*President Bola Tinubu.
President Bola Tinubu has declared that Nigeria has entered a new phase of economic development, saying the country has moved beyond the difficult period of reforms and is now positioned to pursue broad-based prosperity.
Tinubu made the declaration on Thursday, October 1, 2026, in his Independence Day address to Nigerians, marking the 66th anniversary of the country’s independence.
The President said the economic reforms undertaken by his administration since assuming office in 2023 had been difficult but necessary to correct longstanding structural weaknesses in the Nigerian economy.
According to him, Nigeria had reached a turning point, with the focus of government now shifting from economic stabilisation and reform to lowering the cost of living, creating productive jobs and ensuring that prosperity is widely shared.
He said: “The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course.
“Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.”
Tinubu said the reforms were introduced against the backdrop of rising poverty and deep economic distortions inherited by his administration in 2023.
Using the analogy of a cancer patient undergoing painful treatment, the President argued that successive governments had for too long avoided difficult economic decisions, opting instead to sustain arrangements that he described as inefficient and unsustainable.
“When this Administration assumed office, we resolved to do things differently. We chose to excise the cancer. The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease,” he said.
The President maintained that the reforms had not created Nigeria’s economic weaknesses but had confronted them, urging Nigerians to resist calls for a return to what he described as “addictive subsidies.”
Economy grows above 4%
Tinubu said the country’s economic outlook had improved significantly, citing economic growth of more than four per cent in 2026 and contributions from both the oil and non-oil sectors.
He also listed declining oil theft, substantially lower inflation from its peak, rebuilt foreign reserves and greater stability in the foreign exchange market among the gains recorded under his administration.
According to him, Nigeria also recorded its highest-ever non-oil export revenue in 2025, exceeding $6 billion.
“This is real money being made by real Nigerian businesses,” he said.
Tinubu added that international observers, multilateral institutions, journalists and civil society organisations had recognised improvements in Nigeria’s economic stability and resilience, while foreign direct investment continued to increase.
Cost of living becomes priority
The President said the immediate priority of his administration was to reduce the cost of living by lowering the cost of producing and transporting goods.
He said the government would expand mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improve access to seeds and fertiliser, increase agricultural mechanisation and invest in storage and transportation infrastructure.
Tinubu also highlighted ongoing investments in roads, railways and ports to connect farms and factories with markets.
He explained that reducing production and transportation costs would ultimately translate into lower prices for consumers.
“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.
Jobs, industries, digital economy
Tinubu said job creation, enterprise and industrial growth would remain central to the next phase of his administration.
He said government would leverage Nigeria’s gas resources to power new industries, support businesses seeking to revive factories, expand digital connectivity and invest in skills required by employers.
The President also pledged support for Nigerian businesses through infrastructure and financing.
“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,” he said.
He added that his administration wanted young Nigerians to build globally successful technology companies and create opportunities within the country.
*Tinubu promises stronger social protection*
The President acknowledged that millions of Nigerians continued to face hardship despite the economic reforms, including difficulties paying for food, education, healthcare and transportation.
He said the government recognised that poverty predated his administration and was the cumulative result 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,” he said.
Tinubu said the government was therefore strengthening direct support for the poorest households and improving the National Social Register to ensure that assistance reaches people who genuinely need it.
He also cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as part of measures designed to ensure that students from low-income families can pursue higher education.
The President said the Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP, was providing working Nigerians with access to consumer credit for assets including vehicles, solar systems and digital devices.
He further pledged continued collaboration with state and local governments to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and other essential public services.
According to Tinubu, his administration has also maintained the payment of salaries and pensions on time and in full since 2023, while reforms to the national pension programme were intended 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,” he said.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it.”
‘Nigeria has corrected its course’
Tinubu said achieving sustained prosperity would require discipline, continued economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities.
He argued, however, that Nigeria was entering the next phase from a stronger economic position after the reforms had laid the foundation for long-term growth.
“The age of reform has done its work. Now begins the age of prosperity,” he declared.
The President urged Nigerians to remain united and optimistic about the country’s future, saying the sacrifices made during the reform period would ultimately yield benefits.
“Nigeria has corrected its course. We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back. Let us go forward together, with faith in ourselves, faith in our country, and faith that the sacrifices we have made will yield their reward,” Tinubu said.
He described the “Promised Land” ahead as a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity, where prosperity would be broadly shared and children could aspire beyond the circumstances of their birth.
“Our destination is in sight. Our foundations are strong. Our direction is clear. So let us go forward. No looking back,” he said.
The President concluded his Independence Day address by congratulating Nigerians on the 66th anniversary of independence and praying for the continued wellbeing of the country.
Read the full broadcast below:
FROM REFORM TO PROSPERITY: INDEPENDENCE DAY ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR, 1ST OCTOBER 2026
My fellow Nigerians,
Sixty-six years ago today, our flag was raised, for the first time, over a free and sovereign nation. Since then, we have journeyed together as one nation, bound by our collective trust in the great promise of Nigeria: that a country of our size, our bountiful resources, our cultural diversity and, above all, our extraordinary people can build a giant in Africa; that in this blessed and fertile land we can build a united, strong and prosperous nation; a land of regional authority and global consequence.
Our journey has not always been easy. In truth, it has generally been too hard for too many. We have known moments of great hope and periods of profound disappointment. We have endured war, military rule, economic crises, insecurity and political upheaval. Yet through it all, Nigeria, with the indomitable spirit of its people, has endured.
It has endured through the efforts of the farmer who rises before dawn to work his land. The trader who opens her shop each morning, hopeful for a productive day. The teacher who believes in the children entrusted to her care and the young entrepreneur who refuses to surrender ambition to circumstance. We are grateful for the men and women of our Armed Forces and security services who place themselves in harm’s way so that the rest of us may live in peace.
Through every difficulty, generations of Nigerians have continued to believe in one thing: that this country of ours will be better.
This faith, which sustains us all, is the inheritance of independence. Our founding fathers did not struggle merely for a flag, an anthem or a place among the nations of the world. Independence carried a larger promise: that Nigerians would have the freedom to shape their own destiny and build a nation capable of providing opportunity, dignity and a better life for its people. Sixty-six years later, Almighty God has made it our responsibility to deliver that promise.
Today, as we celebrate our independence, we must speak honestly about the journey so far, the choices we made, and the country we are determined to build from here.
For too long, the promise of Nigeria was undermined by choices that postponed difficult decisions and allowed deep economic distortions to grow.
By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone. The country’s situation was darker than ever. We had no choice but to act.
Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer. His doctor explains that the treatment will be difficult and painful, but that it offers a strong prospect of recovery. The patient has a choice. He can begin treatment, endure its discomfort and fight the disease. Or he can ask only for morphine, dull the pain and leave the cancer to spread.
For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came.
They focused on symptoms while allowing the disease to take hold deep within the fabric of our society. We spent enormous sums sustaining inefficient arrangements that were never intended to last. We hid from difficult truths and passed the consequences from one generation to the next.
When this Administration assumed office, we resolved to do things differently. We chose to excise the cancer. The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease.
Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them. 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. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come.
Three and a half years later, the evidence that Nigeria’s economic outlook has improved is undeniable. Our economy has grown by over 4 per cent this year. Both oil and non-oil sectors have contributed to the renewed period of stable growth.
Oil theft is down. Inflation has fallen substantially from its peak. Our foreign reserves have been rebuilt, our foreign exchange market has stabilised, and in 2025 this country recorded its highest revenue from non-oil exports in its history, exceeding $6 billion. This is real money being made by real Nigerian businesses.
These are not idle claims. International observers, journalists, NGOs and multilateral institutions can see the change. Each has concluded that our reforms have strengthened Nigeria’s economic stability and resilience. The private sector has long since delivered its verdict, and foreign direct investment continues to rise each year.
My fellow Nigerians, we have reached a turning point.
The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course.
Now, our purpose is simple: shared and widespread prosperity.
When I speak of prosperity, I do not speak merely of a larger economy, abstract numbers or better statistics. I mean something much more personal.
I mean a Nigeria in which the farmer can cultivate his land safely, produce more at lower cost, and earn a decent return for his labour. A Nigeria in which factories have reliable power, businesses can obtain credit, and young people can find productive work. A Nigeria in which food and transportation are affordable, education is within reach, and hard-working families can look towards the future with confidence.
This is the promise we must now fulfil.
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.
We have the land and people to feed ourselves. My government is therefore focused on expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, holistically increasing mechanisation, and investing in storage and transportation. We are building and completing the roads, railways and ports that connect farms and factories to markets.
Our logic is simple. 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.
But prosperity requires more than cheaper goods. It requires productive work.
Nigeria is a young country. Millions of young Nigerians enter adulthood every year with talent, energy and ambition. Our responsibility is to ensure that this great demographic strength becomes an engine of production rather than a source of despair.
We are therefore placing jobs, enterprise, and industrial growth at the heart of our government’s policies.
We will use our gas to power new industries. We will support businesses that work to bring factories back to life in our great industrial centres. We will expand digital connectivity into communities that have waited too long to participate in the modern economy. We will invest in the skills employers demand and support Nigerian businesses with the infrastructure and finance they need to grow.
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. I want young Nigerians building unicorns and creating opportunities for others here at home.
I am also conscious that millions of our fellow citizens cannot wait for tomorrow. Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work. Their circumstances did not begin with the reforms of the last three years. Their struggle is the accumulated consequence of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient opportunity and institutions that too often failed those who needed them most.
We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course. We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way.
That is why we are strengthening direct support for the poorest households and improving the National Social Register so that assistance reaches those who genuinely need it.
It is why the Nigerian Education Loan Fund is ensuring that the child of a low-income family need not surrender the dream of higher education simply because his parents cannot afford the fees.
It is why CREDICORP is giving working Nigerians access to consumer credit, allowing people to acquire vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets without first having to accumulate years of savings.
That is why, working with our states and local governments, we will continue to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, and the essential public services poorer Nigerians depend on most. Since 2023, we have paid salaries and pensions on time and in full. We have reformed the national pension program to benefit retirees and the vulnerable.
These programmes are not substitutes for prosperity. They are a bridge to aid our nation’s citizens on their path towards it. Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently.
We will defeat it.
It will take time. It will require discipline. It will require sustained growth year after year and the creation of millions of productive opportunities across our country.
But for the first time in decades, we embark on this task from a position of strength; with an economy whose fundamental direction has been corrected. We confronted the difficult choices we faced and have laid the foundations for lasting prosperity. Rather than fail the promise of a better future for our children, the time has come for us to build that future.
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.
We have travelled through difficult years together. We have made hard decisions together. And now, still together, we must build the country those decisions have made possible.
I believe deeply in what lies ahead.
I believe in the millions of ordinary men and women whose work, courage and determination have always been the true strength of our country. The road ahead will still demand much from us. But we now travel it with firm footing, a clear direction, and renewed hope in our collective future.
Nigeria has corrected its course. We have passed through our own Red Sea. This is not the time to look back. Let us go forward together, with faith in ourselves, faith in our country, and faith that the sacrifices we have made will yield their reward.
The Promised Land before us is a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity; a nation where prosperity is broadly shared, where every child can dream beyond the circumstances of his birth, and where our country’s immense promise is finally reflected in the lives of our people.
Our destination is in sight. Our foundations are strong. Our direction is clear. So let us go forward. No looking back.
Happy Independence Day, my fellow Nigerians. God bless you all, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria