A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Dele Momodu, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day address, saying the speech turned what should have been a celebration into an occasion for lamentation.
Momodu, in a post on his verified X account on Thursday, October 1, 2026, took issue with Tinubu’s description of Nigeria’s economic situation before his administration as that of a cancer patient who had relied on painkillers instead of receiving the necessary treatment.
The publisher of Ovation Magazine said he was particularly troubled by the analogy, arguing that Nigerians expected the President to improve the country’s condition rather than worsen it.
He said his reaction was prompted by Tinubu’s reference to previous administrations allegedly relying on subsidies and other measures that he compared to morphine for a cancer patient.
“Dear Mr President, please permit me to wish you a Happy Independence Day on our 66th anniversary.
“Today is supposed to be a day of celebration, but your speech turned it into a day of lamentation.
“You specifically mentioned morphine as the drug of choice by your predecessors. I’m not sure this analogy was appropriate. At the time you assumed power, Nigeria probably had stage-two cancer, at the worst,” he wrote.
Momodu argued that the government should have focused on stabilising the country rather than allowing its challenges to become more severe.
He also raised concerns over Nigeria’s economic situation, saying the country had generated more revenue and accumulated additional loans while insecurity and poverty had continued to rise.
The ADC chieftain further criticised politicians for what he described as insensitivity to the difficulties facing ordinary Nigerians.
Tinubu, in his Independence Day address, had defended the economic reforms introduced by his administration since taking office in 2023, arguing that the measures were necessary to correct longstanding structural problems.
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The President likened Nigeria’s situation at the beginning of his administration to a cancer patient who had to undergo painful treatment to recover.
He also urged Nigerians to resist calls to return to what he described as “addictive subsidies”, insisting that the country had corrected its economic course and was moving towards greater prosperity.