President Bola Tinubu has told Nigerians that the worst is behind them and that the country is getting better, in a speech to mark the end of his second year in office.
Halfway through his term, Tinubu acknowledged the pain his reforms had unleashed, adding that he did not take the patience of Nigerians for granted.
“Today, I proudly affirm that our economic reforms are working. We are on course to building a greater, more economically stable nation,” he said.
On the day he took office in May 2023, he announced the end of a long-standing fuel subsidy – a move that caused a huge surge in prices, leaving many Nigerians unable to buy enough food to eat.
Nigeria’s biggest opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described Tinubu’s two years in office as a “massive disappointment”.
In a statement released to mark Tinubu’s second anniversary, the party which lost power in 2015 said the president had failed Nigerians.
But Tinubu said the situation was now improving: “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.”
Inflation was 24% last month, according to the official figures, compared to 22% when he took over.
This is an improvement from this time last year when it stood at 34%. Weeks later Nigerians took to the streets in a nationwide protest that left several people dead.
A fall in the rate of inflation does not mean that prices are falling – just that they are rising at a slower rate than before.
The World Bank predicts that Nigeria’s total output, or GDP, will grow by 4% this year – a faster rate than the 3% when Tinubu took over.
However, unemployment remains a major concern, with many graduates still complaining about not being able to find jobs.
The president said he had little choice about removing the subsidy, saying the huge cost was a “chokehold on our nation’s neck, strangling our nation’s future”, while allowing corruption to thrive.
After his inauguration and under what he called a “Renewed Hope Agenda”, Tinubu pledged to tackle economic instability, improve security nationwide, reduce corruption, reform governance, and lift Nigerians out of poverty.
Public affairs analyst professor Adeosun Olufemi told the BBC he feels the president has made positive gains in some areas, adding that the governors of Nigeria’s 36 states should take the blame for some of the problems over the past two years.
“After the president announced fuel subsidy removal, money allocated to state governors increased heavily but what have they done with it?” he asked.
The president, 73, won the bruising 2023 election with 37% of the vote – defeating former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former governor Peter Obi in a three-way race.
There is massive speculation that some of the major political parties could form a coalition ahead of the next election in 2027 to challenge Tinubu, who is expected to seek a second term.
