President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has defended the economic policies of his administration, declaring that the reforms implemented since he assumed office did not create Nigeria’s economic weaknesses but were designed to confront problems that had accumulated over decades.
Tinubu made the declaration on Thursday in his Independence Day broadcast to Nigerians, where he described the country as having passed through the most difficult phase of his economic adjustment programme and entering what he called an “age of prosperity.”
The President, who marked Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary with an address themed “From Reform to Prosperity,” likened the pre-reform economy to a cancer patient who must choose between painful treatment and temporary relief.
According to him, previous administrations had for years relied on measures that merely eased the symptoms of economic problems without addressing their underlying causes.
“Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer,” Tinubu said.
“His doctor explains that the treatment will be difficult and painful, but that it offers a strong prospect of recovery. The patient has a choice. He can begin treatment, endure its discomfort and fight the disease. Or he can ask only for morphine, dull the pain and leave the cancer to spread.”
The President said Nigeria’s leaders had for too long avoided difficult economic decisions while the country accumulated structural problems.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu said his administration consequently chose to confront the problems, including what he described as inefficient economic arrangements that had become unsustainable.
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them,” he declared.
Tinubu warns against subsidy return
The President also warned against calls for a return to petrol subsidy arrangements, describing such proposals as a retreat from the reforms his administration had undertaken.
He urged Nigerians to reject what he called the “siren song” of returning to what he described as “addictive subsidies.”
“Now, 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,” Tinubu said.
The issue of petrol subsidy has emerged as a major point of political debate ahead of the 2027 general elections, with opposition figures, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, advocating variations of targeted subsidy support.
Tinubu, however, insisted that the country must remain on the reform path.
‘Economy grows by over 4%’
Three and a half years into his administration, the President said indicators available to his government showed that the economy had begun to stabilise.
He said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, with both the oil and non-oil sectors contributing to the growth.
Tinubu also claimed that oil theft had declined, inflation had fallen substantially, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.
