Tinubu: Nigeria Was Like Cancer Patient in 2023 — My Reforms Didn’t Weaken the Economy

President Bola Tinubu has likened the state of Nigeria in 2023 to a cancer patient facing difficult but life-saving treatment.

In his Independence Day address on Thursday, the president said his administration’s economic reforms were necessary to reverse years of structural decline.

Tinubu said the reforms addressed long-standing weaknesses, adding that recent improvements in key economic indicators show the country is on the path to recovery.

The president said his administration has moved beyond what he described as the “emergency treatment” phase and is now focused on delivering prosperity.

“By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone. The country’s situation was darker than ever. We had no choice but to act,” Tinubu said.

“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. The patient has a choice. He can begin treatment, endure its discomfort and fight the disease. Or he can ask only for morphine, dull the pain and leave the cancer to spread.

“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. We spent enormous sums sustaining inefficient arrangements that were never intended to last. We hid from difficult truths and passed the consequences from one generation to the next.

“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.

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

Tinubu added that Nigeria has reached a “turning point”, noting that his administration’s purpose is now to ensure “shared and widespread 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,” he said.