?President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has declared that economic indicators show Nigeria is officially out of the "emergency ward," attributing the turnaround to the bold economic reforms initiated by his administration.

?According to the President, rather than taking the "comfortable road of cosmetic remedies," his government deliberately chose the "hard road of surgery to save the patient."

?Represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D., GCON, President Tinubu made these remarks on Thursday at the public presentation of the book,

Economic Diversification and Structural Transformation in Nigeria: Past, Present and Future. Authored by the lawmaker representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State, Hon. Dr. Abdulmumin Jibrin Kofa, the book also features a foreword written by the President.

?Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, President Tinubu reflected on the precarious economic state he met upon assuming office and the tough choices required to rescue the nation.

?"For too long, Nigeria's story was a song sung in a single note," he said. "We were a nation of boundless promise tied to a single product: our budget, our currency, and the livelihoods of millions rising and falling with the tides of a distant oil market. We floated on the fragile illusion of oil wealth while the foundations beneath us cracked.

?"When I took the oath of office, I did not inherit a calm sea; I inherited a gathering storm: a collapsing naira, debt service that swallowed nearly all our revenue, depleted reserves, a fuel subsidy that bled our treasury dry, and factories falling silent as industries and jobs fled across our borders."

?He explained that faced with two options the comfortable road of cosmetic remedies that had pushed the country to the edge of a cliff, or the hard road of surgery—his administration chose "reform over ruin" by removing the fuel subsidy and unifying the exchange rate.

?"These were not easy decisions, and I know the weight they placed on every household. But they were necessary, and today the pain is yielding its promise. The emergency ward is behind us," the President affirmed.

?Highlighting key milestones, President Tinubu revealed that non-oil activities now account for roughly 96 per cent of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while non-oil exports have surpassed $6 billion the highest in the country's history.

He further noted that external reserves have climbed to about $55 billion, providing more than 14 months of import cover, just as non-oil revenue surged from ?13.63 trillion in 2023 to ?16.4 trillion in the first half of 2026 alone.

?"Our task has moved from stabilisation to shared prosperity, and our compass points firmly to a trillion-dollar economy by 2030, charted in the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2026–2030," he stressed.

?Acknowledging that the government cannot achieve a trillion-dollar economy single-handedly, the President emphasized that true wealth is generated by enterprises that invest, innovate, manufacture, and export.

To clear the path for businesses, he pointed to the first-of-its-kind De-risking Framework introduced in the 2025 budget to attract private capital, which is projected to provide 86 per cent of the investment required for the 2030 target.

?"That is why we are harmonising our taxes, ending the menace of multiple taxation. We cannot tax our way into prosperity; we must produce our way there," he added.

?While maintaining that a nation is not lifted by statistics alone, President Tinubu insisted that positive economic numbers must translate into "bread on the table, light in the home, and work for willing hands."

?Underscoring that no nation can industrialise in darkness, he noted that his administration fought to rescue the Mambilla hydropower project, successfully winning the $3.38 billion arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and freeing a critical project held hostage for over nine years.

He also cited the ongoing expansion of Geregu Power to 1,300 megawatts as a direct dividend of market reforms, alongside the revival of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries in the Niger Delta.

?"Energy is the heartbeat of diversification, and we are restoring its rhythm," he declared, before outlining a broader slate of ongoing infrastructural projects and sectoral reforms across the country.

?Concluding his address, the President called for collective national effort: "Distinguished guests, an age of prosperity is not a gift that falls from the sky; it is a house we must build together: government and enterprise, scholar and farmer, the young and the seasoned.

The days of hardship are temporary; the foundations we are laying are permanent. Let us keep building until the world looks upon Nigeria and sees not promise deferred, but promise fulfilled."

?President Tinubu also extended his appreciation to the Keynote Speaker, Governor Charles Soludo; the Book Presenter, Alhaji Abdulsamad Isyaku Rabiu; and the Book Reviewer, Dr. Reuben Abati, for enriching the national discourse.

?