In his national broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary on October 1, 2025, President Bola Tinubu painted a picture of a country that has made tremendous progress in economic growth, social cohesion, and physical development. He said his administration had finally turned the corner and the worst was over. “Yesterday’s pains are giving way to relief,” he enthused.
The President based his enthusiasm on a number of factors. One of them is what he calls access to better education and health care than in 1960. He said Nigeria had only 120 secondary schools with a population of about 130,000 at independence in 1960 and two tertiary institutions – the University of Ibadan and Yaba College of Technology. As of 2024, he noted, Nigeria had over 23,000 secondary schools, 274 universities, 183 polytechnics, and 236 Colleges of Education.
It is surprising that the President listed increase in the number of schools as a major achievement. It is obvious that the growth in resources and population over the years accounted for this phenomenon.
Unfortunately, the increased number of educational institutions does not equal the quality of learning. In Nigeria today, many public schools are decrepit. The number of out-of-school children is over 18 million, far above the figure in the early years of our nationhood. Library and laboratory equipment are inadequate. Academic and non-academic staff unions of universities are frequently on strike over poor pay and other welfare issues. Many Nigerians who have the means send their children abroad to get quality education. In the 1970s and 1980s, our universities had a large chunk of foreign students. Today, the reverse is the case.
Our health care system is also in a sorry state. Most public hospitals do not have the necessary equipment for diagnosis and treatment? Our leaders are reputed for travelling abroad for medical treatment. Recently, former President Muhammadu Buhari died in a London hospital. If Nigerian hospitals are up to the required standard, will such a leader die in a foreign hospital?
The President gave a wrong impression when he said Nigeria was winning the war against terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes. Of course, our military deserves commendation for the great sacrifice they are making to stamp out terrorism and banditry in the country. But saying that peace had returned to hundreds of our liberated communities in the North-East and North-West, and that thousands of our people had returned safely to their homes, is inconsistent with the reality on ground.
The North-East, which has remained the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency, has not known peace since 2009 when the terrorist group started its orgy of violence and killings in the region. Many communities have been sacked and hundreds of thousands of people killed. The other parts of the country are not spared. The North-Central states of Plateau and Benue, for instance, have seen an increase in terrorist attacks in recent times.
Tinubu rightly noted that we fought a bitter civil war and lived through major political crises. But it is not totally correct to say that we have overcome every challenge with courage, grit, and uncommon determination, as the President stated. The South-East region still feels marginalized and alienated from the scheme of things. The three Rs: Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, have been observed in the breach. This has given rise to agitations for self-determination by some groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). However, the President’s pledge to strive to build a more perfect union where every Nigerian could find better accommodation, purpose and fulfilment is reassuring.
On the economy, Tinubu said his administration inherited a near-collapsed economy caused by decades of fiscal policy distortions and misalignment. To reset the economy, he ended the fuel subsidy and multiple foreign exchange rates. It is doubtful if these initiatives improved Nigerians’ quality of life as the President said. It is true that the federal, state and local governments have more money to address our development challenges. But have they deployed these resources well? Are the needs of the people at the lower level well taken care of?
Despite Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 4.23 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, the majority of the people are still suffering. Inflation remains a major problem despite declining to 20.12 per cent as of August 2025.
According to Tinubu, Nigeria now sells more than it buys from the world. This is commendable. But efforts must be made to revamp the real sector, which slowed to 1.60 per cent in the second quarter of 2025. A robust manufacturing sector leads to the export of more processed goods which yield more income than raw commodities.
Also worthy of commendation is the administration’s efforts to expand transport infrastructure which covers rail, roads, airports and seaports. However, more efforts are needed to repair many of the collapsed federal roads across the country.
Essentially, the Tinubu administration should match its macroeconomic gains with the personal finances of Nigerians. The cost of living is too high and people are suffering. The growth in the economy can only make meaning to the average man on the streets when he is able to afford the basic things of life.
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