Nigeria at 66: FG Vows to Turn Economic Stability into Jobs, Higher Incomes
The Federal Government says the next phase of its economic reforms will focus on turning recent gains in stability into more jobs, higher incomes and improved living standards for Nigerians.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at a World Press Conference to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
Idris said the administration had moved from the difficult phase of economic reforms and stabilisation towards a new phase centred on growth, production and shared prosperity.
According to him, the reforms introduced since 2023 involved difficult adjustments that imposed real costs on Nigerians, but the government now wants the emerging economic stability to translate into tangible benefits for households and businesses.
“The next phase is to translate economic stability and growth into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians,” Idris said, listing more jobs, higher incomes, greater access to education and credit, lower transportation costs, stronger businesses and wider economic opportunities among the government’s priorities.
He said Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 4.23 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
Idris also pointed to improvements in the country’s external position, domestic refining capacity, investment and productive activity as evidence of what he described as a transition from reform and stabilisation to growth.
He cited the country’s foreign reserves, which he said had crossed $55 billion for the first time in 18 years, as another indicator of improved external buffers.
The minister also highlighted Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list and its return to the JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index after an 11-year absence as milestones in the country’s efforts to rebuild its international economic standing.
However, Idris acknowledged that economic stability would only become meaningful to citizens if it improved their daily lives.
He said the government’s focus would therefore include connecting Nigeria’s large young population and millions of entrepreneurs, traders, farmers, artisans and manufacturers to education, skills, finance and productive opportunities.
“A prosperous Nigeria, therefore, requires an economy in which enterprise is rewarded, access to capital becomes wider, and Nigerians willing to work and innovate,” he said.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, also called for the consolidation of the reforms and their translation into better opportunities for ordinary Nigerians.
Akume said Nigeria had made significant progress since independence but still faced challenges including poverty, insecurity, infrastructure deficits and gaps in healthcare and education.
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He said the government was mobilising additional revenue, improving public finances, strengthening non-oil revenue collection and attracting investment to create the fiscal space required for development.
The SGF identified infrastructure as a major priority, citing investments in roads, railways, airports, seaports, electricity generation and transmission and digital connectivity.
According to him, the investments are intended to reduce the cost of doing business, connect farmers to markets, support industrial activity and create an environment conducive to private-sector investment.
Akume also highlighted government interventions in agriculture, including support for farmers through improved seeds, fertiliser, irrigation, storage and processing facilities.
He said the government was also expanding access to education and improving schools and teachers, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund was providing more young Nigerians with access to tertiary education.
The SGF stressed that the government’s reform programme must ultimately be judged by whether it creates better opportunities for citizens.
“The task before us today, as leaders and citizens, is consolidation. We must ensure that the gains from reform translate into better opportunities for ordinary Nigerians,” Akume said.
He said the administration would continue strengthening security, supporting the private sector and promoting national cohesion to ensure that economic opportunities reached communities across the country.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said the reforms were designed to make deliberate policy choices capable of building a larger and more inclusive economy.
“We are not yet where we want to be,” Bagudu said, stressing the importance of identifying the policy choices required to move the economy towards its desired destination.
On agriculture, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said improved access to previously affected farmlands, alongside government support for fertiliser and improved seeds, was contributing to increased agricultural production.
Kyari said about 70 per cent of areas that had previously been inaccessible because of insecurity had been liberated, allowing farming activities to resume.
“We have seen an increase in production today,” he said.
The government’s stated shift from reform to consolidation comes against the backdrop of its broader Renewed Hope National Development Plan 2026–2030, which places emphasis on productivity, economic diversification, human capital development and resilience.
For the administration, the central challenge now is to ensure that macroeconomic improvements are increasingly reflected in employment, purchasing power, business activity and access to economic opportunities.
The World Press Conference was organised as part of activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, with the theme: “From Reforms to Stability: Consolidating Nigeria’s Renewed Hope for Shared Prosperity.
By PRNigeria
