President Bola Tinubu has acknowledged that millions of Nigerians are still struggling to afford food, school fees, medical bills and transportation, but vowed that his administration would not settle for managing poverty.
Tinubu made the declaration on Thursday, October 1, 2026, in his Independence Day address marking Nigeria’s 66th anniversary, as he announced a new phase of his economic programme focused on prosperity, job creation and lower living costs.
The President attributed the hardship confronting households to decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, limited opportunities and institutional weaknesses.
He, however, said his administration could not reverse within four years problems that had accumulated over generations, but could change the country’s economic direction and create conditions for sustained poverty reduction.
Tinubu said the government was strengthening social protection by improving the National Social Register and expanding support for poor households.
He also highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a means of helping students from low-income families access higher education, while citing the Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP, as an avenue for expanding access to credit for essential purchases.
The President said the Federal Government would continue working with state and local governments to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and other essential services.
He stressed, however, that such interventions were not a substitute for economic prosperity.
Tinubu identified lowering the cost of living as a major priority of the next phase, saying the government would target the costs of production and transportation.
He said measures would include increased agricultural mechanisation and irrigation, improved access to farm inputs, better storage and stronger transport infrastructure.
The President added that road, rail and port projects would improve connections between farms, factories and markets, helping to reduce the cost of moving goods.
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He also placed job creation and industrial expansion at the centre of the government’s agenda, saying gas would be used to support new industries while businesses seeking to revive production would receive assistance.
Digital connectivity and skills development, he added, would be expanded to improve employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
“We are therefore placing jobs, enterprise, and industrial growth at the heart of our government’s policies,” he said.
Tinubu said the real measure of economic progress should be its effect on households, rather than macroeconomic figures alone.
He said the administration wanted farmers to produce more efficiently, manufacturers to have reliable power, businesses to access credit and young Nigerians to find productive work.
The address came against the backdrop of three years of economic reforms that Tinubu has defended as necessary to correct longstanding weaknesses in the economy.
In his third-anniversary address on May 29, 2026, he acknowledged that the reforms had placed significant pressure on families, workers and businesses while maintaining that they had helped stabilise the economy.
Ahead of the Independence anniversary, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, also said on September 24 that the next phase would focus more on production, jobs, incomes, education, credit and lower costs.
Tinubu’s latest address similarly shifted attention towards ensuring that economic gains translate into tangible improvements in household welfare.
The President returned to Nigeria on Tuesday, September 29, after about four weeks in Europe on a working vacation. He left Abuja on August 30, travelled to London and later proceeded to Paris before returning through Lagos.
During the trip, he held engagements with French President Emmanuel Macron and business leaders and witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Ogun State Government and DP World for a proposed deep-sea port and Blue Marine Economic Zone.
Tinubu said the reform period had laid the foundation for a new stage of economic development, promising that the government would focus on creating productive opportunities and ensuring that prosperity reaches more Nigerians.