N15.81 trillion. That's Nigeria's debt service bill for 2026. Before one hospital gets funded. Before one school gets built.

Wednesday is for numbers. This week's number is N15.81 trillion.

That is the amount Nigeria has committed to paying in debt service in 2026. Domestic obligations account for N10.16 trillion of it. Foreign debt repayment accounts for N5.36 trillion. The figure sits in the 2026 Appropriation Bill approved by the National Assembly.

To put that alongside something concrete. Nigeria's total capital expenditure in the same budget is N32.29 trillion. That means for every two naira the government plans to spend building something, almost one naira goes straight to servicing existing debt. Before a single contract is signed or a single road is awarded.

The health budget is a fraction of N15.81 trillion. The education budget is a fraction of it. The combined allocation for infrastructure in states that have been waiting years for federal investment is a fraction of it.

This is not money that disappears. It goes to creditors. Nigerian and foreign. What it doesn't do is fix anything a Nigerian can touch.

N15.81 trillion. The number the budget announcement didn't lead with.