nigerian government to explain why 50% of the subsidy removal proceeds still cannot be accounted for. We expect President Tinubu to address the allegations that the value of budget insertions by lawmakers has increased by 656% in just four years, jumping from ₦913.15 billion in 2021 to ₦6.9 trillion in 2025. Till then, we’re probably better off relying on the IMF’s data.

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The first-ever malaria drug for babies is about to be dispatched to Africa

Africa just secured a big win, and it’s the “borrow a cheerleader’s uniform, grab a pompom and hail Master Jesus” kind of win.

For the first time ever, the world has approved a malaria treatment designed specifically for newborns and babies under 4.5kg (roughly 10 pounds). The new drug, Coartem Baby (also known as Riamet Baby in some countries), is expected to roll out across African countries in the coming weeks.

Until now, babies who get diagnosed with malaria had to rely on drugs made for older children, putting them at risk of accidental overdosing. Experts have long described it as a “treatment gap,” and unfortunately, that gap costs lives. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malaria claimed about 597,000 lives in 2023 alone. Nearly all of them were in Africa, and 75% were children under five.

This breakthrough results from years of research by Swiss pharma giant Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), and the plan is to distribute the drug on a not-for-profit basis.

The details are still coming together, but eight African countries are expected to receive the first batch of the drugs in the coming weeks.

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This Week’s Big Question

“You have the opportunity to chat with a Nigerian politician for one hour, who would it be, and why?”

Cherish’s response - “I’ve always wanted to pick Peter Obi’s brain. With 2027 approaching, it won’t be a bad idea to sit with him and learn about his plans for the next round of elections.”

You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as Cherish’s , we’ll feature it in the next edition.