President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marked Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary with a big disclosure that the federal government has pushed out a massive N330 billion in cash support to ease the pains of struggling families.
From the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu told Nigerians that millions have already benefitted under the social investment programme.
“Under the social investment programme to support poor households and vulnerable Nigerians, N330 billion has been disbursed to eight million households, many of whom have received either one or two out of the three tranches of the N25,000 each,” he said.
The president, under fire since scrapping fuel subsidies and unifying the exchange rate in 2023, admitted the reforms caused hardship but defended them as essential.
He insisted that “yesterday’s pains are giving way to relief” as new policies begin to calm the economy.
Fresh figures show inflation has dropped to 20.12%, the lowest in three years, while GDP growth shot up to 4.23% in the second quarter of 2025 — the fastest in four years.
Tinubu said the end of subsidies freed trillions of naira now flowing into schools, hospitals, farms, security, and infrastructure — alongside the N25,000 cash transfers cushioning households.
He also pointed to youth-focused schemes like student loans under NELFUND, credit for corps members, and the iDICE digital and creative fund, hailing Nigeria’s young people as “the greatest assets of this blessed country.”
The president ended with a rallying cry to citizens, saying, “On this anniversary, my message is hope and a call to action, we must be a nation of producers, not just consumers. Let us believe once more in the boundless potential of our great nation.”
