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President Bola Tinubu has declared that Nigeria has passed the most painful phase of his administration’s economic reforms and is now entering what he described as an “age of prosperity,” with reducing the cost of living as the government’s immediate priority.
In his address to Nigerians marking the country’s 66th Independence anniversary, the President said the economic “emergency treatment” of the last three years had ended, insisting that the reforms had stabilised the economy sufficiently for government to turn its attention to jobs, food prices, industrial expansion and improvement in household welfare.
Tinubu also pushed back against calls for a reversal of some of the reforms, particularly the removal of subsidies, warning that returning to what he called “addictive subsidies” would undo the gains already made.
“The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity. Our priority is to bring down the cost of living. We will achieve this by lowering the cost of producing and moving the things Nigerians consume,” the President declared.
He said government would expand mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improve access to seeds and fertiliser, increase agricultural mechanisation and invest in storage and transportation infrastructure.
According to him, roads, railways and ports were also being built or completed to reduce the cost of moving food and manufactured goods to markets.
“Our logic is simple. When a farmer produces more cheaply, when fewer crops are lost between the farm and the market, when a manufacturer spends less on electricity, when a truck reaches its destination faster, and when the business environment fosters fair competition, all those savings will ultimately find their way into the price of goods in the market,” he said.
Tinubu admitted that Nigerians had endured severe hardship following the reforms introduced after he assumed office in May 2023, but maintained that the measures confronted long-standing weaknesses rather than created them.
Drawing an analogy with the treatment of cancer, the President said previous governments had repeatedly avoided difficult economic decisions.
“Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer. His doctor explains that the treatment will be difficult and painful, but that it offers a strong prospect of recovery.
“For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came.
“They focused on symptoms while allowing the disease to take hold deep within the fabric of our society. We spent enormous sums sustaining inefficient arrangements that were never intended to last.”
He said his administration instead chose to “excise the cancer,” despite the economic pain that followed.
“The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease.
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them.”
Tinubu warned against what he described as “influential but regressive voices” calling for a return to the previous subsidy arrangements.
He said: “As certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return ourselves to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come.”
The President said three and a half years after the reforms began, economic indicators showed that the country’s outlook had improved.
He cited economic growth of more than four per cent this year, declining inflation, increased foreign reserves, greater stability in the foreign exchange market and record non-oil export earnings of more than $6 billion in 2025.
“Three and a half years later, the evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook has improved is undeniable,” he said.
“Our economy has grown by over four per cent this year. Both oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to the renewed period of stable growth.
“Oil theft is down. Inflation has fallen substantially from its peak. Our foreign reserves have been rebuilt, our foreign exchange market has stabilised, and in 2025 this country recorded its highest revenue from non-oil exports in its history, exceeding $6 billion.”
According to the President, Nigeria has consequently reached a turning point.
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed.
“For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course. Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.”
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Tinubu said prosperity should not be measured merely by economic statistics but by whether Nigerians could afford food and transportation, secure jobs, obtain credit, access education and plan their future with confidence.
He said the administration would place job creation, enterprise and industrial growth at the centre of its policies, using the country’s gas resources to power industries and supporting efforts to revive factories in major industrial centres.
Government, he added, would expand digital connectivity and invest in skills required by employers while providing Nigerian businesses with infrastructure and finance to grow.
“I want to see more Nigerians making things. I want to see more Nigerian farms feeding our cities and supplying our factories. I want to see Nigerian businesses selling Nigerian goods to the whole world.
“I want young Nigerians building unicorns and creating opportunities for others here at home.”
He, however, acknowledged that millions of Nigerians continued to struggle to meet basic needs, including food, school fees, medical bills and transportation.
He attributed the situation to decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure and insufficient economic opportunities, saying the problems could not be erased within four years.
“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course.
“We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way.”
Tinubu said government would consequently strengthen direct assistance to poor households and improve the National Social Register to ensure that support reached those genuinely in need.
The president also cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP, as part of measures aimed at cushioning hardship and widening opportunities.
He said the Federal Government, working with states and local governments, would continue strengthening primary healthcare, basic education and other essential public services.
“These programmes are not substitutes for prosperity. They are a bridge to aid our nation’s citizens on their path towards it. Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. “We will defeat it,” he said.
The President said achieving the goal would require sustained economic growth, discipline and the creation of millions of productive jobs.
He argued that Nigeria was, for the first time in decades, undertaking the task from what he described as a position of economic strength.
“We confronted the difficult choices we faced and have laid the foundations for lasting prosperity. Rather than fail the promise of a better future for our children, the time has come for us to build that future,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s 66 years of independence, Tinubu recalled the country’s experience of civil war, military rule, economic crises, insecurity and political upheaval, saying the nation had survived because of the resilience of its people.
He paid tribute to farmers, traders, teachers, entrepreneurs and members of the Armed Forces and security agencies, saying generations of Nigerians had continued to believe that the country could be better.
The President said independence went beyond the raising of the national flag in 1960 and represented a promise that Nigerians would be free to shape their destiny and build a country capable of providing opportunity, dignity and better lives for its people.
Concluding, Tinubu said there would be no return to the economic choices of the past, likening the country’s experience to the biblical crossing of the Red Sea.
“Nigeria has corrected its course. We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back.
“Let us go forward together, with faith in ourselves, faith in our country, and faith that the sacrifices we have made will yield their reward.
“The Promised Land before us is a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity; a nation where prosperity is broadly shared, where every child can dream beyond the circumstances of his birth, and where our country’s immense promise is finally reflected in the lives of our people.
“Our destination is in sight. Our foundations are strong. Our direction is clear. So let us go forward. No looking back.”
