NIGERIA PAID OFF IMF DEBT WITH SOVEREIGNTY

Revolutionary pan-African icon Thomas Sankara once made a prophetic plea: 'If we do not pay, the capital lenders will not die; if we pay, we will die. We cannot pay, and we don't want to pay.' The former Burkinabe president said this in a speech at the Organisation of African Unity summit in 1986 in Addis Ababa. Less than a year later, Sankara was killed! Decades on, his call goes unheeded.

In this video, Moussa Ibrahim, the former spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi's revolutionary government, gives his take on Nigeria's announcement on 8 May 2025 that it had paid off its IMF debt. Abuja had borrowed $3.4 billion during the COVID-19 crisis.

But what was the cost? IMF loans come with painful conditions attached, such as the scrapping of subsidies and the devaluation of national currencies. In this clip, @_moussa_ibrahim (X)—the former spokesperson for deposed ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi—shares his take on whether Nigeria's IMF loan was worth it.

To satisfy the IMF, President Bola Tinubu floated the naira, which shed 70% of its value, badly harming Nigerians' purchasing power. A fuel subsidy was removed, sending pump prices skyrocketing. Amid this austerity, Nigeria experienced its highest food inflation in 28 years.

It's funny how the IMF never demands that corruption be rooted out. In Nigeria, this reportedly sucked $20 trillion from the economy between 1960 and 2005. Much of this wealth is in Western jurisdictions like the City of London and the Cayman Islands.

Video Credit: @_moussa_ibrahim (X) and @moussa.ibrahim.in.english (Insta)