President Bola Tinubu on Thursday boasted that his government is doing well and making “undeniable progress,” citing a decline in inflation and a drop in prices of staple food.
“Despite the bump in the cost of living, we have made undeniable progress. Inflation has begun to ease, with rice prices and other staples declining,” Mr Tinubu said in a nationwide broadcast to mark his second year in office.
Mr Tinubu acknowledged the unprecedented cost-of-living crisis brought about by his harsh and sudden policies.
“Today, I proudly affirm that our economic reforms are working. We have stabilised our economy and are now better positioned for growth and prepared to withstand global shocks,” said the president.
Mr Tinubu commended Nigerians for their longsuffering amid a catalogue of unfortunate circumstances caused by his “haphazard” policies. However, the Nigerian president insisted that his hard-to-swallow policies are “laying the foundation for a more sustainable future by introducing a new national fiscal policy”.
“These reforms are designed to reduce the cost of living, promote economic justice, and build a business-friendly economy that attracts investment and supports every Nigerian. Together, we are creating a system where prosperity is shared, and no one is left behind,” Mr Tinubu stated.
In the past two years, Mr Tinubu’s dual policies of fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification have led to a significant increase in fuel prices, from N145 to over N1000 and later to about N900, while the naira has collapsed from about N700 to a dollar to over N1600 to a dollar.
Similarly, food prices, the cost of transportation, and living costs have risen astronomically in the past two years.
With inflation at 24 per cent under Mr Tinubu, Nigeria recorded the largest increase in acute food insecurity globally in 2024, according to the 2025 Global Report on Food Crises published by the Global Network Against Food Crises in collaboration with the Food Security Information Network and UNICEF.
“In West Africa and the Sahel, in Nigeria, an additional 6.9 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity, bringing the total to 31.8 million,” the report said.
The International Monetary Fund reported that poverty and food insecurity remained high under Mr Tinubu.
The World Bank’s Africa Pulse report of April 2025 also stated that Nigeria, under Mr Tinubu, has the highest number of extremely poor people globally, warning that more Nigerians will be plunged into poverty by 2027.
