A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his Independence Day broadcast.
This was as he declared that many Nigerians have lost faith in the promises of the current administration.
Momodu, in a post on his verified X handle on Thursday, said the president’s address to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary turned what should have been a day of celebration into one of lamentation.
His reaction followed Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast, in which the president defended his administration’s economic reforms, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market.
Tinubu, in the address themed “From Reform to Prosperity,” said Nigeria had moved beyond the most difficult phase of economic reforms and entered what he described as an “age of prosperity.”
The president also used a cancer analogy to explain the economic challenges inherited by his administration, saying previous governments had relied on subsidies as “morphine” to mask the country’s underlying problems.
According to Tinubu, his administration chose to confront those problems through difficult reforms rather than continue with what he described as unsustainable policies.
But Momodu rejected the analogy, arguing that Tinubu’s administration should have stabilised the country rather than worsen its condition.
“My heart bled as you went into the morbid analogy of Nigeria as being a cancer patient that merely survived on pain killers before your arrival as a celebrated surgeon,” he said.
He added, “At the time you assumed power, Nigeria probably had stage two cancer, at the worst. You were expected to stabilize it and not to metastasize it into a stage four cancer.”
The publisher of Ovation Magazine further criticised the president’s handling of the economy, saying his first major policy decisions had inflicted severe hardship on Nigerians.
According to him, Tinubu’s decision to remove petrol subsidy immediately after assuming office was a “misadventure”, accusing the administration of failing to properly assess the consequences of its policies before implementing them.
“Your first prescription on day one was a monumental disaster. You took no time to properly examine your patient. You were too much in a hurry to administer your jab which automatically sent Nigeria into instant coma. And you’ve not been able to revive it,” Momodu wrote.
He said Nigerians expected the administration to stabilise the economy, rather than “destabilize everything in sight.”
Momodu also faulted the government over what he described as worsening insecurity and poverty, despite increased government revenue and borrowing.
“So, Nigeria has made more money, amassed more loans, insecurity has increased, poverty has escalated, profligacy is palpable, politicians have remained insensitive, elections have taken priority over governance, renewed hope has collapsed into hopelessness and abject despair,” he said.
The ADC chieftain’s criticism came as Tinubu sought to reassure Nigerians that the country’s economic trajectory had improved.
The president said Nigeria’s economy had grown by more than four per cent in 2026, while inflation had fallen substantially from its peak, foreign reserves had been rebuilt and the foreign exchange market had stabilised.
Tinubu also said the country recorded more than $6 billion in non-oil export revenue in 2025, describing the figures as evidence that the reforms were strengthening economic stability and resilience.
However, Momodu said the government’s explanations had failed to restore confidence among Nigerians, particularly with the 2027 general elections approaching.
“Nigerians have mostly given up on your promises. I doubt they are able to endure and accept the endless excuses, barely three months to the next elections,” he said.
He acknowledged that four years might not be enough to solve all of Nigeria’s problems but argued that Nigerians should by now be seeing clearer signs of improvement.
“Four years may not be able to contain and solve all our problems but the HOPE should be glaring by now,” Momodu added.