On Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day, President Bola Tinubu declared that the “worst is over” for the nation’s economy, defending his administration’s contentious policies. In a national address, Tinubu pointed to promising indicators, including the nation’s fastest GDP growth in four years and a recent dip in inflation, as evidence that difficult decisions to scrap fuel subsidies and unify exchange rates are now “bearing fruit.” He also highlighted a significant social welfare program that has distributed cash to millions of vulnerable households as well as ongoing infrastructure projects. However, this optimistic outlook is sharply contested by the lived reality of many citizens. Critics have also questioned the transparency of cash transfers and warned that over half of Nigerians remain in poverty, with cuts to World Food Programme funding exacerbating hardship.
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