Tinubu highlights economic gains while promising prosperity for Nigerians

President Bola Tinubu has highlighted several economic indicators that he said showed progress under his administration, while using his 66th Independence Day address to argue that difficult reforms were beginning to produce results. In a nationwide broadcast on Thursday, Tinubu said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than 4 per cent. He also said oil theft had declined, inflation had fallen and foreign reserves had been rebuilt.

The President described the measures as tough reforms but said they had begun to have a positive effect on the economy. His remarks formed part of an address focused on the country’s economic direction and the government’s record. The source material does not provide further figures, a breakdown of the reforms or details of the time periods used for the indicators.

It also does not include reactions from opposition parties, economic groups or households. Tinubu’s comments came in the context of his broader Independence Day message, in which he acknowledged that many Nigerians continued to struggle with the cost of necessities. In that address, he said the government’s next phase would need to translate reforms into improvements in ordinary people’s lives.

He identified prosperity with more than aggregate economic statistics, describing it in terms of affordable food and transport, productive work, access to education and better returns for farmers. He also said lowering production and transport costs would be central to reducing the cost of living. The President’s economic claims therefore accompanied a pledge to pursue further measures aimed at making growth more visible to households.

The available report, however, records only the broad indicators he cited and does not independently assess them.