Public Goods and Economic Growth: Lessons from Nigeria

Growing up, I watched American public policy/politics on TV as a far-away curiosity, seeing little impact on my daily life. That changed when U.S. sanctions on Nigeria forced my family to switch from cooking gas to charcoal briquettes/sawdust and, later, as an entrepreneur, when U.S. aid distorted the very markets I was working to fix.

Under the guise of aid, foreign players with no stake in Africa’s long-term development received funding to run unsustainable enterprises, while local businesses with real solutions struggled to access capital. The influx of free goods wiped out paying customers, and when the funding dried up, these players vanished, leaving behind a broken market and consumers conditioned to expect “free.”

I don’t seek to insert myself into U.S. policy debates—my time at Yale and Harvard showed me that Americans often resist external critiques. But when America’s missteps hurt me, my people, and the global economy, I have a responsibility to speak up.

One of Nigeria’s greatest civil servants, Philip Asiodu, once told me:
“Nigeria’s decline began in the 1970s when the military and politicians dismantled the public service. A once-prestigious institution became a refuge for incompetence, dragging society down with it.”

Fiscal responsibility matters, but when $500B in budget cuts barely dents a $7 trillion budget—while eroding essential public services—it sets a dangerous precedent.

My Harvard professor, Ricardo Hausmann, once told me:
“Adebayo, I agree with your ideas that technocrats from the private sector can come in to improve government efficiency, but the public system is not the private sector. Without it, who will supply the public goods that keep us all productive and safe?”
After Harvard, I stopped bristling against the “lazy public servant” and recognized that some inefficiency in government is necessary to secure access to opportunity for everyone.

Look at Nigeria, where privatization has gutted public goods—how many world-class innovations have emerged?
America’s private sector thrives on the very public goods many take for granted—free quality basic education, safe & affordable public transport systems, high-speed internet available even free in public spaces, affordable clean water from the kitchen and free from the public park taps, relatively safe streets we can take leisure walks in, consumer protections against corporate exploitation, and access to global markets backed by U.S. influence.

What America needs isn’t just a bean counter—some budget cuts are necessary—but real economic growth that benefits all.
Some of us are not U.S. citizens, but our futures are tied to yours. That is why we care. That is why we speak up.
#DOGE #USAID