President Bola Tinubu has declared reducing the cost of living as a central priority of his administration’s next economic phase, saying Nigeria has moved beyond emergency reforms into a period focused on shared prosperity.
President Tinubu stated this on Thursday in a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, titled “From Reform to Prosperity”.
The President noted that the government would pursue the purpose by lowering the cost of production and transportation of goods Nigerians consume.
“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,” he said.
President Tinubu said the government’s focus on expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, and investing in mechanisation, storage and transportation would enable Nigeria to better harness its abundant land and human resources to feed the nation.
The President disclosed that the administration is building and completing roads, railways and ports linking farms and factories to markets, highlighting that lower production and transport costs, reduced post-harvest losses and fair competition would bring down prices.
Beyond cheaper goods, the President said prosperity must also deliver productive employment, with jobs, enterprise and industrial growth placed at the heart of government policies to turn Nigeria’s youthful population into a production engine rather than a source of despair.
He revealed that the government would use Nigeria’s gas resources to power new industries, support the revival of factories in major industrial centres, expand digital connectivity to underserved communities, invest in skills demanded by employers and provide businesses with the infrastructure and financing required to grow.
“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. I want young Nigerians building unicorns and creating opportunities for others here at home,” he said.
Attributing the hardship faced by citizens to decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, limited opportunities and institutions that often failed vulnerable citizens, President Tinubu said his administration is determined to build an economy that steadily lifts Nigerians out of poverty without leaving the vulnerable behind.
“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course. We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way,” the President said.
The Nigerian Leader mentioned that the government is strengthening direct support for the poorest households and improving the National Social Register, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund is helping children from low-income families pursue higher education without being constrained by their parents’ inability to pay fees.
“The Promised Land before us is a Nigeria of abundance and opportunity, a nation where prosperity is broadly shared, where every child can dream beyond the circumstances of his birth, and where our country’s immense promise is finally reflected in the lives of our people,” he said.
President Tinubu also said CREDICORP is expanding access to consumer credit for working Nigerians to acquire vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other essential assets, while the Federal Government, working with states and local governments, continues to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education and essential public services.
He added that salaries and pensions have been paid on time and in full since 2023, while the national pension programme has been reformed to benefit retirees and vulnerable Nigerians, stressing that the interventions are not substitutes for prosperity but a bridge towards it.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it,” he declared.
The President noted that defeating poverty would require time, discipline, sustained economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities. He maintained that Nigeria now approaches the task from a position of strength after difficult decisions had corrected the economy’s fundamental direction and laid the foundations for lasting prosperity.
“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.
“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.
President Tinubu called on Nigerians to move forward with confidence, saying the nation’s destination is in sight and its direction clear.
