Tinubu Marks Nigeria's 66th Independence Day with Address on Reform and Prosperity

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, addressed Nigerians on the country's 66th Independence Day anniversary. In the speech, delivered on October 1, 2026, and titled From Reform to Prosperity, Tinubu reflected on the nation's history and outlined his administration's economic direction. He noted that 66 years earlier, Nigeria's flag was raised over a free and sovereign state. Since then, he said, Nigerians have remained united by belief in the country's potential: that a large nation with abundant resources, cultural diversity and exceptional people can become a power in Africa and a respected global actor. The journey, he added, has often been painful. Nigerians have experienced hope and disappointment, war, military rule, economic turmoil, insecurity and political instability. Yet the country has survived, Tinubu said, through the resilience of farmers, traders, teachers and young entrepreneurs. He also thanked members of the armed forces and security agencies for putting themselves at risk to protect others. Across generations, he said, Nigerians have held on to the conviction that their country will improve, a faith he described as part of the inheritance of independence. Tinubu said the founders did not fight only for a flag, an anthem or international recognition. Independence, he argued, carried a broader promise: that Nigerians would control their own future and build a nation able to offer opportunity, dignity and a better life. Sixty-six years later, he said, that responsibility now rests with the current generation. He said his government must speak candidly about the past, the decisions taken and the country it intends to build. For many years, Tinubu said, Nigeria's potential was harmed by choices that delayed hard decisions and allowed economic distortions to deepen. By 2023, poverty was increasing and hope was almost lost, he stated, adding that the situation had become darker than before and that action was unavoidable. He compared Nigeria to a patient told by a doctor that he has cancer. The doctor explains that treatment will be painful but offers a strong chance of recovery, Tinubu said. The patient can accept treatment and endure discomfort or ask only for morphine to dull the pain while the disease spreads. For too long, he said, Nigerian leaders chose the morphine approach and hoped for a miracle that did not come. They treated symptoms while the underlying disease became entrenched, spent heavily on inefficient arrangements never meant to last, avoided difficult truths and shifted the consequences to later generations. When his administration took office, Tinubu said, it decided to act differently and remove the cancer. The reforms that followed were hard, and their side effects were real, he acknowledged. But he said the medicine should not be mistaken for the disease. The reforms did not cause the economy's weaknesses; they confronted them. As some influential but backward-looking voices urge the country to abandon treatment and return to addictive subsidies, he said, Nigerians must reject that appeal and remember why the journey began and what has been achieved. Three and a half years later, Tinubu said, the evidence that Nigeria's economic outlook has improved cannot be denied. The economy grew by more than 4 percent this year, with both oil and non-oil sectors contributing to stable growth. Oil theft has declined. Inflation has dropped significantly from its peak. The nation's reserves have been replenished, the currency market has steadied, and in 2025 Nigeria recorded its highest-ever revenue from non-oil exports, surpassing $6 billion. Tinubu said this represents real money earned by real Nigerian businesses. He added that international observers, journalists, NGOs and multilateral institutions have recognized the changes, concluding that the reforms have strengthened Nigeria's economic stability and resilience. The private sector, he said, has already shown its confidence, and foreign direct investment keeps increasing annually. Tinubu declared that Nigeria has reached a turning point. The emergency phase is over, the foundation has been repaired, and the central economic task has changed. For three years, he said, the main goal was to correct the country's direction. Now, the objective is prosperity that is widely shared. He said prosperity means more than a larger economy, abstract figures or better statistics. It means a Nigeria where farmers can work safely, produce more at lower cost and earn a fair return; where factories have reliable power, businesses can get credit and young people can find productive jobs; and where food and transport are affordable, education is accessible and hardworking families can look ahead with confidence. The priority, Tinubu said, is reducing the cost of living by lowering the cost of producing and moving goods Nigerians consume. He said the country has the land and people to feed itself. His government is focused on expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, increasing mechanisation, and investing in storage and transportation. It is building and completing roads, railways and ports that link farms and factories to markets. The logic, he explained, is simple: when farmers produce more cheaply, when less produce is lost between farm and market, when manufacturers spend less on electricity, when trucks reach destinations faster, and when the business environment encourages fair competition, those savings will eventually reduce prices for goods. But prosperity also requires productive work, Tinubu said. Nigeria is a young country, with millions of young people entering adulthood each year with talent, energy and ambition. The government's duty is to turn that demographic strength into an engine of production rather than a source of despair. He said jobs, enterprise and industrial growth are at the centre of his policies. The government will use gas to power new industries, support efforts to revive factories in industrial centres, expand digital connectivity to underserved communities, invest in skills employers need, and provide infrastructure and finance for Nigerian businesses to grow. Tinubu said he wants to see more Nigerians producing goods, more farms in Nigeria supplying cities and factories, Nigerian businesses selling Nigerian goods globally, and young Nigerians creating unicorn companies and opportunities at home. He also acknowledged that millions of citizens cannot wait for tomorrow. Some families struggle today for their next meal, school fees, medical bills or transport to work. Their difficulties, he said, did not begin with the reforms of the past three years. They are the result of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, limited opportunity and institutions that too often failed those who needed them most. Four years cannot erase what generations accumulated, Tinubu said, but the country can change its direction. It can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring vulnerable citizens are not abandoned. He cited efforts to strengthen direct support for the poorest households and improve the National Social Register so assistance reaches those who truly need it. He also mentioned the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which he said ensures children from low-income families do not give up on higher education because their parents cannot pay fees. CREDICORP, he added, is giving working Nigerians access to consumer credit so they can acquire vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets without saving for years first. Working with states and local governments, he said, the government will continue to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and other public services poorer Nigerians rely on most. Since 2023, Tinubu said, salaries and pensions have been paid on time and in full, and the national pension programme has been reformed to benefit retirees and vulnerable people. These programmes, he said, are not substitutes for prosperity but a bridge to help citizens reach it. He said the goal is not to manage poverty more efficiently but to defeat it. That will take time, discipline, sustained growth year after year and millions of productive opportunities. Yet for the first time in decades, he said, Nigeria begins this task from a position of strength, with an economy whose fundamental direction has been corrected. The difficult choices have been faced and the foundations for lasting prosperity laid. Rather than fail the promise of a better future for children, he said, the time has come to build that future. The reform era has fulfilled its purpose, he said, and the prosperity era now begins, when the promise of the nation must become the lived experience of Nigerians from every background. Tinubu said Nigerians have traveled through hard years together and made difficult decisions together. Now, still together, they must build the country those decisions made possible. He expressed deep belief in what lies ahead and in ordinary men and women whose work, courage and determination have always been the country's true strength. The path forward will continue to require sacrifice, he said, but Nigerians now travel it with firm footing, clear direction and renewed hope. The country has set a new direction, he said, and has crossed its own Red Sea. The moment was not for looking backward. He called on Nigerians to move forward together with faith in themselves, their country and the sacrifices made. The destination ahead, he said, is a Nigeria of plenty and opportunity, where prosperity is widely shared, every child can dream beyond the situation into which they were born, and the nation's enormous potential is finally visible in people's lives. He said the destination is in sight, the foundations strong and the direction clear. He urged Nigerians to keep moving ahead and not turn back. He ended by saying, Happy Independence Day, and asked God to bless Nigerians and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He signed off as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.