By Mary Izuaka

 

President Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria has, for too long, avoided difficult economic decisions, likening the country’s situation before his administration to a patient who chose painkillers over cancer treatment.

Mr Tinubu stated this in his Independence Day broadcast on Thursday to mark Nigeria’s 66th anniversary.

“For too long, the promise of Nigeria was undermined by choices that postponed difficult decisions and allowed deep economic distortions to grow. 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,” Mr Tinubu said.

The president said the nation faced a stark choice similar to a sick patient diagnosed with cancer.

“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,” he said.

He accused previous administrations of choosing short-term relief over lasting solutions.

“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,” he stated.

He said his administration decided to take a different path by confronting the problems when it assumed office in May 2023.

“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.

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“But for the first time in decades, we embark on this task from a position of strength, with an economy whose fundamental direction has been corrected. We confronted the difficult choices we faced and have laid the foundations for lasting prosperity. Rather than fail the promise of a better future for our children, the time has come for us to build that future.”

He said 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.

“We have travelled through difficult years together. We have made hard decisions together. And now, still together, we must build the country those decisions have made possible.

“I believe deeply in what lies ahead. I believe in the millions of ordinary men and women whose work, courage and determination have always been the true strength of our country. The road ahead will still demand much from us. But we now travel it with firm footing, a clear direction, and renewed hope in our collective future,” he added.