By Kingston Magare 1.10.2026
Former Nigeria’s minister for youth and sports, Solomon Dalung Thursday put a knife to President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day speech, saying it is the most disappointing anniversary speech from a Nigerian President.
Speaking on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief, Mr. Dalong described Tinubu’s monologue as “empty”, “rhetorical” and “disappointing.” He said Tinubu should have told the nation what he did in almost four years to turn the fortunes of the country around.
“ After three and a half years in office… he should have concentrated more on giving Nigerians accountability; [show] concrete successes recorded so far by the reforms,” the former minister said.
“The speech would have also tried to look at the issues on the ground like insecurity, agriculture, the economy, unemployment, hunger, poverty, and Nigeria’s foreign policy.
“These would have been the things that the president should have revealed in his speech, and he should have been able to tell as well, from 1960 to 2023 when he assumed office, this was the progress made, and then in three and a half years, despite the fact that the government inherited challenges, progress has been made.”
Tinubu in his speech stated that four years will not be enough to undo generations of mistakes that brought Nigeria to the level it sunk.
However, Dalung, who served under former President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accused Tinubu of telling Nigerians the “same stories” repeated over the years since the current government took over in 2023.
“But all that the president has done was to tell Nigeria the same stories: ‘Oh, be patient and expect our reforms will yield.’’’
“The question is, when shall the cancer victim recover? Because it does appear that the surgery has put him in a coma,” the Plateau-born Dalung said.
He said, while there has been some growth in the economy, such indices must move beyond “paper presentation” and “translate into the general well-being of the citizens”.
“So if we have recorded 4% economic growth, how has that been able to affect an average Nigerian? Because it has to be translated into putting something before the ordinary Nigerians. How does that 4% affect the cost of transportation and the purchasing power of Nigerians?