WorldStage— The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reaffirmed the commitment of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to transforming Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030, with the National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, declaring that the foundation for the ambitious target is being laid through economic reforms, infrastructure development, investment in human capital and the expansion of Nigeria’s productive capacity.
Yilwatda stated this while representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Special Guest of Honour at the Second Edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series/Asiwaju Policy Roundtable organised by the APC Professional Forum. He conveyed the President’s appreciation to the organisers and participants for creating a platform for constructive engagement on the policies, programmes and achievements of the administration.
According to him, President Tinubu assumed office at a time Nigeria was confronted with a difficult economic inheritance characterised by fuel subsidy distortions, multiple foreign-exchange windows, weak revenue mobilisation, foreign-exchange shortages, rising debt-service pressures and years of inadequate investment in critical infrastructure.
He said the President recognised that the country could no longer continue on that trajectory and therefore took difficult but necessary decisions, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the reform of the foreign-exchange market.
He noted that available economic indicators increasingly demonstrate that the foundation of the Nigerian economy is strengthening, citing the rise in Nigeria’s gross external reserves to about $52.7 billion by August 2026, growth in consolidated non-oil revenue from approximately N13.63 trillion in 2023 to N16.4 trillion in the first two quarters of 2026, and a significant improvement in the country’s merchandise trade position.
He further cited real GDP growth of 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 and the decline in inflation to about 15.4 per cent from its earlier peak.
“These figures do not mean that our economic challenges have disappeared, but they demonstrate that the direction of travel has changed,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, however, stressed that macroeconomic stability was not the ultimate destination of the ķķ Hope Agenda but the foundation upon which Nigerians must experience tangible improvements in their daily lives.
“The ultimate test is when stability translates into cheaper food, more jobs, affordable credit, reliable electricity and greater purchasing power for Nigerians,” he said.
Yilwatda explained that the President’s $1 trillion economy ambition should not be viewed merely as a numerical target but as a national development mission aimed at building a Nigeria that produces more, exports more, attracts greater investment, creates more jobs and gives its young population a greater stake in the nation’s future.
He said achieving the target would require Nigeria to fundamentally rethink its economic geography and take full advantage of its strategic location, maritime resources, population, natural resources and expanding consumer market.
According to him, the country must move beyond the traditional concept of infrastructure as isolated projects and develop an integrated national economic and transportation architecture capable of connecting production centres, ports, markets and neighbouring countries.
The APC boss proposed an integrated five-port maritime and logistics corridor connecting major deep-sea ports in Lagos, Ondo, Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar through modern rail and road infrastructure.
He said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Super Highway could serve as a principal coastal road spine, while major rail and road corridors would connect the maritime gateways to Nigeria’s interior and ultimately to the wider markets of West, Central and North Africa.
The Western Corridor, he explained, would connect the maritime gateways to the interior through the Lagos–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway, thereby creating a major trade route from Nigeria’s Atlantic coast to markets in the Northwest and the Sahel.
Similarly, the Eastern Corridor would connect eastern maritime gateways through the Port Harcourt–Abuja–Kaduna–Kano rail corridor, complemented by the proposed Calabar–Maiduguri Trans-Sahara Super Highway.
He said such an integrated network could ultimately connect Nigeria’s maritime gateways to landlocked markets in Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic.
“This is how Nigeria can move beyond being simply a coastal trading nation to becoming the maritime gateway and logistics hub of West and Central Africa, capturing a much larger share of the continent’s trade, logistics, manufacturing and distribution value chain,” he said.
Prof. Yilwatda stressed that the infrastructure plan represented far more than transportation development. “It is a trade architecture,” he declared.
He explained that the corridors would create opportunities in logistics, warehousing, freight forwarding, customs, banking, insurance, manufacturing, distribution and agro-processing, while generating employment, foreign exchange and greater economic activity.
He urged the development of industrial parks, export-processing zones, logistics parks, agro-processing clusters and manufacturing centres along the corridors.
“Where rail reaches an agricultural region, processing industries should follow. Where it reaches mineral resources, processing and manufacturing should follow. Where dry ports are established, logistics and distribution businesses should develop around them. This is how infrastructure becomes an engine of economic growth,” he said
