President Bola Tinubu has likened Nigeria’s past reliance on subsidies and other economic arrangements to administering “morphine” to a cancer patient rather than treating the underlying disease, insisting that his administration chose painful reforms to address longstanding distortions in the economy.
In his Independence Day address to Nigerians as the country marks its 66th anniversary, Tinubu defended the economic reforms undertaken by his administration and warned against calls for a return to what he described as “addictive subsidies”.
Using the analogy of a cancer patient confronted with the choice between difficult treatment and temporary pain relief, the President said successive Nigerian leaders had for too long avoided confronting the fundamental weaknesses of the economy.
“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,” Tinubu said.
“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.
The President said previous administrations focused on symptoms while allowing deeper economic problems to take hold, arguing that huge sums were spent sustaining inefficient arrangements that could not endure indefinitely.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu said his administration decided to take a different course when it assumed office in 2023.
“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 argued that the reforms did not create Nigeria’s underlying economic weaknesses but were introduced to confront them.
He also pushed back against calls for a reversal of the reforms, describing such demands as an attempt to return Nigeria to subsidies he considers unsustainable.
“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,” Tinubu said.
The President maintained that three and a half years after the reforms began, Nigeria’s economic outlook had improved, pointing to economic growth, lower oil theft, declining inflation, rebuilt foreign reserves, greater foreign exchange stability and increased non-oil exports.
According to Tinubu, the economy has grown by more than four per cent this year, with both the oil and non-oil sectors contributing to what he described as a renewed period of stable growth.
He said Nigeria recorded more than $6 billion in non-oil export revenue in 2025, describing it as the highest in the country’s history.
“These are not idle claims,” the President said, adding that the private sector and international observers had recognised changes in Nigeria’s economic position.
Tinubu declared that the country had reached what he described as a turning point, with the government now shifting its focus from economic reform and stabilisation towards shared prosperity.
“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,” he said.
The President said bringing down the cost of living would be a priority, with his administration focusing on reducing the cost of producing and transporting goods consumed by Nigerians.
He listed expanded mechanised irrigation, dry-season farming, improved access to seeds and fertiliser, increased mechanisation, storage and transportation among measures being pursued to lower food costs.
Tinubu said the government was also building and completing roads, railways and ports connecting farms and factories to markets.
He argued that cheaper production, reduced post-harvest losses, lower electricity costs and improved transportation would ultimately translate into lower prices for consumers.
The President also placed jobs, enterprise and industrial growth at the centre of the government’s next phase, saying Nigeria must harness its youthful population for productive economic activity.
“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,” he said.
Acknowledging that millions of Nigerians continued to struggle with food, school fees, medical bills and transportation costs, Tinubu said the government would strengthen direct support for poorer households and improve the National Social Register.
He also pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, CREDICORP and investments in primary healthcare, basic education and other public services as measures intended to support vulnerable Nigerians while the economy expands.
“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,” Tinubu said.
Declaring that the period of economic reform had accomplished its immediate purpose, Tinubu said the government would now concentrate on ensuring that the benefits of the reforms translate into improvements in Nigerians’ lives.
“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,” he said.
READ MORE: Independence Day: Tinubu Assures Nigerians of Shift From Economic Reforms to Prosperity
Tinubu urged Nigerians not to reverse course despite the difficulties experienced during the reform period.
“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,” he said.
