Nigeria’s Natural Resources Enough to End Billion Naira External Loans—Comrade Prince Saviour Iche

Nigeria’s Natural Resources Enough to End Billion Naira External Loans—Comrade Prince Saviour Iche

By Naomi Onome

Comrade Prince Saviour Iche, a businessman, a human rights advocate, and the founder of Ambassadors of Peace and Enlightenment Foundation (‘AMPEF’), is saying President Tinubu’s new loan request to fix Nigeria (according to his claims) has no positive effect on the economy.

Recall that on May 27, 2025, the NASS received a formal request from President Bola Tinubu seeking approval for a $21.5 billion external loan and a ₦758 billion domestic bond to settle outstanding pension liabilities.

The request is intended to fund important economic sectors, especially water supply, infrastructure, health, and education. A report is anticipated within two weeks after it was sent to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for additional legislative review.

Although the ministry of finance has provided clarification on President Bola Tinubu’s $21.5 billion borrowing request, saying it would not lead to an “automatic” debt increase, Iche expressed uncertainty on the authenticity of the aforementioned claims, says further borrowing means an increased debt. This is coming after previous reports revealed President Tinubu’s administration partially cleared debt owed to the IMF. Nigeria recently announced the full repayment of the $3.4 billion emergency loan obtained in 2020 from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the final installment paid ahead of schedule on April 30, 2025.

Iche said the purpose for borrowing so much is ambiguous considering that there has been no accountability so far as against the publicized reasons for borrowing billions of dollars. The application for borrowed funds, he says, is quite higher than what President Tinubu’s administration initially cleared off.

He further said,

If these borrowed funds were invested into production, Nigeria would have been ten times better than what it is today.

It is also unfortunate that Nigerians are becoming very gullible to the antics of the lawmakers; NASS would approve easily with the intention to share from what is borrowed.

Former borrowings have no significant or positive effect on the nation’s economy. Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has bad advisers and is surrounded by greedy appointees who only want to loot through sham projects to the detriment of surviving Nigerians.

If President Tinubu’s administration is saddled with fighting corruption, his first point of call should be to allow a probe by EFCC on all his ministers. Their actions are setting Nigeria back in development and other areas lacking in stability.

Funds generated from the citizens and other infrastructures diverted into the personal assets of these corrupt politicians are enough to stabilize the nation’s needs. It is unbelievable that Nigeria cannot sustain itself without borrowing yet is endowed with natural resources of all kinds.

The president should explore and manage the resources available to sustain the economy, probe his ministers, allow credible representatives to manage the affairs and yields from the natural resources Nigeria is blessed with, and shun borrowing.

To get things rightly done, President Tinubu should reshuffle his cabinet once again and set aside tribalism and political party favoritism but instead make tenable decisions of credible appointees, which could ultimately create a solid footing in the remaining two years of his administration and possibly enable his ambition for a second term to sail smoothly; when the people are happy, an ambition can be sustained.

According to Comrade Prince Saviour Iche, the former president Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure had very corrupt ministers who were probed by EFCC; in Tinubu’s tenure, only one corrupt minister has been probed so far, with a recovery of assets of a 750-unit housing estate amongst other properties acquired through looted funds.

Citing an example, Iche noted that the President of Burkina_Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, declined an IMF loan to avoid the IMF’s scheme intended to plunge African countries into debts for exploitation purposes; urge President Tinubu to emulate such policies rather than incur more debts.

Hunger, poverty, and the devalued naira can be reversed by making intelligent decisions/policies. The country fails if not nurtured with care; hence the need for like minds who will work in the interest of Nigerians; the ability to lead the people with transparency and accountability is crucial, Iche added.