My Priority Now To Bring Down Cost Of Living For Nigerians — Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has declared that reducing the cost of living is now the top priority of his administration, saying the government will focus on lowering the cost of producing and moving goods to make life more affordable for Nigerians.

Tinubu stated this in his Independence Day address to the nation on Thursday, as Nigeria marked its 66th anniversary, saying his administration had spent the past three years correcting the country’s economic course and was now shifting its focus to “shared and widespread prosperity.”

“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,” the President said.

He said the government’s approach would include expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, increasing mechanisation, and investing in storage and transportation.

Tinubu said Nigeria’s economic reforms were necessary because the country had for too long postponed difficult decisions, allowing what he described as deep economic distortions to worsen.

He said the situation had become critical by 2023, when, according to him, poverty was rising and hope was “nearly gone.”

Using the analogy of a cancer patient, the President said previous administrations had treated the symptoms of Nigeria’s economic problems rather than addressing their underlying causes.

“Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer,” he said, adding that the patient could either endure difficult treatment in the hope of recovery or choose medication that merely dulled the pain while the disease continued to spread.

“For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came,” Tinubu said.

He said his administration had instead chosen to “excise the cancer,” acknowledging that the reforms had been difficult and that “the side effects were real.

“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them,” he said.

Tinubu said the government would resist calls to abandon the reforms and return to what he described as “the abuse of addictive subsidies.”

He urged Nigerians to remember why the reforms began and “how far we have already come.”

The President said the economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, with both oil and non-oil sectors contributing to what he described as a period of stable growth.

He also said oil theft had fallen, inflation had declined substantially from its peak, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.

According to him, Nigeria recorded its highest-ever non-oil export revenue in 2025, exceeding $6bn.

“These are not idle claims. International observers, journalists, NGOs and multilateral institutions can see the change,” Tinubu said.

The President said the next phase of his administration would focus on ensuring that economic improvements translate into better living conditions for Nigerians.

He said reducing the cost of living would require lowering the cost of production across agriculture, manufacturing and transportation.

“We have the land and people to feed ourselves,” he said, adding that the government was building and completing roads, railways and ports to 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,” Tinubu said.

The President said prosperity would not depend solely on cheaper goods, stressing that productive employment was also necessary.

“Prosperity requires more than cheaper goods. It requires productive work,” he said.

Tinubu said his administration would place jobs, enterprise and industrial growth at the centre of its policies, particularly as millions of young Nigerians enter adulthood each year.

He said the government would use Nigeria’s gas resources to power new industries, support businesses seeking to revive factories in industrial centres, expand digital connectivity and invest in skills demanded by employers.

“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 also said he wanted young Nigerians to build companies capable of creating jobs and opportunities within the country.

The President acknowledged that millions of Nigerians still faced difficulties meeting basic needs, including food, school fees, medical bills and transportation costs.

He said those difficulties did not begin with the reforms introduced by his administration but were the result of problems that had accumulated over decades.

“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course,” Tinubu said.

He said the government would strengthen direct support for the poorest households and improve the National Social Register to ensure that assistance reached people who genuinely needed it.

Tinubu also cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, saying it was helping ensure that children from low-income families could pursue higher education despite their parents’ financial circumstances.

He said the Consumer Credit Corporation, CREDICORP, was also providing working Nigerians with access to credit to acquire vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets without having to save for years.

The President said the federal government would continue working with state and local governments to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and other essential public services.

He added that the government had paid salaries and pensions “on time and in full” since 2023 and had reformed the national pension programme 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,” Tinubu said.

“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it.”