President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday declared that Nigeria’s economy is making critical foundational progress, acknowledging the severe pains of recent fiscal adjustments but insisting the reforms are yielding positive long-term results.

The President made this assertion at the State House while hosting a high-powered delegation from Deloitte Africa, led by its Africa Chief Executive Officer, Ruwayda Redfearn.

The high-level meeting was also attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji.

`Bitter Medicine` is Working

Defending the pace and execution of his administration`s policies over the last three years, President Tinubu compared the structural economic shifts to a necessary medical treatment rather than a seamless commercial transaction.

“Yes, reforms are difficult. It has not been a McDonald’s customer relationship but a harvester of good things, if implemented well, and that is what we are about," Tinubu stated. "The reforms on revenue will continue to stimulate growth. And the effect of the reform? Yes, some issues are difficult, taking the bitter medicine, but it is working well. For the economy, Nigeria is making serious foundational progress.”

According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled ‘Our Economy Is On Steady Growth, Says President Tinubu To Deloitte Africa,’ the President argued that the current policy direction has successfully strengthened the fiscal sector, repositioned financial institutions, and boosted Nigeria`s global competitiveness.

Deloitte Pledges Global Support

The delegation from Deloitte Africa commended the administration`s financial and fiscal restructuring. Redfearn affirmed that the global professional services firm—which boasts over 500,000 employees globally and recorded $74 billion in revenue in 2025—is fully prepared to deploy its resources to support Nigeria`s economic trajectory.

“We are before you to say that we want to serve. We have a local team on the ground that is ready, as well as the global firm, to support you and support your administration as you lead the country,” Redfearn promised.

Cascading Gains to Ordinary Citizens

While validating the structural framework established by the presidency, the Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte West Africa, Yomi Olugbenro, noted that the immediate priority must shift toward translating macroeconomic statistics into visible relief for citizens.

“Where we are at the moment, we believe that the ground has been solidly laid," Olugbenro noted. "There is a need to truly extract more value and deliver the dividends of democracy to ordinary Nigerians on the street. The bigger work is really about how to cascade some of those big reforms further down.”

Olugbenro added that Deloitte intends to leverage its global experience in national economic transformations to assist Nigeria in navigating this transition phase.

Focus on Youth Capacity Building

During the visit, President Tinubu shared a lighthearted moment reflecting on his professional roots, tracing his early career back to his formative accounting years with Deloitte in Chicago.

He leveraged this connection to urge the multinational firm to aggressively invest in Nigeria`s massive youth demographic through targeted recruitment and advanced training pipelines.

Echoing the President`s sentiment, the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, strongly pressed the Deloitte leadership to make youth capacity building their primary area of social impact, describing it as the single most consequential investment required to safeguard Nigeria`s economic future.