Nigeria @66: Tinubu promises more help for poor households, vows to defeat poverty

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged stronger assistance for Nigeria’s poorest households, acknowledging that millions of people still struggle to pay for food, education, healthcare and transport.

In his Independence Day address on Thursday, the President said economic growth would take time to improve every household’s circumstances and that vulnerable Nigerians needed support while the country pursued broader prosperity.

“Some Nigerian families still struggle today for the next meal, the next school fee, the next medical bill, or simply enough money to get to work,” he said.

The President said his administration was strengthening direct assistance and improving the National Social Register to ensure that help reached those who genuinely needed it.

He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as a means of helping children from low-income families pursue higher education.

He also said CREDICORP was giving working Nigerians access to credit for vehicles, solar systems, digital devices and other assets.

The President pledged continued cooperation with state and local governments to improve primary healthcare, basic education and the essential public services on which poorer households depend.

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

“We can build an economy that steadily lifts people out of poverty while ensuring that those who remain vulnerable are not abandoned along the way.”

The President said direct assistance and access to loans and credit were intended to help citizens benefit from a more productive economy.
“Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently,” he said. “We will defeat it.”

The President cautioned that the goal would require time, discipline, sustained growth and millions of productive opportunities across the country.