New Year: Nigerians list expectations from Tinubu govt in 2026
As Nigerians crossed over into the new year, 2026, some have expressed fear and anxiety, especially following the wave of insecurity witnessed in the out-gone year, and a range of economic reforms that worsened the hardship in the country.
President Bola Tinubu in his new year message on January 1, 2026, which was laced with promises of opportunities from the maturation of the economic reforms which he began in 2023, projected to propel great economic growth that could launch at least 10 million Nigerians into the productive sector.
In this report, a cross-section of Nigerians, who spoke to SOCIETY WATCH, expressed their expectations and what they want President Tinubu to do differently to better the lot of citizens better than the out-gone year, 2025.
A legal practitioner, Sylvester Agih, said implementation of the new tax laws and resolving the controversies generated by the alleged alteration of the gazetted copies would likely remain major headlines of most news platforms for the best part of 2026.
“My expectation from Tinubu is that he should handle the issues and implementation of the laws maturely and in a transparent manner that would command public trust and confidence.
I also expect the government to be accountable to the people for taxes collected. I not only want to see numbers at the end of each fiscal year and what the numbers were used to achieve for the benefit of the common man. Afterall, the essence of governance is service to the people,” he said.
A Kwara-based entrepreneur and lecturer, Hassan Alowonle, said that he would want the president to tackle the issue of insecurity head on and bring the perpetrators and the financiers of terrorists to book.
He said, “I want him to eliminate all the cells of Bandits be it known or unknown, be it influential or not. It is when we are alive that we can be citizens of this country.
There has never been an upsurge of insecurity in Kwara like the one we experienced in 2025, and sadly, it has crept into this new year. We in Kwara cannot sleep with our eyes completely closed.”
In the same way, a Kaduna-Abuja based journalist, Benedict Onoja, charged the president to make fertilizers available and affordable for the peasant farmers in the remote areas of the country to aid them in their farming activities.
“I expect president Tinubu to make fertilizers affordable for farmers and fix the issue of electricity, which is a major drawback of small scale businesses in Nigeria.
