When it comes to money, Nigerians have basically spent the first three years of the Tinubu presidency being God’s strongest soldiers. It genuinely feels like this administration’s monetary policies were engineered in a lab specifically to test our breaking points.
What’s really wild is that President Bola Tinubu knows all of this. So, over the years, he has given some pretty bleak pep talks. Remember when he admitted he knew his policies were causing incredible hardship, only to drop a casual ? Or when he told us to brace ourselves for ?
To say Nigerians are going through a lot is a massive understatement. Here are the top monetary policies of this administration and how they’ve affected Nigerians’ pockets. Stick around until the end for a tip on how to survive the roughest waters of Tinubunomics.
1. Fuel Subsidy Removal (May 2023)
This may have been necessary to stop an unsustainable multi-billion-naira fiscal leak, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t instantly cause. The resulting inflation completely wrecked the basic financial formulas that everyday citizens used to save or invest. Oh, and we are the government promised those saved funds would provide.
2. Floating the Naira (June 2023)
The Central Bank to stop people and . But it also triggered a historic devaluation cycle where anyone earning and saving in naira watched their global purchasing power , turning wealth preservation into a losing battle for millions of Nigerians.
3. The Crypto Criminalisation Campaign (2021–2024)
The federal government launched a against global exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, . This trapped millions in capital and triggered , transforming a basic economic liferaft into a high-stakes gamble where your life savings could get seized overnight. And remember how ? Crazy times.
4. The Electricity Tariff Hike (April 2024)
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for premium consumers to attract private investment and guarantee a minimum of 20 hours of daily power. This multiplied the energy costs of individuals and businesses, turning a basic utility into a luxury expense that drains monthly cash flows. To rub salt in the wound, .
5. The ₦70,000 National Minimum Wage Floor (July 2024)
This was after with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to shield the lowest-earning workers from cost-of-living shocks. An over 200% baseline wage hike sounds massive, but in 2026, ₦70,000 cannot even fill the tank of a mid-sized sedan.
However, businesses still had to absorb a sudden spike in their wage bills by hiking prices, which only worsened inflation. It looks like Nigerians are earning more, but we are also due to the cost-of-living crisis.
6. The Crypto Ban Reversal (2025–2026)
One thing about this administration: there is always a plot twist. The government completely switched up its attitude towards crypto, moving from outright criminalisation to regulation and, most importantly, taxation. The officially recognised digital assets and brought them under state oversight. Also, a new tax framework tracks digital trading gains so the government can get a cut. You can build your crypto wealth, but the government wants its share.
7. The Tax Reform Acts (January 2026)
The administration unified Nigeria’s dozens of scattered tax laws into four acts to simplify revenue collection and expand the tax base. It introduced progressive taxation, meaning high earners give bigger cuts of their income, and it widened the tax net to include the informal sector, the freelance gig economy, and digital assets. However you make money in Nigeria, the government wants a piece of it.
8.
This administration has a spending problem. The national budget has exploded year-on-year, constantly getting more outrageous. , hence the constant borrowing and heavier taxation. The catch is that it relies heavily on massive domestic and external borrowing, which while fuelling a vicious cycle of structural inflation.
Basically, banks see the government as a safe bet when giving out loans. When they’ve loaned out all their money to the government, . The state is overspending, and all Nigerians are paying for it one way or another.
9.
Under this administration, the Central Bank as a desperate tactic to . But with lending rates so high, taking out a business loan feels more like entering a trap. If you are not a gambler or incredibly confident in your business idea, you are probably going to have to fund your growth entirely out of pocket.
10. The CREDICORP Consumer Credit Pivot (2024–2026)
The Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation is meant to dismantle the ‘cash-and-carry’ economy by . The opportunity to buy critical infrastructure without draining your capital upfront might be attractive, but it also introduces a debt-management culture that can permanently trap your future income if you lack discipline.
The silver lining playbook
When macroeconomic policies shift this fast, the traditional personal finance rules our parents taught us become completely useless. You cannot simply ‘save 10% of your income’ and hope for the best.
Survival in today’s Nigeria requires moving past basic survival mode and learning the actual mechanics of a volatile economy. If you are trying to figure out how to navigate these exact policy landmines—how to protect your income from inflation, pivot your career, scale a business without deadly bank debt, and actually build assets that last—you need to be in the right room.
That is exactly what we are breaking down at the èƵ Naira Life Conference on August 22, 2026, in Lagos. This year’s theme is entirely focused on the modern Nigerian wealth lifecycle: Building it, growing it, keeping it, and passing it on. No corporate jargon, just real, unfiltered strategies from people who are successfully doing it despite the headlines.
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ճ is returning on August 22, 2026, in Lagos! Come learn from finance experts and industry leaders, and partake in unfiltered conversations about building wealth and diversifying your income stream in a country like Nigeria. Real stories, expert advice you can actually use, and a community ready to build wealth together. .
