President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has defended the economic reforms introduced by his administration, arguing that they did not create Nigeria’s economic weaknesses but were designed to confront problems that had accumulated over several decades.
Tinubu, in his Independence Day address to Nigerians on Thursday, October 1, 2026, likened Nigeria’s economic condition before the reforms to a patient suffering from cancer who must undergo painful treatment to have a chance of recovery.
He said successive governments had for too long avoided difficult decisions, choosing instead to sustain arrangements that he described as inefficient and unsustainable.
The President said, “For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came.”
According to him, previous administrations focused on the symptoms of the country’s economic problems while allowing deeper structural weaknesses to become entrenched.
He said his administration, upon assuming office, decided to “excise the cancer” through reforms, acknowledging that the process had produced real difficulties and side effects for Nigerians.
Tinubu stated, “The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease.”
The President argued that the economic difficulties experienced by Nigerians should not be attributed to the reforms themselves, saying the reforms were introduced to address problems that already existed.
He noted, “Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them.”
Tinubu also warned against calls to abandon the reform programme and return to what he described as “the abuse of addictive subsidies”.
He urged Nigerians to remember the reasons the reforms were introduced and the progress his administration says has been made since then.
The President cited economic growth, reduced oil theft, falling inflation from its peak, rebuilt foreign reserves, a more stable foreign exchange market and increased non-oil exports as evidence of improvement.
He said the Nigerian economy had grown by more than four per cent in the year and that both oil and non-oil sectors had contributed to what he described as a renewed period of stable growth.
Tinubu maintained that the country had now reached a turning point, with the administration’s immediate focus shifting from economic correction to prosperity.
He said the next phase would require sustained growth, productive employment and increased opportunities for Nigerians.
According to him, the government must now ensure that the benefits of economic growth translate into better living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
The President acknowledged that millions of Nigerians continue to face difficulties meeting basic needs, but said the government was working to change the country’s economic trajectory.
He said the reforms had laid the foundation for what he described as lasting prosperity and urged Nigerians not to look back.
