Nigeria at 66: FG Says Reforms Have Brought Stability, Now Time for Growth<\/p>\n
The Federal Government says Nigeria has moved from painful but necessary reforms to a phase of stability and is now poised for growth that will deliver shared prosperity to all Nigerians.<\/p>\n
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, stated this at the World Press Conference held in Abuja today, to flag off activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.<\/p>\n
Akume said Nigeria, which gained independence on October 1, 1960, has grown into Africa’s largest country by population with over 200 million people and has enjoyed 27 years of uninterrupted constitutional democracy since 1999, the longest stretch of civilian rule in its history.<\/p>\n
He disclosed that anniversaries invite reflection on the courage of the founding generation and the shared work ahead, noting that the theme for this year’s celebration \u2013 “From Reforms to Stability: Consolidating Nigeria’s Renewed Hope for Shared Prosperity” \u2013 is a reminder that reforms must be cemented into real gains for every Nigerian.<\/p>\n
Recalling Nigeria’s journey through the First Republic, the Civil War, years of military rule, reconstruction and reconciliation, the SGF said the Fourth Republic has expanded education, built industries, integrated Nigeria into the global economy and produced entrepreneurs, professionals, scientists, artists and athletes who represent the country globally.<\/p>\n
He stressed that the country’s ultimate challenge remains how to turn its vast human and natural potential into well-paying jobs, security and better life for every citizen.<\/p>\n
Akume acknowledged that despite real progress in maintaining sovereignty, contributing to peacekeeping and diversifying the economy into telecommunications, banking, manufacturing and services, many Nigerians still face hardships.<\/p>\n
“Poverty, the monster that still weighs down our economy is an enemy that we must overwhelmingly defeat,” he said.<\/p>\n
The SGF also cited security challenges including terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, but said through the sacrifices of the armed forces and security agencies, the surge in insecurity is being gradually extinguished.<\/p>\n
Other challenges, he noted, include deficiencies in power, roads, ports, rail, health and education, which he said demand collective resolve.<\/p>\n
Akume highlighted that faced with these challenges, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration launched an ambitious programme of structural reforms in 2023 under the Renewed Hope Agenda, including ending the fuel subsidy regime, unifying multiple foreign exchange windows into a market-driven rate, and tightening fiscal and monetary policies to restore fiscal balance.<\/p>\n
He disclosed that the International Monetary Fund has commended the efforts, noting that “strong reforms over the past three years have yielded improved macroeconomic outcomes.”<\/p>\n
According to the SGF, the task before the nation now is consolidation to ensure gains from reform translate into better opportunities for ordinary Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Akume also said government is mobilizing additional revenues, improving public finances, accelerating non-oil revenue collection, attracting new investment and has set up a National Economic Council chaired by the Vice President to coordinate macroeconomic strategy across federal and state governments.<\/p>\n
On infrastructure, the SGF said government is investing in roads, railways, airports, seaports, electricity generation and transmission and digital connectivity to reduce cost of doing business, connect farmers to markets and encourage industry.<\/p>\n
Agriculture, he emphasized, remains central with support for farmers through improved seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, storage and processing facilities, the National Agricultural Development Fund and road construction to lift communities.<\/p>\n
In education, Akume recalled the signing of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund Act in May 2024 to expand access to tertiary education, while social protection programmes including Conditional Cash Transfer (NG-CARES), School Feeding and vocational schemes like SOLID and N-Power have been expanded to target women, youth and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n
On security, he disclosed that President Tinubu has approved a new National Threat Assessment and a five-year Defence Plan, noting that the armed forces are intensifying operations against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and oil theft, while improving intelligence, modernising equipment and enhancing coordination.<\/p>\n
“The overarching security objective is to achieve a Nigeria where every parent can send their child to school, every market can trade without fear, and every community can thrive in safety,” he said.<\/p>\n
Akume said the benefits of growth must reach every Nigerian from Abuja to Akure, Lagos to Lokoja, Calabar to Kano, which is the meaning of shared prosperity, citing the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme as support for small projects in agriculture, trade and mining at the grassroots.<\/p>\n
He said the private sector must lead investment, innovation and job creation while government provides stable policy environment, and called on citizens, media and civil society to uphold democratic values, noting that Nigeria’s diversity is a strength.<\/p>\n
“From reforms, we have built stability. From stability, let us now deepen growth and opportunity. And from growth, let us extend shared prosperity to every corner of Nigeria,” Akume said.<\/p>\n
The SGF wished all Nigerians at home and in the diaspora a peaceful and joyous 66th Independence Anniversary celebration<\/p>\n
Also speaking, the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, stated that Independence Day occupies a special place in national life as it reminds Nigerians of the sacrifices that brought the country this far, the resilience that has sustained it, and the responsibility every generation carries.<\/p>\n
He said 66 years ago, Nigerians of different ethnicities, faiths and regions embraced the conviction that the future would be greater together than apart, a conviction that has been tested many times but endured through shared belief in a common destiny.<\/p>\n
Idris stated further that three years ago, President Tinubu assumed office amid significant structural and fiscal challenges and chose to confront longstanding distortions rather than postpone them, noting that those decisions have been difficult and Nigerians have borne real costs.<\/p>\n
Today, however, he observed, Nigeria is moving from reform and stabilisation towards growth, production and shared prosperity, with GDP growth strengthening, external position improving, domestic refining capacity expanding, and investment and productive activity gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
The Minister disclosed that the next phase is to translate these gains into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians through more jobs, higher incomes, greater access to education and credit, lower costs and wider economic opportunities.<\/p>\n
Idris added that across the country, the Renewed Hope Agenda is pursuing these objectives through investments in infrastructure, agriculture, education, consumer credit, digital skills, energy and enterprise.<\/p>\n
He listed student loans as widening access to education, consumer credit as expanding economic opportunity, major highways as connecting communities and markets, and reforms in agriculture, livestock, solid minerals, oil and gas as increasingly focused on production and local value addition.<\/p>\n
According to him, the principle is simple: “Nigeria must increasingly produce what it consumes, process what it extracts, and create opportunities from its abundant human and natural resources.”<\/p>\n
The Minister also said that economic progress cannot endure without security, justice and national cohesion, stressing that the administration continues to strengthen the security architecture while insisting that the authority of the state must always be exercised within the law.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that nation-building is a shared responsibility where government must communicate truthfully and remain accountable, the media must uphold accuracy, fairness, balance and verification, and citizens must have reliable information to make democratic choices.<\/p>\n
“There is progress to acknowledge, challenges to overcome, and much work still ahead. Our responsibility is to hand the next generation a Nigeria that is more prosperous, more secure, more united and more confident than the one we inherited,” Idris said.<\/p>\n
Other activities lined up for the anniversary include a Juma\u2019at service on Friday, September 25; an interdenominational church service on Sunday, September 27; a public lecture on Wednesday, September 30; and a nationwide broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday, October 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria at 66: FG Says Reforms Have Brought Stability, Now Time for Growth The Federal Government says Nigeria has moved from painful but necessary reforms to a phase of stability and is now poised for growth that will deliver shared prosperity to all Nigerians. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-others"],"yoast_head":"\n