By Esther Onyegbula

As Nigeria’s 2026 national budget is projected at about ₦58.18 trillion, data analyst Adeola Yusuf has said the challenge facing the country is not the size of the figure but the failure to translate it into terms ordinary Nigerians can understand and relate to.

Yusuf, who spoke with journalists in Lagos, said the presentation of the budget as a single headline figure makes it abstract and meaningless to the average citizen, stressing that data analytics and visualisation tools are critical to bridging the gap between government figures and lived realities.

According to him, breaking the budget down per citizen, household, or day, and clearly showing allocations to key sectors such as healthcare, education, security, infrastructure and debt servicing, would deepen public understanding and accountability.

“₦58.18 trillion is a meaningless number to the average Nigerian because it is presented in a way people cannot relate to,” Yusuf said. “With data tools and visualisation, you can show what the budget really means per person or per region, and how much actually goes to essential services, rather than burying the details in lengthy PDF documents.”

He explained that properly contextualised data could expose uncomfortable realities often hidden behind large aggregate figures, including the proportion of revenue consumed by debt servicing compared to spending on education or healthcare.

“You can show, for instance, how little is allocated to healthcare per month in real terms, or how debt servicing may exceed investment in human capital. That level of clarity changes the national conversation,” he added.

Yusuf noted that interactive dashboards, mobile-friendly charts and simple infographics could help Nigerians better understand why fuel prices rise, why hospitals remain poorly equipped, and why basic services are underfunded despite record-high budgets.

Describing his professional focus as operating at the intersection of data, public value and real-world decision-making, Yusuf said his experience across both public and private sectors has shaped his approach to analytics.

“In the private sector, the pressure is on efficiency, cost control, performance and risk management. In the public sector, the stakes are higher — fairness, accountability, service delivery and human impact,” he said. “My work is about bringing private-sector rigour into public services, while keeping transparency and ethics at the centre.”

He argued that effective use of data could save money, time and even lives, particularly in sectors affecting vulnerable populations such as housing, healthcare and social services.

“Poor decisions in these areas carry real human costs. Data allows decision-makers to identify problems early and act before they escalate into crises,” Yusuf said.

He described data not merely as a reporting tool but as a control mechanism, citing examples from local government, housing and facilities management, where operational datasets have been used to track demand patterns, compare planned budgets with actual spending, and identify inefficiencies.

“In finance and treasury environments, data underpins risk monitoring, transaction tracking and audit readiness. Once numbers are visible, timely and comparable, excuses disappear and decisions become evidence-based,” he said.

Looking ahead, Yusuf said artificial intelligence and big data could significantly reshape governance, sustainability and business performance if applied responsibly. He noted that AI could help governments detect fraud earlier, evaluate policy impacts and improve transparency through automated reporting.

However, he warned against uncritical adoption of technology, stressing that poor-quality data combined with AI would only produce faster mistakes. “Governance frameworks, data standards and explainability must come first,” he said.

Yusuf also called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, journalists, civil society organisations and data professionals, urging government to publish clean, machine-readable datasets.

“When analysts are involved early, budgets stop being political theatre and start becoming measurable social contracts,” he said.

He added that data only becomes powerful when it is understood, noting that his work is focused on turning numbers into clarity and clarity into better decisions that improve lives.