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.
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