Tinubu Defends Reforms Again on June 12, Announces New Honours

President Bola Tinubu just used today's Democracy Day address to double down on his economic and security reforms, and honestly, the man is not backing down no matter what anybody says. Speaking to mark 27 years of uninterrupted civilian rule, he said Nigerians do not break, we bend and we bleed but we do not break. That line got me thinking, are we really unbreakable or are we just too tired to fight back?

Tinubu announced national honours for a long list of pro-democracy heroes, including the late M.K.O. Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, Gani Fawehinmi, Bola Ige, Alfred Rewane, and Pa Abraham Adesanya. He also named dozens of journalists, activists, and military officers like General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua to be recognised. The Institute of Petroleum Studies in Kaduna is even getting renamed after Yar'Adua. But here is the part that got my eyes wide, he claimed terror deaths have dropped significantly and over 124,000 insurgents and their families have surrendered through Operation Safe Corridor since 2023. Meanwhile, schoolchildren were just abducted in Oyo and Borno and he acknowledged it himself.

On the economy, Tinubu said the tough reforms were necessary to stabilise public finances and restore investor confidence. He talked about increased domestic refining capacity, N4 trillion to settle electricity debts, and N5.41 trillion for defence this year. But the question on my mind is simple, after three years of this, do you actually feel safer or richer than you did in 2023? Because I am in Ibadan and my pocket is singing a different song entirely.