Nigeria – President Tinubu’s Bold Promise Or Empty Assurance? Nigerians Question The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria

In his 2024 Independence Day speech, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reassured Nigerians that his administration’s reforms are showing progress, despite the country’s rising cost of living and security challenges.

Speaking to the nation on the 64th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence, Tinubu called for patience, promising a brighter future and claiming that his administration was “winning the war” on terror and economic hardship.

While the President celebrated the elimination of over 300 Boko Haram and bandit commanders and highlighted $30 billion in foreign investments, many Nigerians remain unconvinced.

However, critics argued that the so-called “light at the end of the tunnel” has been promised before, with little to show for it.

Tinubu’s promise of a brighter tomorrow, featuring mechanized farming, CNG-powered buses, and a National Youth Conference, has sparked skepticism among those who feel abandoned by the government’s slow pace of economic recovery.

With food prices still spiraling and unemployment biting harder, Nigerians are asking: Is Tinubu’s vision truly within reach, or is this just another round of empty assurances?

Reacting to the speech, a Facebook user, Alfa Enejo Victor said, “I find this broadcast boring as it constantly asks citizens to sacrifice for reforms to materialize, but they’re not willing to make sacrifices. Mr President should stop deceiving people. No reform is working.”

Another Nigerian, Agbore Olawale wrote that, “It is a government of hardship. Totally against the campaign promises.”

For Okeke Iceworld, nothing said by the President should be believed. He wrote “I am not interested in anything they wrote for him that he’s reading out, that’s not part of my today’s plan that man is not even ashamed of himself for making such a statement which sacrifice again did they want us to make. Must we kill ourselves before they know we have tried.”