President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has acknowledged that Nigeria’s poverty and economic difficulties cannot be eliminated within four years, saying the challenges accumulated over several generations.

Tinubu made the statement on Thursday in his Independence Day address to Nigerians as the country marked its 66th anniversary.

The President said millions of Nigerians still struggle with basic needs, including food, school fees, medical bills and transportation.

SEE MORE: ‘I Want More Nigerians Making Things, Selling Nigerian Goods Globally’ – Tinubu

According to him, their difficulties did not begin with the economic reforms introduced by his administration but were the result of decades of low productivity, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient opportunities and institutions that had failed many citizens.

“We cannot erase in four years what accumulated over generations. But we can change its course,” Tinubu said.

He said his administration would focus on building an economy capable of steadily lifting people out of poverty while ensuring vulnerable Nigerians receive support.

Tinubu highlighted measures including stronger direct support for poor households, improvements to the National Social Register and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

He also pointed to consumer credit through CREDICORP and continued investment in primary healthcare, basic education and other essential public services.

The President said defeating poverty would require time, discipline, sustained economic growth and the creation of millions of productive opportunities across the country.

“We will defeat it,” he said, while urging Nigerians to look ahead as his administration moves from what he described as the “age of reform” into an “age of prosperity.”

The National Secretary of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), Gbenga Olowoyo, has said Nigerian workers are not demanding the restoration of fuel subsidy but are seeking government intervention to cushion the impact of rising petrol prices.

Olowoyo made this known during an interview while explaining the workers’ demand for petrol to sell at ₦500 per litre and their threat to embark on a three-day warning strike.

He said workers had exchanged correspondence with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and were optimistic that their concerns would be addressed in the President’s Independence Day address.

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According to him, failure to address the issues would have consequences, including the planned warning strike.

“If those issues are not addressed, then there are consequences,” Olowoyo said.
He explained that workers had already been mobilised to begin the three-day warning strike on Friday, with the action expected to continue through Saturday and Sunday before workers resume on Monday.

On the demand for ₦500 petrol, Olowoyo recalled that the price initially rose to about ₦550 per litre after subsidy was removed but later climbed to around ₦1,430 and ₦1,450, with prices reaching ₦2,000 or ₦2,500 in some areas.

“We are not actually asking for subsidy restoration, we are talking about intervention,” he said.

Olowoyo also questioned explanations attributing the increase in petrol prices to the Middle East crisis and market forces.
He asked what specific forces were determining petrol prices in Nigeria, considering that the country has crude oil and refining capacity, including the Dangote Refinery and modular refineries.

“We are aware that our own refineries are not working, but what about modular refineries?” he asked.

The JNPSNC official further questioned whether the government could support stakeholders operating in the oil and gas sector to provide a “soft landing” and help address the pressure created by rising fuel prices.

“That is why we are talking about intervention fund,” he said.

Olowoyo expressed hope that the President would address the workers’ concerns and prevent the proposed warning strike from taking place.

Retired Air Vice Marshal Akugbe Iyamu, a former Acting Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has questioned the management of Nigeria’s Ecological Fund and the use of funds allocated for anticipatory action as the country continues to grapple with flooding and other ecological challenges.

Iyamu made the remarks during an interview on Arise News while discussing flooding, disaster preparedness, climate change and Nigeria’s response to environmental emergencies.

He called for a reset of the purpose and management of the Ecological Fund, arguing that the fund should be specifically deployed to address ecological problems rather than treated as part of the regular financial allocation to states.

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“We have to reset what the Ecological Fund is meant for. As enshrined in the Constitution, Section 20 of the Nigerian Constitution states clearly what the ecology looks like. It is not pocket money for states,” Iyamu said.

He also questioned the use of funds allocated for anticipatory action, asking, “You have 83.2 billion, what are you using it for? Nigerians Do Not Deserve This’

The former NEMA chief said Nigeria should have taken preventive measures before flooding reached the scale currently being witnessed.

“This is not what Nigerian citizens deserve. There was time to have prepared for all this,” he said.

According to Iyamu, countries facing flood threats deploy barriers and other preventive measures before water reaches a critical level.

“That’s why I told you the Anticipatory Action Taskforce. You have 83.2 billion, what are you using it for?” he added.

Responding question whether corruption, inefficiency or a lack of concern by state governments and emergency agencies was responsible for the situation, Iyamu said transparency and accountability must be established alongside any bureaucratic structure created to manage disaster funds.

“If you are creating a space, a space of bureaucracy, you must first of all create transparency, then create accountability,” he said.

He questioned how funds allocated to an Anticipatory Action Taskforce would be monitored, as well as how the Ecological Fund would be tracked.

Iyamu said there was a tendency for sub-national governments to regard funds received as part of their normal state allocation instead of treating them separately for ecological interventions.

“If you give the money, the sub-nationals believe that, okay, this money is part of the state allocation, and they don’t separate it. Meanwhile, the downpour is getting more,” he said.

Iyamu Raises Alarm Over Abuja Flooding
Speaking specifically about Abuja, Iyamu said the destruction caused by flooding had reached a point he described as irreversible.

“Take the case of Abuja here, you saw what is happening. The Abuja case is irreversible, there’s nothing you are going to do about it again,” he said.

When asked to clarify his statement, he explained that Abuja was designed as a purpose-built city and argued that changes to its original drainage infrastructure had contributed to flooding.

According to Iyamu, Kenzo Tange, whom he identified as one of the designers of Abuja, had envisaged a city that would not experience flooding because of its drainage and relief-line design.

He said the relief lines were originally about 100 metres wide but had been reduced in some areas to about 20 metres or even 10 metres.
“How are you not going to have flooding?What Are We Doing?’ Iyamu Questions Nigeria’s Climate Response

Iyamu also discussed the international Loss and Damage Fund, saying the global approach to climate-related disasters had moved beyond simply providing humanitarian relief.

“Before, if you have flooding, they come and give you humanitarian blankets and all these things. They now say no, Loss and Damage Fund,” he said.

He said countries had fought for the establishment of the fund and claimed that 199 countries had filed to receive money from it.

He cited Nepal as an example, saying the country had filed to receive $20 million from the fund.

“What are we doing?” Iyamu asked.

The former NEMA official also criticised what he described as dependence on monthly allocations from the national revenue pool.

“Because this monthly share of national cake has made everybody very lazy,” he said.

Iyamu’s comments come amid continued concerns over flooding, disaster preparedness, drainage infrastructure and the management of funds intended to address ecological and climate-related challenges across Nigeria.