The revenue crunch will make it difficult to counter the surge in violence from extremist groups.

Nigeria now spends more than it earns just to service its debt -- a crisis that raises serious concerns about the government's ability to finance public infrastructure, civil service salaries, education and healthcare. It also has dire implications for the protracted war against the Boko Haram insurgency.

The Finance Ministry's public revenue and expenditure performance report for January to April 2022, released last month, shows that the federal government's retained revenue for that period was insufficient to service its debt. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the 118.9% debt servicing-to-revenue ratio was the worst in the world.

The causes of the revenue crisis are varied. They include the government's dependence on oil exports since production boomed in the 1970s, external shocks such as Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, corruption and oil theft, and an economic structure that's incompatible with its rapidly growing population. Policy choices such as the ongoing petroleum subsidy have exacerbated the situation.

Nigeria has struggled to overcome the Boko Haram threat since it turned violent in 2011. Current conflict dynamics are even more worrying, with three active factions, significant external support,...