President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that Nigeria’s period of economic “emergency treatment” is over, saying the country has moved beyond the difficult phase of correcting its economic course and must now focus on delivering widespread prosperity.
The President made the declaration in his Independence Day address on Thursday, saying the government’s economic reforms had repaired the foundations of the economy after years of accumulated distortions.
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed.”
According to Tinubu, the administration spent the first three years of its tenure correcting the country’s economic direction, but its overriding objective must now shift to “shared and widespread prosperity.”
He said the evidence of an improved economic outlook was becoming increasingly visible, pointing to economic growth of more than four per cent this year, contributions from both the oil and non-oil sectors, lower inflation from its peak, rebuilt foreign reserves and a more stable foreign exchange market.
The President also said Nigeria recorded its highest-ever non-oil export revenue in 2025, exceeding $6 billion, describing the development as evidence of money being generated by Nigerian businesses.
From reform to prosperity
Tinubu said the next phase of his administration would focus less on correcting macroeconomic distortions and more on translating economic stability into improved living standards.
He identified lowering the cost of living as a central priority, arguing that this would require reducing the cost of producing and moving goods across the country.
“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 the government would pursue this through increased agricultural production, mechanised irrigation, better access to inputs, improved storage and transportation infrastructure, as well as roads, railways and ports linking producers to markets.
He also placed jobs, enterprise and industrial growth at the centre of the next phase, saying the government would deploy Nigeria’s gas resources to power industries, support the revival of factories and expand digital connectivity to underserved communities.
‘We will defeat poverty’
While declaring an end to the emergency phase, Tinubu acknowledged that millions of Nigerians remain under economic pressure.
He said the hardship facing many households predates the current reforms and reflects decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, limited opportunities and institutional weaknesses.
The President said his administration could not erase problems accumulated over generations within four years but could change their direction.
He said the government would therefore continue strengthening direct support for vulnerable households, the National Social Register, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and CREDICORP, alongside primary healthcare and basic education programmes.
He however stressed that such interventions were only transitional measures.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it,” he said adding that the next phase would require sustained economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities.
He concluded that “the age of reform has done its work” and that Nigeria was now entering “the age of prosperity.”
