President Bola Tinubu has declared that Nigeria has moved beyond the most difficult phase of his economic reforms, saying the country has entered what he described as an “age of prosperity.”
Tinubu made the declaration in his Independence Day broadcast on Thursday, October 1, 2026, as Nigeria marked its 66th anniversary.
The President defended the removal of petrol subsidy and other economic reforms introduced by his administration, comparing Nigeria’s economic condition to a cancer patient who needed painful treatment to recover.
“Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer,” he said. “For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came.”
Tinubu also warned against calls to reverse the fuel subsidy policy, describing such demands as a “siren song.”
“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,” he said.
According to the President, the reforms did not create Nigeria’s economic problems but addressed existing weaknesses.
He said the economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, while inflation had fallen, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.
Declaring a new phase for the country, Tinubu said: “The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired.”
He said his administration would now focus on reducing the cost of living by lowering the cost of production and transportation through investments in agriculture, roads, railways, ports and other infrastructure.
Tinubu also said jobs, enterprise and industrial growth would remain central to his administration, while programmes such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and CREDICORP would continue to support Nigerians.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it,” he said.
The President concluded by declaring: “Nigeria has corrected its course. We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back.”
He added: “The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity. An age in which the promise of this great nation must finally become the lived experience of Nigerians from all walks of life.”
Social Media Reactions
@Chidi Ebere Vincent: He is referring to France, my people.
@Jose Bonny: What if Jagaban is mad and we don’t know??😳
@Enas Jerome: King of lamba , first of his kind
@Japhet Ovie Edafe: Is this man being serious rn?
@Cosmas Onyekwulune: Maybe people around you are telling you what you want to hear not what you suppose to hear.
@Afor Augustine: Are you sure this man is aware of the hardship?
@Falola Olawale Sunday: If Una like fall for it,na sakamanje promise ooo.
@Uche Michael Ekeh: So fuel from N200 to N1400 has turn from reform to prosperity?
Let it not prosper to more than N1400 o. God abeg o
@Emma Obiakor: If una allow this man enter again ehh 🤦
Na shege promax we go see
@Originally Aboki: Prosperity keel you there.
