President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that Nigeria has moved beyond the difficult phase of economic reforms and entered a new period focused on shared and widespread prosperity.
Tinubu made the declaration in his Independence Day address to Nigerians on Thursday, as the country marked its 66th anniversary of independence.
The President said his administration spent the past three years correcting what he described as deep economic distortions, adding that the next phase would focus on translating those reforms into improved living conditions and greater opportunities for Nigerians.
‘My fellow Nigerians, we have reached a turning point,’ Tinubu said. ‘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.’
Tinubu said the new phase would focus particularly on reducing the cost of living by lowering the cost of producing and transporting goods and services.
He said the government would expand mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improve access to seeds and fertiliser, increase agricultural mechanisation and invest in storage and transportation.
According to him, ongoing investments in roads, railways and ports are also intended to connect farms and factories to markets and reduce the cost of moving goods.
The President said the government would place jobs, enterprise and industrial growth at the centre of its policies, particularly as millions of young Nigerians enter the workforce each year.
He said Nigeria would use its gas resources to power new industries, support businesses seeking to revive factories, expand digital connectivity and invest in skills required by employers.
‘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,’ he said.
Tinubu also defended the economic reforms introduced since 2023, saying they were necessary to confront longstanding weaknesses in the economy.
He cited economic growth of more than four per cent this year, lower inflation, rebuilt foreign reserves, a more stable foreign exchange market and reduced oil theft as signs of improvement.
The President 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.
He said the government would continue supporting Nigerians facing hardship through direct assistance to poor households and improvements to the National Social Register.
Tinubu also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, CREDICORP, primary healthcare, basic education and pension reforms as measures aimed at supporting vulnerable and low-income Nigerians.
He acknowledged that millions of Nigerians continue to struggle with food, education, healthcare and transportation costs, but said the challenges accumulated over decades and could not be reversed overnight.
‘We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course,’ he said.
Tinubu said the government’s objective was not simply to manage poverty but to eliminate it through sustained economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities.
‘The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity,’ he said.
The President urged Nigerians to look forward rather than backward, saying the country had ‘corrected its course’ and should now work together to build what he described as a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity.