Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to recognise and celebrate the progress the country has made since independence in 1960, even as he acknowledged the persistent challenges confronting the nation.

In his nationwide broadcast on Wednesday to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary, Mr Tinubu said the country has made “tremendous progress in economic growth, social cohesion, and physical development” despite decades of turbulence.

“In 65 years since our Independence, we have made remarkable strides in education, healthcare, infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, aviation, and defence,” the president said.

Growth in Education and Infrastructure

Highlighting advances in education, Mr Tinubu recalled that Nigeria had only 120 secondary schools and about 130,000 students at independence. Today, there are more than 23,000 secondary schools.

“At Independence, we had only the University of Ibadan and Yaba College of Technology as the two tertiary institutions in Nigeria. By the end of last year, there were 274 universities, 183 polytechnics, and 236 colleges of education,” he said.

The president added that healthcare and infrastructure development have also expanded significantly since 1960.

Reforms and Economy

Mr Tinubu said his administration inherited “a near-collapsed economy” in 2023 but has embarked on tough reforms such as removing fuel subsidies and unifying exchange rates. According to him, these steps freed resources for investments in education, healthcare, security, agriculture, and infrastructure.

“We chose the path of tomorrow over the comfort of today. Less than three years later, the seeds of those difficult but necessary decisions are bearing fruit,” he said.

He cited improvements in GDP growth, inflation reduction, higher revenues, stronger reserves, increased oil production, and diversification of exports as proof of progress.

Security and Youth Development

The president praised the armed forces for “winning the war” against terrorism, banditry, and violent crime, saying peace had returned to many communities.

He also assured young Nigerians of more opportunities, pointing to programmes such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Credicorp, YouthCred, and the iDICE initiative as evidence of his government’s investment in youth empowerment.

A Call to Action

While admitting that reforms have brought temporary hardship, Mr Tinubu insisted that the sacrifices would yield long-term benefits.

“The accurate measure of our success will not be limited to economic statistics alone, but rather in the food on our families’ tables, the quality of education our children receive, the electricity in our homes, and the security in our communities,” he said.

He called on Nigerians to support nation-building by embracing productivity, innovation, and patronising locally made goods.

“Let us be a nation of producers, not just consumers. Let us farm our land and build factories to process our produce. Let us patronise ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ goods. I say Nigeria first,” Mr Tinubu said.