Nigeria’s debt crisis scaring away investors, says Afe Babalola

Elder statesman and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has raised alarm over Nigeria’s growing debt burden, warning that the country’s economic reputation is deteriorating and discouraging foreign investment.

Babalola spoke at the weekend during the 2025 International Leadership Conference on Leadership, Governance, Sustainable Change and Wealth Creation (2.0), held at ABUAD and jointly hosted by Trinity Western University (TWU), Vancouver, Canada, and the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (CentreLSD).

Speaking on the theme, “Shaping Transformational Leaders for a Changing World: Tackling Insecurity, Governance and Development,” the legal icon described the topic as “most appropriate at this time of our development,” lamenting that Nigeria’s financial state had become alarming.

He said the country’s worsening debt profile had weakened investor confidence and strained the local financial sector, adding that banks had complained that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was unable to honour government promissory notes.

His words: “The record shows that Nigeria, as of today, is a big debtor country; Nigeria’s total public debt is put at ₦152.4 trillion or $99.7 billion.

“Consequently, most business companies from other countries do not want to invest in this debtor country.

“As I am talking to you now, I know as a fact that our banks are complaining that the Central Bank is not honouring promissory notes issued by the government on the allegation that the Federal Government is in debt and cannot pay the Central Bank.”

Babalola called for urgent reforms and responsible fiscal management to restore investor confidence, economic stability and sustainable development.

Quoting Section 14 of the Constitution, he reminded the government of its core mandate: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

In his lecture titled “Transformational Leadership in an Insecure and Disruptive Era: Building Ethical, Resilient and Impactful Leaders for Africa,” Dr. Otive Igbuzor, founding Executive Director of CentreLSD, identified transformational leadership as the key to tackling bad governance, corruption, unemployment, gender inequality, and environmental decay.

He said Africa needs a new generation of leaders capable of challenging conventional governance and driving innovation.

“Transformational leadership will enable governments to reward merit, integrity andinnovation rather than mediocrity and patronage,” he said.

Igbuzor also urged the federal government to institutionalise leadership training across schools and universities to make leadership formation as essential as literacy.