President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that Nigeria has emerged from a difficult period of economic reforms and is now entering what he described as “the age of prosperity”.
Tinubu made the declaration on Thursday, October 1, 2026, in his Independence Day address to Nigerians, saying the country had corrected its economic course and laid the foundation for lasting prosperity.
According to him, the administration’s focus over the past three years had been to address deep-rooted economic distortions, but the central task has now shifted from reform to ensuring that Nigerians experience shared and widespread prosperity.
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed,” the President said.
“For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course. Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.”
Tinubu said prosperity should not be measured merely by the size of the economy or statistical indicators, but by improvements in the everyday lives of Nigerians.
He said his vision was of a Nigeria where farmers could cultivate their land safely and earn decent returns, factories could access reliable electricity, businesses could obtain credit and young people could find productive employment.
He also envisaged a country where food and transportation would become affordable, education would be accessible and families could face the future with greater confidence.
The President acknowledged that the journey to this point had been difficult, saying Nigerians had endured economic crises, insecurity, political upheaval and other challenges since independence.
He, however, maintained that his administration had taken difficult decisions to address what he described as longstanding economic problems.
Tinubu said the reforms had produced what he described as improvements in economic stability, citing growth in both oil and non-oil sectors, lower inflation from its peak, rebuilt foreign reserves, a more stable foreign exchange market and reduced oil theft.
He also said Nigeria recorded more than $6 billion in non-oil export revenue in 2025, which he described as the highest in the country’s history.
The President said the next phase would focus on translating economic reforms into productive opportunities for Nigerians.
He listed agriculture, industrialisation, infrastructure, digital connectivity, access to finance and job creation among the areas his administration would prioritise.
Tinubu said Nigeria’s large youth population must become an engine of production rather than a source of despair.
“We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back,” he declared.
He urged Nigerians to move forward with faith in themselves and the country, saying the ultimate destination was a Nigeria where prosperity would be broadly shared and every child could dream beyond the circumstances of his or her birth.
“The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity,” Tinubu said.
