As a concerned Nigerian columnist who has watched this nation’s fortunes ebb and flow for decades, I sat with a heavy heart this week, deeply worried about the direction our “disgraced” country is heading.
What we witnessed on March 31, 2026, in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly was not governance — it was a disturbing spectacle of haste and abdication that should alarm every patriotic citizen.
In a move that has never been recorded anywhere in the civilized world, the “Akpabio-led 10th Senate” approved President Bola Tinubu’s request for a staggering “$6 billion” external loan in just “three and a half hours”— without meaningful debate, without proper scrutiny of the terms and conditions, interest rates, repayment schedules, or hidden conditionalities.
The House of Representatives followed suit with equal alacrity. Letters read, referred to committee, and rubber-stamped before the day was done. This is not legislative efficiency; it is legislative surrender.
Where in any serious democracy does a sovereign nation commit its children and grandchildren to billions in fresh debt with such reckless speed? Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar rightly called it out as “reckless” and “alarming,” warning that the Senate has reduced itself to a mere conveyor belt for executive wishes rather than the constitutional safeguard it is meant to be.
Yet here we are — another “world record” for the Akpabio assembly, but one stained with the optics of compromise and weakened oversight.
This is not an isolated incident. Recall the “Electoral Act Amendment Bill” earlier this year, hurriedly passed and signed into law by President Tinubu without the thorough, transparent process Nigerians deserved, especially with provisions that raised serious questions about the integrity of future elections.
The pattern is clear: an overly harmonious legislature that prioritizes speed and executive convenience over diligence, public hearings, and rigorous interrogation. Akpabio may defend it as “national interest,” but many see a disturbing erosion of the checks and balances that protect our fragile democracy.
And what is all this haste in aid of? Nigeria is being plunged deeper into a **debt trap** from which recovery may take decades, if ever.
Public debt has ballooned dramatically under this administration — rising by tens of trillions of naira in just over two years, with debt servicing already consuming an unsustainable chunk of government revenue.
The new $6 billion (partly for budget deficits and existing obligations) will only compound the burden. While some argue these funds will support infrastructure or fiscal gaps created by necessary reforms, the lack of transparency breeds suspicion.
When borrowing becomes habitual and scrutiny perfunctory, we risk mortgaging our future for short-term palliatives, leaving generations yet unborn to service loans whose benefits remain vague and unaccounted for.
Our economy groans under the weight of reforms that have brought pain without visible relief for the masses.
Inflation bites hard, the naira struggles, and basic governance challenges — insecurity, unemployment, decaying infrastructure — persist.
Yet instead of laser-focused revenue generation, expenditure discipline, and anti-corruption measures that deliver results, we reach reflexively for more loans. This is not sustainable stewardship; it is fiscal recklessness dressed in the language of development.
Nigeria, once the Giant of Africa, now risks becoming a cautionary tale of squandered potential — a country where institutions bend too easily, where accountability is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency, and where the future is casually leveraged for today’s convenience. I am greatly worried, as every thoughtful Nigerian should be. We cannot continue like this.
The 10th National Assembly has a constitutional duty to protect the public purse and the democratic process, not to set records for speed at the expense of substance. President Tinubu and his team must demonstrate that these borrowings will be deployed transparently, productively, and with measurable returns — not lost to the usual leaks and inefficiencies.
Fellow Nigerians, we must demand better. Our democracy cannot survive on autopilot or blind loyalty. The trajectory we are on — mounting debt, weakened oversight, hurried decisions on matters that shape our destiny — leads to a place of diminished sovereignty and heightened hardship.
It is time for genuine reflection, stronger institutions, and leaders who prioritize the long-term dignity and prosperity of this nation over short-term political convenience.
This disgraced country deserves far more. The question is: will we wake up before it is too late?
