President Bola Tinubu has likened Nigeria’s economic condition in 2023 to that of a cancer patient requiring difficult but necessary treatment, saying his administration’s reforms were introduced to address deep-rooted structural weaknesses in the economy.

Tinubu made the comparison in his Independence Day address on Thursday, arguing that the economic challenges confronting the country when he assumed office required decisive action rather than temporary measures.

According to him, poverty was rising and public confidence was declining in 2023, leaving the government with little choice but to undertake difficult reforms.

The President said the reforms had brought significant short-term difficulties but insisted that the resulting hardship should not be mistaken for the underlying problems they were designed to address.

Using the analogy of cancer treatment, Tinubu said previous administrations had largely treated the symptoms of Nigeria’s economic problems while avoiding difficult structural changes.

He said his administration instead chose to “excise the cancer”, acknowledging that the reforms came with “side effects” but arguing that they were necessary to place the economy on a more sustainable path.

Tinubu maintained that the reforms did not create Nigeria’s economic weaknesses but were intended to confront problems that had accumulated over several years.

The President said the country had now reached a “turning point”, with his administration moving from what he described as the “emergency treatment” phase towards a focus on delivering “shared and widespread prosperity.”

He said that after three years of correcting the country’s economic course, the government’s central task had shifted to ensuring that the benefits of the reforms translate into broader prosperity for Nigerians.