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President Bola Tinubu has admitted that he does not personally understand the hardship Nigerians face in markets, but said he shares their pain amid the economic difficulties caused by his administration’s reforms.
Speaking at an All Progressives Congress rally in Akwa Ibom State on Friday, Tinubu said his financial comfort meant he did not experience the daily struggles of ordinary Nigerians, but insisted he understood their difficulties.
“I can say by history, I’m a comfortable man. I don’t know the pain of the market. But I share your pain. I share the difficulty,” he said.
The president noted that the economic reforms introduced by his government had been difficult, saying the hardship had also affected him.
“It is difficult. It was hard. It was hard for me too,” he said.
Tinubu used the occasion to defend his economic policies, arguing that the naira could have become virtually worthless without corrective measures taken by his administration.
He said Nigerians might otherwise have needed wheelbarrows to carry the currency to markets, adding that it retained some value despite the pressure on the exchange rate.
The president also noted his administration’s education support programme, saying it was intended to remove the burden of tuition fees from parents and expand access to education.
He described education as a major tool for fighting poverty and said funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would be channelled into the programme.
“From today on, as we are fighting corruption, any money recovered from EFCC is dumped into that education programme. It will be. No one can reverse it,” he said.
“I share your pain…that’s why I decided to take away the responsibility of tuition fees away from parents. Any money recovered from EFCC is dumped into that education programme.”
President Bola Tinubu acknowledges the economic difficulties facing Nigerians. pic.twitter.com/8lz1w1ReBO
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) November 7, 2026
