Tinubu shifts focus to prosperity, vows lower living costs - The Guardian Nigeria News

President Bola Tinubu said Thursday his government would prioritise reducing the cost of living, creating jobs and tackling poverty, declaring an end to the emergency phase of his economic reforms.

In his Independence Day address marking 66 years, Tinubu said the government’s focus would shift from stabilising the economy to delivering prosperity more widely across the country.

“Our priority is to bring down the cost of living,” Tinubu said, promising measures to reduce the cost of producing and transporting goods.

He identified mechanised farming, irrigation, improved access to seeds and fertilisers, storage facilities and transport infrastructure as areas of government investment intended to lower food prices.

Tinubu also pledged to expand industrial production, use natural gas to power industries, improve digital connectivity and provide businesses with infrastructure and financing to support job creation.

However, the president did not specify targets or deadlines for reducing living costs, creating jobs or lifting Nigerians out of poverty in the speech.

Tinubu defended economic reforms introduced since taking office in May 2023, including the removal of petrol subsidies and changes to the foreign exchange system, arguing that they had corrected longstanding economic distortions.

He said the economy had grown by more than four percent in 2026, inflation had fallen from its peak, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and oil theft had declined.

Nigeria also recorded more than $6 billion in non-oil export revenue in 2025, which Tinubu described as the highest in the country’s history.

The president did not provide supporting figures for several of the economic indicators cited in his address.

The reforms have imposed significant economic adjustments on households and businesses, making the cost of living a central issue for Nigerians.

Tinubu acknowledged that many families continued to struggle to afford food, school fees, medical bills and transport, but said their difficulties reflected decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure and limited economic opportunities.

“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations,” he said, promising to strengthen support for vulnerable households.

The government would improve the National Social Register to help direct assistance to poorer families, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund would continue supporting students unable to afford higher education, he said.

Tinubu also highlighted consumer credit programmes and commitments to primary healthcare, basic education, salaries and pensions as part of efforts to support low-income households.

He insisted that the government would not reverse its reforms in response to calls to restore subsidies, describing such a move as a return to arrangements that had placed pressure on public finances.

“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it,” he said.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and one of its largest oil producers, has faced persistent concerns over inflation, poverty, unemployment and insecurity.

Tinubu concluded his address by urging Nigerians to support the government’s economic direction, saying the country had corrected its course and must now focus on translating economic gains into improved living standards.

“The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity,” he said.