Makinde’s Reset Agenda: Can His Four-pillar Blueprint Transform Nigeria’s Economy?
As Governor Seyi Makinde advances his presidential ambition, his proposed Reset Nigeria Agenda offers a vision of economic restructuring, improved security, education reform and a more functional federation. Built around the argument that government policies must translate into tangible improvements in citizens’ lives, the programme promises to address the structural costs of living and doing business, strengthen institutions and expand opportunities. Sunday Ehigiator examines the proposals and the lessons from Makinde’s eight-year administration in Oyo State.
Nigeria’s economic difficulties have exposed a persistent weakness in the country’s governance system: the disconnect between government policies, public expenditure and the living conditions of ordinary citizens. Despite successive economic reforms, substantial public spending and numerous development programmes, millions of Nigerians continue to contend with high living costs, unreliable electricity, inadequate infrastructure, insecurity, unemployment and declining purchasing power. It is against this background that Governor Seyi Makinde’s Reset Nigeria Agenda seeks to reposition the country’s development priorities around four interconnected pillars: economic restructuring, security reform, education and socio-political transformation. The central argument of the proposed programme is that Nigeria does not necessarily lack resources or development policies. Rather, its institutions have struggled to translate available resources and policy decisions into measurable improvements in the lives of citizens. The Agenda consequently advocates a departure from a governance model that celebrates budgetary allocations, projects commissioned and macroeconomic indicators without adequately examining their effects on households, businesses and productive activities. For the business community, the proposition is particularly relevant. Nigeria’s competitiveness depends not only on exchange-rate stability, fiscal discipline and monetary reforms, but also on the cost of electricity, transportation, logistics, access to finance, security and the efficiency of public institutions. Makinde’s proposed economic reset seeks to address these structural constraints while establishing a stronger connection between government spending, private investment, productivity and household prosperity.
Reducing structural cost of living
The economic pillar is arguably the most consequential component of the Reset Agenda because it directly addresses the constraints confronting Nigerian households and businesses. Rather than concentrating exclusively on conventional macroeconomic indicators, the proposal seeks to reduce the structural costs that make production, transportation, distribution and everyday living expensive. Its underlying argument is that inflation and the high cost of living cannot be addressed sustainably without reducing the underlying costs of producing and distributing goods and services. For instance, manufacturers who depend on diesel-powered generators face additional operating expenses that undermine their competitiveness. Farmers contend with inadequate rural infrastructure, insecurity, storage limitations and expensive transportation, while businesses face overlapping regulatory requirements and bureaucratic bottlenecks. The Agenda therefore proposes an integrated approach in which infrastructure, energy, agriculture, security, finance and markets operate as interconnected components of the productive economy. This approach is sensible because reducing production costs can improve business margins, encourage investment, expand employment and eventually moderate consumer prices. The proposal also emphasises that economic reforms must be evaluated through their impact on employment, household incomes, food affordability and purchasing power rather than through macroeconomic statistics alone. This is an important distinction, particularly at a time when improvements in some macroeconomic indicators have not necessarily translated into corresponding relief for households.
Giving Nigerians a stake in petroleum wealth
One of the more distinctive proposals associated with Makinde’s economic thinking is the Domestic Energy Value Credit (DEVC), which seeks to establish a direct relationship between the economic value generated from Nigeria’s petroleum resources and the welfare of citizens. The proposal challenges the conventional approach to petroleum pricing and revenue management, under which increases in international crude oil prices can result in higher domestic energy costs while additional petroleum revenue accrues to government. Makinde argues that Nigerians should derive tangible benefits when international crude prices rise above the benchmark used in preparing the national budget. The proposed arrangement is intended to ensure that additional petroleum-related value translates into direct benefits for citizens rather than merely increasing government revenue and allocations. The underlying proposition is that Nigerians, as owners of the country’s natural resources, should have a recognisable stake in the additional value generated from them. This is potentially significant because it introduces a citizen-centred dimension to petroleum revenue management without necessarily requiring a return to the conventional fuel subsidy system. The proposal has considerable potential as a new approach to petroleum wealth distribution, but its credibility will depend on the precision of its design, funding arrangements and accountability framework.
Electricity
Electricity represents another critical component of the proposed economic reset and arguably one of the most urgent challenges confronting Nigerian businesses. Unreliable power supply remains a major constraint on manufacturers, small businesses, commercial establishments and service providers. Businesses that rely on diesel and petrol generators face higher production costs, which are ultimately transferred to consumers through increased prices. Makinde has argued that manufacturers should be able to connect to the national electricity grid and access more affordable power. He has also advocated greater participation by states in electricity generation and distribution under the evolving electricity regulatory framework. The economic logic is straightforward: reliable and competitively priced electricity is essential to improving industrial productivity and attracting investment. The Electricity Act 2023 provides a framework for states to establish and regulate electricity markets within their jurisdictions, subject to the applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The proposed approach could therefore build on an existing legislative framework rather than require an entirely new electricity structure. Makinde’s experience in Oyo State provides some evidence of his interest in alternative energy arrangements. His administration commissioned an 11MW hybrid power plant in Ibadan in 2024, with plans to expand solar capacity.
Connecting production to markets
The Reset Agenda places considerable emphasis on infrastructure that supports productive economic activity rather than projects undertaken primarily for political visibility. It proposes prioritising roads and other transport infrastructure according to their economic importance, particularly their ability to connect farms, industrial clusters, markets, businesses and consumers. This represents a results-oriented approach to infrastructure planning. Rather than measuring success exclusively through kilometres of roads constructed, the government would assess reductions in travel times, logistics costs, post-harvest losses and improvements in commercial activity. The proposal is consistent with Makinde’s experience in Oyo State, where strategic road projects, including the Moniya-Iseyin Road, Ogbomoso-Fapote-Iseyin Road and Oyo-Iseyin Road, have improved connectivity across important agricultural and commercial corridors. Its proposed Federal-State Road Compact is particularly important in this regard. Such an arrangement could establish clearer responsibilities for financing, construction, reimbursement and maintenance when states undertake projects on federal roads.
Agriculture
Agriculture is another major component of the economic reset. The Agenda proposes developing priority agricultural value chains, connecting production with storage, processing, financing, transportation and markets. Rather than concentrating government intervention on the distribution of agricultural inputs, the approach recognises that farmers need commercially viable markets and infrastructure to convert production into sustainable income. The Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub in Oyo State provides an example of this philosophy. According to the administration, the project attracted 16 agribusiness companies and approximately N20 billion in private investment within three years, while more than 5,000 youths received training. The administration also puts private investment attracted into agribusiness across the state at more than N46 billion. These figures provide useful evidence of the potential of public infrastructure to attract private capital. However, the distinction between investment commitments and capital actually deployed must be maintained.
Private capital, fiscal discipline and investment climate
Another important element of the economic reset is its proposed redefinition of the government’s role in commercial activities. The Agenda argues that public resources should primarily finance public goods, essential services, targeted protection for vulnerable households and infrastructure that the market cannot adequately provide. Commercial activities, meanwhile, should attract private capital and competitively selected operators wherever continuous government funding is unnecessary. This philosophy is particularly relevant to Nigeria’s experience with publicly owned commercial enterprises, including refineries that have consumed substantial public resources without delivering commensurate value. The proposal calls for independent technical, financial and environmental assessments of government-owned refineries, followed by commercially viable arrangements involving private operating partners, conversion into alternative facilities or orderly decommissioning. The attraction of this approach is that it seeks to establish commercial discipline around assets that have historically been exposed to political interference and repeated public expenditure. The Agenda also proposes redirecting existing expenditure away from duplication, persistent losses and incomplete projects towards productive investments. Borrowing, according to the proposal, should be reserved for productive investments, statutory obligations and clearly defined counter-cyclical requirements, with repayment sources and expected returns disclosed before approval. This is a reasonable principle, particularly given Nigeria’s fiscal constraints. The proposal to simplify government-business relationships through technology is also relevant. Its ‘Tell the Government Once’ principle seeks to prevent citizens and businesses from repeatedly submitting information already supplied to another government institution, where authorised public systems can securely share such information. If effectively implemented, this could reduce compliance costs, improve regulatory coordination and make government services more accessible.
Security: From responding to preventing attacks
The second pillar of the Reset Agenda focuses on restructuring Nigeria’s security architecture around intelligence gathering, early warning, coordination and accountability. The proposal recognises that insecurity is not simply a law enforcement problem. It is also an economic challenge that affects agricultural production, transportation, trade, investment and employment. Farmers cannot operate effectively when they are unable to access their land safely. Transport operators face higher costs when routes become dangerous, while investors are discouraged from committing capital to areas exposed to persistent violence. The Agenda therefore proposes strengthening intelligence gathering and information sharing, improving coordination among security agencies and establishing clearer responsibility for responding to threats. It also advocates reviewing major security incidents to identify institutional failures and ensure that lessons lead to operational improvements. This is an important departure from measuring security performance primarily through the number of security personnel deployed, vehicles acquired, arrests made or checkpoints established. Instead, the proposed framework would assess reductions in attacks, abductions and violent deaths, as well as improved access to farms, markets and communities. Makinde points to Oyo State’s 615 toll-free emergency line, central security control room, CCTV infrastructure and coordination among security agencies as examples of the approach. The proposed intelligence-led approach is promising, but its success will depend on the institutional architecture established to make it operational.
Education
The third pillar seeks to reform Nigeria’s education system by shifting attention from access and infrastructure towards measurable learning outcomes, teacher effectiveness and skills development. The Agenda argues that the number of children enrolled in schools, classrooms constructed or examinations conducted does not necessarily reflect the quality of education being delivered. It proposes strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy, particularly among children in the early years of primary education. It also advocates working with state governments and communities to identify the factors keeping children out of school, including poverty, insecurity, distance, cultural considerations and economic pressures on households. This is important because the reasons children remain outside the education system vary significantly across Nigeria. A uniform national intervention may therefore be inadequate without reliable data and solutions tailored to the circumstances of individual communities. The proposal also seeks to strengthen the relationship between education and employment through technical and vocational education, apprenticeships, tertiary institutions and skills demanded by employers and entrepreneurs. This is a particularly relevant intervention for Nigeria’s labour market, where employers frequently complain about gaps between graduates’ qualifications and the practical skills required in the workplace. Makinde’s administration points to the abolition of a N3,000 public secondary school levy in Oyo State as an example of removing financial barriers to education. The administration also reports the delivery of more than 700 school projects and the re-enrolment of 54,569 out-of-school children through the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme. These interventions provide useful context, but the national proposal requires a stronger delivery framework. The strongest feature of the proposal is its insistence that education should be judged by what children can actually learn and do. Its weakness is that the published policy framework does not yet provide sufficiently detailed national delivery targets, funding commitments and timelines.
Socio-political reform: Making federalism work
The fourth pillar addresses the institutional and political structures that influence the country’s ability to deliver economic and social development. Makinde argues that too much authority is concentrated at the centre and that Nigeria needs a more functional federation in which responsibilities are assigned to the level of government best positioned to perform them. The Agenda therefore proposes greater devolution of powers, particularly in areas such as security and natural resources, alongside stronger institutions and improved public accountability.
The economic significance of this proposal cannot be overlooked. State governments are often better positioned to identify local development priorities and respond to challenges affecting their communities. However, transferring responsibilities without corresponding financial resources, technical capacity and accountability could simply relocate inefficiencies from Abuja to the states. Makinde’s reference to the Bodija explosion in Ibadan, which raised questions about the regulation of mining-related activities, illustrates the complications created by divided responsibilities between federal and state authorities.
The experience provides an argument for reviewing the existing allocation of powers, but any substantial restructuring would require constitutional amendments and legislative cooperation. Beyond devolution, the Agenda emphasises stronger public institutions, clearly defined responsibilities and systems that remain effective regardless of who occupies political office. It also proposes greater transparency in public expenditure and measurable accountability for government performance. These are important principles, but institutional reform requires more than creating agencies or changing administrative structures. It requires independent oversight, transparent procurement, credible public reporting and consequences for persistent failure. The wider political dimension of the proposed reset, including the suggestion of a transitional government of national unity and a national conversation on Nigeria’s political future, also raises important questions about the duration, mandate and constitutional limits of such an arrangement. The principle that power should be devolved alongside accountability is sound. The challenge is designing the constitutional, fiscal and administrative arrangements that will make it work.
What Oyo State’s experience demonstrates
Although the Reset Agenda is a proposed national programme, Makinde’s eight-year administration in Oyo State provides an important basis for assessing some of its underlying assumptions. The administration’s experience is particularly relevant in three areas: strategic infrastructure, agribusiness development and revenue mobilisation. Its road construction programme, including almost 1,000 kilometres of constructed and rehabilitated roads according to the administration, demonstrates the importance of connecting agricultural communities and commercial centres. The Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub provides an example of using public investment to attract private capital into production and processing. Similarly, the reported increase in monthly internally generated revenue from approximately N1.7 billion in 2019 to N8.7 billion in 2025 suggests an improvement in the state’s revenue mobilisation capacity. The administration has also invested in education, healthcare and security infrastructure, including the establishment of the Amotekun Corps and improvements to emergency response arrangements. These experiences offer useful evidence of the relationship between public investment, institutional coordination and economic activity. The Oyo experience provides useful supporting evidence, but it does not eliminate the need for a detailed national implementation framework.
Financing and implementation test
Perhaps the most important question confronting the Reset Agenda is how its proposals will be financed and implemented within the country’s existing fiscal constraints. The document argues that the federal government should redirect expenditure from duplication, persistent losses and incomplete projects towards interventions with demonstrable public value. It also advocates greater private-sector participation in commercially viable activities and more disciplined borrowing. The Agenda’s emphasis on publishing progress and holding institutions accountable is commendable.
