Dele Momodu Criticizes Tinubu's Independence Day Address, Says Reforms Worsened Nigeria's Crisis

Dele Momodu, the Deputy Director-General for Media and Communications of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council, has sharply criticized President Bola Tinubu's Independence Day broadcast, saying the administration's economic reforms have deepened Nigeria's crisis and pushed the country from what he described as "stage two cancer" to "stage four cancer." Momodu, a politician and publisher of Ovation Magazine, responded to the President's nationwide address marking Nigeria's Independence Anniversary in a statement posted on his verified X account. In his speech, Tinubu defended his economic policies by comparing the country's pre-2023 condition to that of a sick patient. He said previous leaders relied on "morphine" to dull the symptoms of economic distress, while his administration chose to "excise the cancer" through difficult but necessary reforms. Momodu said the broadcast turned a day of national celebration into a "day of lamentation." He took particular issue with the President's medical analogy. "My heart bled as you went into morbid analogy of Nigeria as being cancer patient that merely survived on painkillers before your arrival as celebrated surgeon. You specifically mentioned morphine as drug of choice by your predecessors. I'm not sure this analogy was appropriate. At time you assumed power, Nigeria probably had stage two cancer at worst. You were expected to stabilise it and not to metastasize it into stage four cancer," Momodu said. He argued that the administration's immediate policy rollouts, especially the removal of the fuel subsidy, amounted to a "monumental disaster" that sent the country into an instant coma from which it has not recovered. In his statement, Momodu wrote: "Dear Mr President, please, permit me to wish you Happy Independence on our 66th anniversary. I will not waste too much time Sir. I have just watched and listened to your speech on television and I must honestly say I wasn't impressed. Today is supposed to be a day of celebration but your speech turned it into a day of lamentation." He continued: "Your first prescription on day one was a monumental disaster. You took no time to properly examine your patient. You were too much in a hurry to administer your jab which automatically sent Nigeria into instant coma. And you've not been able to revive it. The least we expected from you was to stabilize and not to destabilize everything in sight." Momodu also said the fuel subsidy removal was a "misadventure" and that he expected an apology for what he called a "medical calamity." He listed a series of national challenges, saying Nigeria has made more money, amassed more loans, and seen increased insecurity, escalated poverty, and visible profligacy, while politicians have remained insensitive and elections have taken priority over governance. He said "renewed hope has collapsed into hopelessness and abject despair." Momodu added that Nigerians have largely given up on the President's promises and questioned whether they can endure what he described as endless excuses with barely three months to the next elections. "Four years may not be able to contain and solve all our problems but the HOPE should be glaring by now," he said.