The World Bank has restricted comments on its Instagram page following a surge of pleas from Nigerians urging the institution to halt further loan approvals for President Bola Tinubu’s administration amid rising debt concerns.
The World Bank has restricted the comment section on its official Instagram page following a massive campaign by Nigerians urging the global financial institution to stop approving loan requests for the administration of President Bola Tinubu. The digital protest erupted shortly after the federal government announced it had entered discussions for a fresh $1.25 billion loan intended to support economic reforms and job creation. Thousands of users flooded the platform, alleging that previously acquired funds have failed to improve the living conditions of ordinary citizens, who are currently grappling with sky-high inflation, the removal of fuel subsidies, and widespread insecurity.
The public outcry coincides with alarming new data from the Debt Management Office (DMO), which revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt reached N159.27 trillion at the end of 2025. President Tinubu recently confirmed the severity of the fiscal burden, stating that the country is projected to spend $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026—nearly double the amount spent in 2025. Critics argue that committing nearly half of the nation’s projected revenue to debt repayment will further cripple the economy and lead to “elite capture” of resources. One social media user voiced this frustration on Instagram, writing: “Dear @WorldBankGroup, why did you lock your comments section on Instagram? Nigerians are telling you to stop giving our Criminal Leaders Billions in Loans that only gets Stolen.”
While the World Bank has yet to issue a formal response to the backlash, the decision to limit comments has been interpreted by many as an attempt to evade public accountability. Commenters warned that continued lending under the current global financial system would deepen a debt trap that threatens the nation’s sovereignty. Allegations of corruption and the diversion of funds remained central to the online protest, with citizens expressing skepticism over the government’s ability to utilize the loans for their intended purposes. “They want to give so much loan that the country won’t be able to pay back, so they can control our resources,” one user wrote, while another added, “Stop giving Tinubu loans, he is not using it for the citizens.”
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