At Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, National Patriots Calls for Objective Reappraisal as Economic Stabilisation Gives Way to People-Centred Governance Focused on Food, Transport, Healthcare, Education and Household Relief
By Gloria Fraser, MFR
As Nigeria marks 66 years of independence, this is an appropriate moment for reflection and objective reappraisal — not only of the hardship Nigerians have endured, but also of the distance travelled and the work still ahead.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms have imposed undeniable pressures on households. At the same time, measurable indicators show progress in stabilising an economy confronted by serious fiscal, foreign-exchange and structural weaknesses. The administration itself now acknowledges that stabilisation is not enough: the next phase must be felt in Nigerian homes.
For many Nigerians, the word “reform” has become almost synonymous with hardship. The challenge before the Tinubu administration is therefore not merely to announce another phase of reform, but to demonstrate that economic stabilisation can now translate into lower living costs, household relief and stronger social protection.
Tinubu also demonstrated a humanitarian inclination long before becoming President. As Lagos Governor, he was among the early supporters of Nwankwo Kanu’s humanitarian initiative for children with heart conditions, providing seed money to start the project and land for the proposed heart hospital. The Kanu Heart Foundation has since facilitated more than 500 heart surgeries.
Nigeria has endured the difficult planting season of reform. But planting is not the harvest. The purpose of clearing the field, preparing the soil and planting is eventually to produce something people can eat. Nigerians are therefore entitled to ask: Where is the harvest?
REDUCING THE COST OF LIVING
President Tinubu addressed that question directly in his 66th Independence Day address:
“Our priority is to bring down the cost of living. We will achieve this by lowering the cost of producing and moving the things Nigerians consume.
We have the land and people to feed ourselves. My government is therefore focused on expanding mechanised irrigation and dry-season farming, improving access to seeds and fertiliser, holistically increasing mechanisation, and investing in storage and transportation.”
The strategy is increasingly visible: produce more food, reduce transportation and production costs, improve logistics and strengthen support for vulnerable households.
The National Affordable CNG Transit Programme illustrates the approach. In September 2026, the President cited CNG-powered and electric public transport in Borno charging ₦50–₦100 on routes where commercial operators charged ₦300–₦600, while CNG deployment and conversions are expanding elsewhere. The challenge now is scale — ensuring that millions more commuters experience comparable savings.
FCCPC: TAKING THE COST-OF-LIVING BATTLE TO THE MARKETPLACE
One institution deserves considerably greater public attention: the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Increasing production is only half the battle. If lower input costs and improved supply are swallowed by excessive margins, misleading pricing or anti-competitive conduct, families may never feel the benefit.
The FCCPC has increasingly taken that battle into the marketplace, with some interventions producing tangible results. Following investigations into deceptive retail pricing — including instances where lower prices were displayed but higher amounts charged at checkout — the Commission temporarily sealed an offending outlet until the business committed to correcting its pricing system and adopting transparent practices.
In aviation, FCCPC scrutiny of potentially exploitative ticket pricing faced legal challenge. In June 2026, the Federal High Court affirmed the Commission’s statutory authority to investigate consumer complaints concerning airline ticket pricing, strengthening its ability to scrutinise market conduct.
Cement has similarly come under scrutiny. Following an industry-wide investigation, the FCCPC reported indications of possible price manipulation and required major industry players to disclose pricing methodologies, production, capacity utilisation, exports and commercial relationships. Cement prices had not fallen as a result of the investigation at that stage; rather, the significance of the intervention was that possible manipulation was being subjected to formal regulatory scrutiny instead of being ignored.
The Commission has also intervened in petroleum products, banking, telecommunications, digital lending and other consumer-facing markets. In the downstream petroleum sector, for example, it challenged retail price reductions that it considered insufficient in relation to falling crude prices and warned against profiteering.
FCCPC cannot simply decree prices downward in a deregulated economy. Its role is to challenge deceptive practices, exploitation, price fixing and anti-competitive behaviour so that genuine competition can work in favour of consumers.
The Hausa say, “Da yayafi kogi kan cika” — by means of drizzles, a river fills. No single intervention will solve Nigeria’s cost-of-living problem. But increased production, cheaper transportation, competition enforcement and stronger consumer protection can combine to provide meaningful household relief.
EXPANDING FOOD PRODUCTION TO BRING PRICES DOWN
Food remains one of the greatest pressures on Nigerian families. The sustainable response must therefore include producing more food, more efficiently and throughout the year.
The $500 million World Bank-supported Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria Project — SPIN — is important in this regard. It is designed to improve dam safety, water-resource management and irrigation, building on earlier investments that improved or expanded approximately 43,400 hectares of irrigation. Nigeria has set a wider ambition of bringing 500,000 hectares under irrigation by 2030.
That timeline matters. Programmes of this magnitude cannot mature within one planting season. Dams must be rehabilitated, irrigation expanded, farmers supported, mechanisation increased, storage improved and farm-to-market transportation strengthened.
The Yoruba say, “Àgbàdo kì í tó ọjọ́ kan dàgbà” — maize does not mature in one day. Yet patience is not an excuse for indefinite hardship. Just as a farmer expects to see his crop taking root and growing, Nigerians are entitled to expect measurable evidence that these programmes are working — increased production, greater food supply and, ultimately, more affordable prices.
HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION AND SKILLS AS SOCIAL PROTECTION
Social protection is much broader than cash transfers. A family protected from a catastrophic hospital bill has received economic protection. So has a household whose child remains in school because financing is available.
By May 2026, official figures showed nearly 3,000 Primary Healthcare Centres revitalised under the IMPACT programme, alongside expanded emergency obstetric and newborn-care capacity. Other interventions have sought to widen health-insurance coverage and improve access to specialist treatment, including cancer care, dialysis and maternal healthcare.
Education is another important layer. NELFUND has expanded access to tertiary education through student financing, reducing the immediate burden on families that might otherwise struggle to keep their children in higher institutions.
The Federal Government’s TVET programme provides fully funded technical and vocational training, monthly stipends and start-up support in selected trades. Training ranges from CNG conversion and solar installation to mechanised agriculture, livestock farming, fashion and hospitality.
For beneficiaries, these interventions can represent the difference between dropping out and graduating, unemployment and acquiring a trade, dependence and productive enterprise.
FROM PALLIATIVES TO PATHWAYS
There remains an unavoidable reality: millions of Nigerians cannot wait for every structural programme to mature.
The administration says its expanded cash-transfer programme has reached millions of vulnerable households. It has also unveiled additional financing for NG-CARES alongside SOLID and the HOPE programmes, covering smallholder farmers, businesses, displaced communities, primary healthcare, education and vulnerable households.
In August 2026, the Federal Government unveiled the $1 billion Household Prosperity and Economic Social Protection Project, HOPE-SP, under the theme “From Palliatives to Pathways.” Its significance lies in the intended transition from temporary assistance towards recovery, productive opportunity and greater self-reliance.
This balance between structural reform and immediate protection is not peculiar to Nigeria. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan argued that economic restructuring must be accompanied by protection for vulnerable citizens. His words remain strikingly relevant:
“We need to see at the same time, as the other measures I have discussed, structural reforms – such as improved safety nets against price spikes – to protect the poorest of the poor from global shocks.”
Annan went further, calling for greater investment in human capital through improved schooling, business and vocational training, while encouraging entrepreneurship throughout the agricultural value chain — including processing, credit, seeds and fertiliser, trading, retailing and technology. He stressed that such transformation could not be achieved overnight and that immediate efforts should concentrate on areas capable of increasing food supplies quickly.
President Tinubu acknowledged the human urgency himself on Independence Day:
“Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work.”
He identified support for poorer households, NELFUND, CREDICORP, primary healthcare and basic education as bridges towards prosperity. The objective should not be permanent dependence on government assistance, but helping vulnerable Nigerians survive the transition while creating pathways towards economic independence.
FROM ECONOMIC STABILISATION TO PEOPLE-CENTRED GOVERNANCE
This is where Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary should become an occasion for objective assessment rather than political slogans.
The administration can point to improving macroeconomic indicators and progress in stabilising the economy. But Nigerians do not eat GDP figures, foreign reserves or credit ratings. Economic recovery becomes meaningful when food becomes more affordable, transportation costs decline, healthcare and education are accessible, young people acquire productive skills and families become more resilient to economic shocks.
Several programmes intended to produce these outcomes are multi-year undertakings. The irrigation expansion extends towards 2030, while SPIN forms part of a longer transformation of irrigation, dam management and agricultural productivity.
My forthcoming book, Nigeria’s Great Reset, to be unveiled soon, examines in greater detail what the administration inherited, what it changed, what has been achieved, where implementation remains inadequate, and what programmes are expected to mature in the years ahead.
The evidence does not require Nigerians to ignore hardship. It requires hardship and progress to be assessed together.
The planting season has been difficult. Nigerians are entitled to demand the harvest.
NATIONAL PATRIOTS’ POSITION
For many Nigerians, the word “reform” has become almost synonymous with hardship. The National Patriots therefore appeals for understanding as the Tinubu administration moves from economic stabilisation towards people-centred governance, lower living costs and stronger social protection.
We ask Nigerians not to lose sight of the economic gains already recorded when assessing the President’s performance. The next phase is increasingly focused on the people, supported by the social-protection plan and complementary initiatives in food production, transportation, healthcare, education, skills, credit and household support.
The National Patriots has endorsed President Tinubu for a second term. Our position is that Nigerians should consider both the achievements already recorded and the major programmes still being implemented as they make their democratic choice in 2027.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
President, The National Patriots
