President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that bringing down the cost of living remains the priority of his administration, saying the government will achieve this by reducing the cost of producing and moving goods and services across the country.
Tinubu made the declaration in his Independence Day address to Nigerians as the country marked its 66th anniversary.
The President said Nigeria had endured decades of war, military rule, economic crises, insecurity and political upheaval but remained resilient because of the determination of its people.
He recalled that 66 years after Nigeria’s flag was first raised over a free and sovereign nation, the country remained bound by the promise of building a united, strong and prosperous nation with regional authority and global consequence.
Tinubu paid tribute to farmers, traders, teachers, young entrepreneurs, members of the Armed Forces and security services who, he said, had sustained the country and risked their lives to protect it.
According to him, Nigeria’s founding fathers did not struggle merely for a flag, an anthem or a place among nations, but for the freedom to shape the country’s destiny and build a nation capable of providing opportunity, dignity and a better life.
“Sixty-six years later, Almighty God has made it our responsibility to deliver that promise,” he said.
President Defends Economic Reforms
Tinubu said the anniversary was an opportunity to speak honestly about Nigeria’s journey and the choices made.
He said the promise of Nigeria had for too long been undermined by decisions that postponed difficult choices and allowed economic distortions to deepen.
The President said Nigeria had reached a turning point after three years of difficult economic reforms, declaring that the country had moved from correcting economic distortions to a new phase centred on shared prosperity.
“The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity,” he said.
Tinubu said the reforms were necessary to confront longstanding weaknesses in the economy and argued that they did not create Nigeria’s economic problems but addressed distortions that had been allowed to deepen over time.
He likened the economic situation to that of a patient diagnosed with cancer, saying difficult treatment was necessary to address the underlying disease rather than merely suppress its symptoms.
“For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came,” he said.
According to him, his administration chose to “excise the cancer” despite the difficult and painful consequences of the reforms.
He therefore said the government must resist calls to abandon the reforms and return to what he described as the abuse of 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.
