President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that reducing the cost of living is now the top priority of his administration, as Nigeria marks its 66th Independence anniversary.
Tinubu made the declaration in his Independence Day address to Nigerians on Thursday, saying the government would focus on reducing the cost of producing and transporting goods to make essential commodities more affordable.
According to the President, the administration’s economic agenda is shifting from correcting structural weaknesses to delivering what he described as “shared and widespread prosperity.”
“Our priority is to bring down the cost of living. We will achieve this by lowering the cost of producing and moving the things Nigerians consume,” Tinubu said.
He said the government would pursue the objective through expanded mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improved access to seeds and fertiliser, increased mechanisation, as well as investments in storage and transportation.
‘The Emergency Treatment Is Over’
Tinubu said the economic reforms introduced by his administration became necessary after years of postponing difficult decisions, which he said allowed deep economic distortions to persist.
He said the country’s situation had become particularly critical by 2023, with poverty rising and hope “nearly gone.”
Using the analogy of a cancer patient, the President said successive administrations had largely treated the symptoms of Nigeria’s economic problems rather than confronting their underlying causes.
“For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came,” he said.
Tinubu said his administration instead chose to “excise the cancer”, acknowledging that the reforms had been difficult and that “the side effects were real.”
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them,” he said.
The President also rejected calls to abandon the reforms and return to what he described as the “abuse of addictive subsidies”, urging Nigerians to remember the reasons the reforms were introduced.
Tinubu said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, with both the oil and non-oil sectors contributing to what he described as a period of stable growth.
He also said oil theft had declined, inflation had fallen substantially from its peak, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.
The President added that Nigeria recorded its highest-ever non-oil export revenue in 2025, exceeding $6 billion.
Government Targets Food, Transport Costs
Tinubu said the next phase of his administration would focus on ensuring that economic improvements translate into better living conditions for Nigerians.
He said reducing living costs would require lowering production expenses across agriculture, manufacturing and transportation.
“We have the land and people to feed ourselves,” he said, adding that the government was building and completing roads, railways and ports to improve connections between farms, factories and markets.
The President explained that lower production and transportation costs would ultimately affect the prices consumers pay for goods.
“When a farmer produces more cheaply, when fewer crops are lost between the farm and the market, when a manufacturer spends less on electricity, when a truck reaches its destination faster, and when the business environment fosters fair competition, all those savings will ultimately find their way into the price of goods in the market,” he said.
Tinubu, however, said lower prices alone would not be sufficient to deliver prosperity, stressing the importance of productive employment.
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“Prosperity requires more than cheaper goods. It requires productive work,” he said.
Tinubu Prioritises Jobs, Industrial Growth
The President said jobs, enterprise and industrial development would remain central to the next phase of his administration, particularly as millions of young Nigerians enter the workforce each year.
He said the government would leverage Nigeria’s gas resources to power new industries, support businesses working to revive factories in industrial centres, 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,” Tinubu said.
He also expressed his desire to see young Nigerians build companies that would create jobs and opportunities within the country.
‘We Cannot Erase In Four Years What Accumulated Over Generations’
The President acknowledged that millions of Nigerians still struggle with basic expenses, including food, school fees, medical bills and transportation.
He said the challenges did not originate with his administration’s reforms but were the accumulated consequences of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure and limited opportunities.
“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course,” Tinubu said.
He said the Federal Government would strengthen direct support for vulnerable households and improve the National Social Register to ensure assistance reaches people who genuinely need it.
Tinubu also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying it was helping children from low-income families pursue higher education despite financial constraints.
He said the Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP, was also providing working Nigerians with access to credit for vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets.
The President said the Federal Government would continue to work with state and local governments to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and other essential public services.
He added that the government had paid salaries and pensions “on time and in full” since 2023 and had reformed the national pension programme to benefit retirees and vulnerable Nigerians.
“These programmes are not substitutes for prosperity. They are a bridge to aid our nation’s citizens on their path towards it,” Tinubu said.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it.”
The President said achieving the goal would take time, discipline, sustained economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities across the country.
He declared that Nigeria had moved beyond the phase of economic reforms and was entering what he described as an “age of prosperity,” urging Nigerians to look ahead rather than return to policies he said had contributed to the country’s economic difficulties.
Tinubu concluded by urging Nigerians to continue working together towards a more prosperous country.
“Let us go forward. No looking back,” he said.