Adamawa’s Budget: When Facebook University Graduates Play Economists

 Yola, Adamawa State - September 23, 2025

Every budget season in Nigeria manufactures a fresh crop of “overnight economists”, graduates of Facebook University and WhatsApp Polytechnic, who mistake beer-parlor gossip and forwarded messages for fiscal expertise. This year, Adamawa’s virement and supplementary budget have become their new chewing stick.

Their loudest noise is over the Maiha–Mubi road. In July, N3 billion was allocated. By September, the figure had risen to N14.9 billion. Instantly, the Facebook warriors cried: “Kai! Sun ci kudin!” Only in Nigeria does failure to differentiate between mobilization funds and total contractual cost pass for “citizen vigilance.” That N3 billion was seed money, not the total bill. Ai, hanya ba a yi ta da tsafi ba, roads aren’t built by magic; they respond to inflation, a weak naira, and skyrocketing cement and diesel costs.

Today, cement is N9,500 to N10,100. Diesel is climbing like a stubborn goat. The naira, wallahi, is somersaulting daily. Yet our self-anointed Facebook economists, who can’t even manage their mama put accounts, expect a 24km road to remain immune to market realities. That’s not analysis; wannan iskanci ne kawai.

Now to the “famous” N650 million generator for Government House. Critics peddle it as luxury. Laughable. In a country where NEPA supply is like kunne na jaka (nonexistent), should the governor run Adamawa under a mango tree? Or preside over EXCO meetings by lantern light to please Facebook hecklers? A generator for the seat of government is not extravagance; it is oxygen for governance. Ba dai haka ba.

And let’s clear this up: a supplementary budget is not a crime scene. It is a global fiscal instrument, used to adjust to changing revenues and needs. Adamawa’s N135 billion supplementary reflects higher federal allocations, subsidy savings, and stronger IGR. To dismiss it as “budget gymnastics” is lazy cynicism, plain and simple.

But this is Nigeria’s tragedy: marasa sani su fi hayaniya, the less informed you are, the louder you shout. Facebook University graduates screaming “billions don vanish” get more applause than sober analysis. Populist outrage is sexier than boring economic explanations.

Here’s the truth, inconvenient as it may be: Adamawa’s government is not perfect, duk mai rai ba ya rasa kuskure, but it is not the vampire’s den some imagine. What we’re seeing is the messy, adaptive process of governing in an inflation-ravaged economy.

Until the Facebook economists learn that arithmetic is not economics, and shouting is not scrutiny, they will remain what they are: auditors of ignorance.

Komai nisan dare, gari zai waye. Governance is hard work; Facebook analysis is cheap noise. Adamawa’s leaders are doing the former, their critics are stuck with the latter.

By: Foya Puja

Hicia News