Toluwalope made the call during a stakeholders’ engagement themed “Shaping the Future of Payments: Balancing Regulation and Innovation,” where he highlighted the structural gaps in Nigeria’s credit and identity ecosystem.

According to him, predatory lending continues to flourish because many Nigerians urgently need funds during emergencies and are forced to accept loans at exorbitant and unsustainable interest rates.

“The people making money are lending to those who desperately need it now. They take loans at impossible rates because they are desperate, and then they can’t meet up,” he said.

He stressed that Nigeria must deliberately build a system that allows people with regular and identifiable income, such as security guards, drivers, and other salary earners to access legitimate credit.

“Let’s create a system where anybody with regular, identifiable income can access credit, so that the emergency loan shark model naturally disintegrates,” Toluwalope said.

The eTranzact CEO described the Bank Verification Number (BVN) as Nigeria’s most reliable financial database, noting that it has matured over time and remains secure because it is closely tied to financial transactions.

“The BVN is a fantastic database. It’s matured, it’s secured, and because it’s tied to money, people pay attention to it,” he said.

However, he argued that Nigeria must go beyond BVN by strengthening and expanding the National Identification Number (NIN) framework to create a unified national identity system that links individuals to income and location.

Drawing a comparison with developed economies such as the United States, Toluwalope noted that credit systems thrive where financial footprints are fully traceable.

“In the US, your social security number, credit score, title, and everything you do are tracked across the 50 states. You can’t run anywhere; it will come up,” he explained.

Toluwalope also advocated for the tokenization of identity to eliminate repetitive Know Your Customer (KYC) processes across banks and financial institutions.

“Why do I have to submit the same KYC every time I open an account? Let’s tokenize identity and secure it with OTP,” he said.

He added that a system where identity data is updated automatically whenever changes occur would support credit cards, utilities, and other financial services, while strengthening trust, accountability, and financial inclusion in Nigeria.

In Nigeria’s evolving telecom sector, Enextgen Wireless is fast becoming a critical player in ensuring transparency, accountability, and measurable service delivery.

The Blind Spot in Nigeria’s Telecom Oversight

While mobile penetration continues to grow, the true quality of service (QoS) experienced by Nigerians often goes unmeasured, or worse, underreported.

Reports from operators can be partial which could also limit the regulator’s audits in scope. This creates a data vacuum, where neither subscribers nor policymakers have a full picture of how networks are truly performing.

Enextgen Wireless fills that gap

Through advanced tools, drive tests, and independent evaluations, the company provides objective, granular, and location-based performance data that reflects the real experience of users, not just promises on a coverage map.

What Sets Enextgen Apart?

• Unbiased Network Testing: Enextgen’s drive tests and reports evaluate all major MNOs equally, MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile, using the same methodology.
• Transparent Benchmarks: From download speeds and latency to call drop rates and LTE availability, its reports shine a light on network realities.
• City-by-City Analysis: No more vague national averages. Enextgen delivers hyperlocal insights, from Lagos to Abuja, Enugu to Port Harcourt.
• Real-Time Impact: Its findings can immediately inform regulatory action, network investments, and public advocacy.

Why Regulators, MNOs and Consumers Should Pay Attention:

For NCC and Policymakers

Enextgen offers a third-party lens to validate MNO claims, spotlight underserved regions, and design policy interventions backed by real-world data. Ignoring such insights risks prolonging digital exclusion and eroding public trust.

For MNOs

Far from being a threat, Enextgen’s data can serve as a strategic advantage, helping operators identify problem areas, benchmark against competitors, and direct resources where they matter most.

For the Public and Civil Society

Consumers can use these reports to demand better service and transparency. Journalists, digital rights groups, and local governments now have a powerful evidence base to push for inclusive connectivity.

A Call to Embrace Accountability in a Digital Age

As Nigeria deepens its digital economy, rolls out 5G, and seeks to close its broadband gaps, independent performance intelligence must sit at the heart of telecom reform.

Enextgen Wireless isn’t just publishing reports, it’s building a culture of accountability in one of the country’s most vital sectors.

To ignore it is to ignore the lived reality of millions of Nigerian users.
To embrace it is to chart a path toward a more connected, competitive, and consumer-focused telecom industry.

Explore the reports and methodology here.

With the advent of technology, citizens now have unprecedented access to information, the ability to express their views globally, and the power to hold their elected officials accountable like never before.

This transformation has ushered in a wave of change, setting new benchmarks for the qualities citizens should seek in their political leaders.

In a world where information is just a click away, citizens must be vigilant in their expectations of politicians, demanding accountability, transparency, and responsiveness in the digital sphere.

Politicians, in turn, must actively engage with citizens through online platforms, exhibit ethical conduct in their actions, and address the pressing issues of our time.

By championing these critical attributes, citizens can ensure that their voices resonate, their concerns resonate, and their governments are held to the highest standards in the digital age.

As we navigate the intricate workings of democracy in the digital age, the role of citizens in upholding ethical leadership, transparency, and accountability in their elected officials grows increasingly imperative.

By actively participating in the political process, scrutinising the actions and decisions of politicians, and advocating for the fundamental tenets of democracy, citizens can help shape a more responsive and responsible government.

Faced with technological complexities and global uncertainties, citizens must remain resolute in their expectations of politicians, striving for a more inclusive and equitable society where every voice is acknowledged and valued.

Only through proactive engagement and unwavering advocacy can we forge a democracy that is robust and functional, one that serves the best interests of all.

In the realm of digital democracy, the onus is on citizens to be proactive in their demands for ethical leadership, transparency, and accountability from those elected to serve them.

In an era characterised by rapid advancements in technology and communication, citizens have a wealth of tools to hold their leaders accountable and ensure their voices are heard.

It is no longer enough for politicians to simply make promises during election campaigns; they must be held to account for their actions and decisions in real-time, in the digital realm where information flows freely, and public scrutiny is constant.

Transparency is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy; in the digital age, it is more important than ever. Citizens have the right to know how their government operates, how decisions are made, and how public resources are allocated.

Politicians must be open and honest about their intentions and actions, providing clear and accessible information to the public and allowing for meaningful engagement and feedback.

The era of backroom deals and secret negotiations is over; in the digital age, citizens demand transparency and openness from their elected officials.

Ethical leadership is another essential quality that citizens should look for in a politician. In a time when trust in government is at an all-time low, it is crucial that leaders demonstrate integrity, honesty, and a genuine commitment to the public good.

Politicians who put their interests above those of the people they serve cannot be trusted to make decisions in the best interests of society.

Citizens must hold their leaders accountable for their ethical conduct and demand that they act with integrity and honour in all dealings.

Responsiveness is also key in the digital age, as citizens expect their elected officials to be accessible and engaged with the issues that matter most to them. Politicians must be willing to listen to their constituents’ concerns, respond to their questions and feedback, and act on their behalf to create positive change.

In an era of instant communication and social media, politicians cannot afford to be aloof or out of touch with the needs of the people they represent. They must be willing to engage with citizens directly through online platforms, town hall meetings, and other forums for public dialogue.

One may ask: How do the myriad issues, diverse strands of thought, and potential solutions in the digital sphere shape the core principles underpinning this discourse? With resolute assertiveness, consider how citizens’ rightful expectations can be established within this dynamic landscape.

In the digital realm, citizens must assert their right to demand accountability, transparency, and responsiveness from their elected representatives.

Citizens must rigorously scrutinise politicians’ actions and decisions, insisting on adherence to high ethical standards and advocating for the public good.

Citizens should anticipate their politicians actively engaging with them through digital channels, utilising social media, websites, and other online platforms to foster communication, gather feedback, and offer updates on their endeavours.

Politicians must remain accessible and responsive to citizen concerns and input, demonstrating a readiness to listen and tackle community issues head-on.

Moreover, citizens must advocate for greater transparency in governmental proceedings, including access to public records, disclosure of financial interests, and accountability in the allocation of public resources. Politicians should be held accountable for their conduct, and citizens must demand consequences for unethical behaviour, corruption, and any abuse of power.

Citizens also bear the responsibility of vigilantly monitoring the impact of technology on democratic processes, addressing issues such as online misinformation, data privacy, and cybersecurity.

Politicians must confront these challenges, enacting legislation to safeguard digital rights and fostering an equitable and inclusive online space for all citizens.

Ultimately, citizens should expect their elected officials to uphold the fundamental tenets of democracy, including respect for human rights, the rule of law, and active civic engagement. Through proactive involvement and assertive advocacy, citizens can ensure that their voices are heard and heard, their concerns addressed, and their governments held accountable in an age dominated by digital innovation.

How do African politicians fare in meeting citizens’ demands for accountability, transparency, and responsiveness in the digital age?

How can citizens assert their rights and expectations to ensure ethical conduct, public good, and effective governance from their elected officials?

What specific measures can be taken to enhance the interaction between citizens and politicians through online platforms, promoting engagement, feedback, and transparency in governmental operations?

In navigating the digital landscape, how can citizens in Africa advocate for digital rights, combat disinformation, safeguard privacy, and uphold democratic principles in governance?

By actively engaging with these challenges and opportunities, how can African citizens ensure that their voices are heard, their concerns addressed, and their democracies strengthened in the digital era?

Emphatically, African citizens in the digital age must fact-check information, demand transparency from politicians, be vigilant about cybersecurity threats, drive grassroots movements for change, and hold politicians accountable through online tools.

By effectively leveraging the digital age, citizens can ensure integrity, accountability, and responsiveness in the democratic system, ultimately benefiting the public.

Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: Celebrating Women’s Achievements in the Digital Age

Conclusively, the qualities that citizens should look for in a politician in the digital age are those that embody the principles of democracy itself: accountability, transparency, ethical leadership, and responsiveness.

By demanding these qualities from their elected officials, citizens can help shape a more just, inclusive, and equitable society where government is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people.

In a world where technology can connect us like never before, citizens must use their voices and votes to ensure that their leaders uphold the highest standards of integrity and honour and work tirelessly to build a better future for all.

This is how Jibril, a 32-year-old farmer from Kaduna, feels about the Nigerian government’s plan to distribute N50,000 to 3.6 million households and spend N155 billion on food items palliatives. 

For Jibril, it’s a momentary fix for a deep-seated problem. He believes that addressing agricultural challenges confrontationally is deeper than offering palliatives that only scratch the surface.

The Federal Government’s recent initiative to distribute N50,000 to millions of households and allocate N155 billion for food items is being lauded as a much-needed intervention in a time of economic hardship.

On paper, this plan seems like a lifeline for many Nigerians struggling to make ends meet. But for Jubril and countless others in the agricultural sector, this move feels like another missed opportunity to tackle the root causes of the nation’s economic sufferings.

The Core Problem

Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which has the potential to be the backbone of the economy, contributed 23% of Nigeria’s $472.62 billion GDP in 2022. Assuming a similar proportion in 2024, the sector could add approximately $108.8 billion (23% of $472.62 billion) to the country’s GDP.

But challenges, ranging from inadequate infrastructure and outdated farming techniques to lack of access to credit and erratic power supply, are hindering this. 

Despite these well-known issues, the government’s approach remains focused on short-term relief rather than sustainable development.

Jubril contends that the N155 billion could be better spent on addressing these foundational problems, creating long-lasting solutions that would benefit the entire country.

This isn’t just about numbers—it’s about survival, resilience, and the delicate dance between policy and reality.

Imagine N155 billion as a seed—a seed that, when planted in fertile soil, could yield more than sheer sustenance. It’s not just about distributing bags of rice or cans of oil. It’s about transforming the industry of agriculture, one furrow at a time.

The Food Sufficiency We Crave!!!!!!! Let There Be Food!!!

Anytime the developmental issues revolving around Nigeria come to the fore, one is often pensive, yet wanting to write. But shall we do, then, to put our thoughts to paper, peradventure we could set the pace for the change we desire so that all of us may live a prosperous life.

In the southwestern part of Nigeria, the Yoruba go by the proverb, “Ti o’mo’ de ko’ iyan ale’ awon agbalagba afi itan bale,” translated in English as, “If a child refuses the pounded yam prepared by his father, after the mother unceremoniously left his daddy, such a child has already initiated a path to history.”

As a people, we urgently need to ask what exactly has come over us as a nation, that things have fallen apart and scattered in such a way that the center can no longer hold and everyone seems no longer at peace. So sad! We are now at a stage in our nation where hunger is teaching lessons the hard way.

But from the beginning, it was not so. T. Odetola, in his work “Contribution of Agriculture to Economic Growth in Nigeria” between 1960 and 2011, found that an average of 83.5% of agriculture GDP was contributed by the crop production subsector.

The resilient nature of the sector is evident in its ability to recover more quickly than other sectors from shocks resulting from disruptive events, e.g., the civil war (1967-70) and economic recession (1981-85) periods.

Historically, Nigeria was reasonably self-sufficient in food production until agriculture lost its primacy to oil. The neglect led to the mass abandonment of farms, resulting in the extreme ‘peasantization’ of the sector.

Related negative fallout was Nigeria’s transition from food self-sufficiency to food dependency and the attendant massive importation to bridge food gaps.

Again, under the stint leadership of the late sage, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, the industrial hub of the Western region of Nigeria was well-conceived for the Lagos area using money from agriculture.

The Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Ikeja Industrial Estate, and the spread to Apapa and others, which were invitations to industrialists to locate, were all products of agriculture.

This snowballed into Odu’a Group of Companies as the holding enterprise, an industrial/commercial giant coordinating activities, all from agriculture.

This was also replicated in the northern and eastern parts of the country, with the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello (1910-1966), Nnamdi Azikiwe (1954–1959), and Michael Okpara (1959–1966). We made good money from groundnuts from the North and palm oil from the East.

It is therefore sad that fast forward to 2024, Nigeria can, without an iota of deep introspection, receive 25,000 tons of wheat donations from the war-ravaged Ukrainian government.

The problems ravaging Nigeria’s agricultural sector include poor land tenure systems, low levels of irrigation farming, climate change, and land degradation. Others are low technology, high production costs, poor distribution of inputs, limited financing, high post-harvest losses, and poor access to markets.

Added to this is the 2024 eye-opening analysis by Harmonisé, which predicted that Nigeria is expected to see about 26.5 million people grappling with high levels of food insecurity, while approximately 9 million children are said to be at risk of suffering from acute malnutrition or wasting. Of these, an alarming 2.6 million children could face Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and require critical nutrition treatment.

The above scenario aptly paints the picture of where we find ourselves as a people and demands from us a need to ask ourselves serious soul-searching questions about how our policies are conceived. What do we intend to achieve? How sustainable is the path we have chosen and our implementation plan?

For us, we have the view that sharing 50,000 to 3.6 million households worth N155 billion for distribution seems to be a cosmetic solution. The question is, of the over 200 million Nigerians, from which a paltry 3.6 million people were chosen, what happens to others who may not benefit? For how many months or years would the government keep on doing this?

If the aim of championing the idea of transferring money to the citizens is for short-term measures, it may have been properly conceived, at least as a spillover effect of not doing the right thing at the right time, in the right proportion, to get the right result. However, to propose such a policy for the long term and its sustainability raises a lot of questions. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!

As a country, we owe it to ourselves to chart a new and sustainable path that nips the food insecurity challenges in the bud.

Thus, it is our honest and patriotic charge for all and sundry to subscribe to a sustainable path of addressing our food insecurity challenges by addressing the insecurity that has almost sacked all our farmers from their farms. We may also need to start looking at formulating policies that directly affect the farmers without being held to ransom by the middlemen.

The truth is, in most cases, the farmers are not aware, nor is their expertise sought in our agricultural policies. Again, we may also need to look towards engaging our teeming youth in commercial agriculture. Do not tell us the youths are lazy.

If need be, let’s seek the transfer of knowledge from countries that have results. Thus, doling out Father Christmas’s palliative of N155 billion and making bogus policy claims may not squarely address the problem. We need to start thinking and acting in practical terms, while all our leaders put on their thinking caps and do what is needed.

The Remote and Immediate Strategy

Jibril raises an important point: clarity. The FG must unveil its strategy—a direction that stretches beyond immediate relief. Here’s what we need:

1. Technology push:

Can N155 billion push us into precision agriculture, smart irrigation, and data-driven decision-making? Let’s leverage innovation to empower our farmers.

2. Market Linkages:

Beyond food distribution, let’s create strong links between farmers and markets. Cold chains, e-commerce platforms, and cooperative networks can bridge the gap.

3. Climate-Resilient Farming:

N155 billion can fund climate-smart practices—drought-resistant seeds, agroforestry, and soil health initiatives. Let’s build resilience against nature’s whims.

As the sun rises over fields, let’s reimagine N155 billion. Let’s see it as a whole—a promise not just to households but to generations. Let’s sow it wisely, nurture it fiercely, and reap a harvest that surpasses palliatives.

Dear FG, let N155 billion be more than a sum. Let it be the resilience of progress.

The approvals were made under the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) project, which was initiated in 2018.

The SFTAS project was designed to strengthen transparency and accountability at the sub-national level and ended in 2022.

However, the implementation of the projects is still ongoing according to a document obtained from the bank.

According to this report, a total of $1.5bn was committed to the project in two batches of $750m (December 2018 and December 2020) by the World Bank.

Although the money is a grant to state governments, it is a loan to the Federal Government. A copy of the procurement plan for the project covering a period from February 2019 to August 2020.

The procurement plan is in line with the World Bank’s Procurement Guidelines which establish the arrangements to be made for procuring the goods and works (including related services) required for a project.

According to the procurement plan for the SFTAS project for the period disclosed by the World Bank, the Home Finance Department received $25,713 to acquire office stationery and supplies.

It also got another $39,357, up from the N33,000 initially requested for additional office equipment and supplies for the SFTAS Programme Coordinating Unit.

For the furniture items, the department got $64,190 for furnishing and equipping SFTAS Public Service Institute space; $14,842 for additional office furniture and partitioning of the STFAS office, as well as $19,368 up from $17,250 for additional office equipment and furniture for the Debt Management Office.

The department also received $24,038 for the procurement of video conferencing equipment for the SFTAS PCU and MiFi modems for the DMO.