“We Will Not Manage Poverty, We Will Defeat It” — Tinubu Unveils Jobs & Industry Plan With NELFUND, CREDICORP, Social Register As Bridge To Prosperity

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has combined his jobs, industrial growth and poverty alleviation agenda into a single promise for Nigeria’s next chapter, declaring that his administration’s objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently but to defeat it outright.

In his 66th Independence Day speech, the President said prosperity requires more than cheaper goods — it requires productive work, especially for Nigeria’s youthful population whose talent must become an engine of production rather than despair.

To drive this, Tinubu said his government is placing jobs, enterprise and industrial growth at the heart of its policies. “We will use our gas to power new industries. We will support businesses that work to bring factories back to life in our great industrial centres. We will expand digital connectivity into communities that have waited too long,” he said.

He added: “I want to see more Nigerians making things. I want to see more Nigerian farms feeding our cities and supplying our factories. I want to see Nigerian businesses selling Nigerian goods to the whole world. I want young Nigerians building unicorns and creating opportunities for others here at home.”

The President acknowledged that millions still struggle for the next meal, school fee and medical bill, saying their struggle is the accumulated consequence of decades of low productivity and weak institutions, not the reforms of the last three years.

As a bridge to prosperity, he listed strengthened direct support for the poorest households through an improved National Social Register, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to ensure children of low-income families keep their higher education dream, and CREDICORP giving working Nigerians consumer credit for vehicles, solar systems and devices.

He said his administration, working with states and local governments, will continue to strengthen primary healthcare, basic education, essential public services, while sustaining timely payment of salaries and pensions since 2023 and reforming the national pension programme to benefit retirees and the vulnerable.

“These programmes are not substitutes for prosperity. They are a bridge to aid our nation’s citizens on their path towards it. Our objective is not to manage poverty more efficiently. We will defeat it,” Tinubu declared.