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 Ekwutosblog, 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.

“Most importantly, he should give more political will to ruthlessly deal with the terrorists which have become a nightmare to farmers in the remote areas of our country, from where comes the food that sustains the nation,” he said.

Speaking differently, the convener of Frederick Emergency Response Support Initiative, FREER, Mcfrederick Akor Edache, said he does not expect anything from the president and from Nigeria.

Edache said, “I don’t expect anything from President Tinubu and from Nigeria. I don’t expect anything from anyone. I only expect my goals in this year to come to pass without expecting anyone to smoothen or fast track it.

“This is my honest opinion. However, it would be nice to find my goals happening easily because of some people or some things.”

On his part, Divine Mike, said as a Nigerian, he would like to appeal to President Tinubu to take some measures to make life easier for Nigerians, especially the poor masses in this new year, 2026

He said, “Firstly, the rate of unemployment in the last few years has been on a geometric rise. Millions of Nigerian graduates are yet to be engaged productively.

“Even the few slots for white scholar jobs are usually hijacked by members of the National Assembly, State Assembly, top government officials and key men in positions of authority, leaving the qualified ones stranded and unjustly denied the jobs.

“Based on this trend, I advise President Tinubu to write his name for good in the souls of men by mapping out strategies to stop this lopsided and unjust form of employment.

“He should replicate what Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State did in the recent teachers recruitment in the state where only those who sat and got the cut off marks in the job exam were automatically employed without connection to any superior authority in government.

“Secondly, President Tinubu should carry out actions against rampaging bandits and terrorists in Nigeria with more fervency, especially now that the US is interfering. He should not make himself appear like a docile and incapable President that needs external hands to save his nation.

“He should end years of playing politics with the security of the nation and dare the horns of the dare-devils,” he said.

Also speaking, Patience Samuel appealed to the President to ensure that the price of food items and fuel is controlled, adding that most times, some petrol stations still keep their price high even when there is announcement of price reduction by NNPC and other bodies in charge of petroleum.

She said, “I appeal to the president to ensure that State governors begin full compliance with the court order for Local government autonomy.

“Despite his golden effort to ensure full autonomy for LGAs in Nigeria, governors have refused to comply, as LGAs are at the moment under total control of the State governors.

“Funds for LGAs are being hijacked by governors who only release a minute fraction of it to Council chairmen.

“This has continued to hamper the growth and development of LGAs, as council Chairmen are left with little or nothing to run the affairs of the LGAs.”

She added that President Tinubu should start a policy of not releasing funds to any state governor in whose state there is no compliance with the local government autonomy.