By Ghazali Ibrahim
President Bola Tinubu has compared Nigeria’s economic condition in 2023 to that of a cancer patient who must endure painful treatment to survive.
Tinubu made the comparison in his Independence Day address on Thursday while defending the economic reforms introduced by his administration since assuming office in 2023.
According to the President, Nigeria was already facing deep structural problems before his administration came to power, with rising poverty and declining public confidence leaving the country in what he described as a critical condition.
“Nigeria was like a sick patient who receives the terrible news that he has cancer. His doctor explains that the treatment will be difficult and painful, but that it offers a strong prospect of recovery,” Tinubu said.
He said previous administrations had, for years, relied on measures that merely managed the symptoms of Nigeria’s economic problems instead of addressing their underlying causes.
“For too long, Nigeria’s leaders chose morphine while praying for a miracle that never came. They focused on symptoms while allowing the disease to take hold deep within the fabric of our society,” he said.
Tinubu argued that the removal of the petrol subsidy and other economic measures implemented under his administration should therefore be viewed as part of a difficult corrective process rather than the cause of Nigeria’s economic problems.
“When this administration assumed office, we resolved to do things differently. We chose to excise the cancer. The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease,” he said.
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them.”
The President said his administration had now moved beyond what he called the “emergency treatment” phase, insisting that the government’s focus had shifted towards delivering broader prosperity.
“The emergency treatment is over. The foundation has been repaired. The central economic task before us has changed. For three years, our overriding purpose was to correct our nation’s course,” Tinubu said.
He added that Nigeria had reached a “turning point”, with the administration now focused on ensuring that the gains from its reforms translate into “shared and widespread prosperity.”
