Nigeria, May 1 -- Relief is not the same as savings - and development cannot wait.

A question, recently amplified in a trending video by Muhammadu Sanusi II has resonated across the country: If fuel subsidy has been removed, why is Nigeria still borrowing? It is a question that sounds straightforward - but it rests on a misunderstanding that deserves careful unpacking. At the core of the debate is a simple but often overlooked principle: you cannot save what you never had.

For years, Nigeria's fiscal position has been strained not merely by the existence of fuel subsidy, but by the way it was financed. The subsidy was not consistently paid out of surplus revenues; rather, it was largely sustained through borrowing. In effect, the countr...