Framing Remarks By The Chief Of Staff To The PresidentAt the “Dear Entrepreneur, We See You, We Hear You” Engagement

Distinguished entrepreneurs,
Members of the policy community,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

Let me begin on a simple note: this gathering did not start as an event. It started as a question.

Some months ago, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship Development came to my office seeking guidance. The concern was straightforward but important, how do we engage Nigerian entrepreneurs in a way that is not staged, not filtered, and not removed from their everyday realities?

The decision we took was to listen first.

A public digital platform was opened. Not for speeches, not for announcements, but for entrepreneurs themselves to speak. And they did, candidly, constructively, and in large numbers. They spoke about the difficulty of scaling, about infrastructure, about access to finance, about regulation, and about opportunity.

That engagement produced a report. A serious one. It captured the texture of what it means to build and sustain a business in Nigeria today. That report was submitted to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Today is a continuation of that moment.

It has led, first, to the establishment of the Renewed Hope Enterprise Bridge Initiative, which is intended to ensure that this is not a one-off conversation, but a continuing line of engagement between government and entrepreneurs.

And it has led, second, to this dialogue. A deliberate effort to bring the people who shape policy into the same room with those who live with its consequences.

Let me say this without embellishment: this administration understands the weight entrepreneurs carry.

Across this country, businesses operate under conditions that would test even the most established systems elsewhere. Yet, you persist. You build. You employ. You adapt.

That contribution is not lost on us.

At the same time, we are conscious that policy must do more than exist on paper. It must translate into real improvements in how businesses start, grow, and compete.

That is why today matters.

Because no government can design effective responses from a distance. If we are to get it right, we must listen carefully, interrogate honestly, and respond deliberately.

You cannot treat what you have not properly diagnosed. And you cannot diagnose without listening.

The sessions you will participate in reflect both what we have heard and where we must act:

• Policy and institutional reform, and how it translates into actual enterprise growth
• Industrial scale, infrastructure, and competitiveness, particularly how we move goods and power production
• Capital, innovation, and the digital economy, with a focus on financing and scaling

These are not abstract themes. They are the everyday concerns of Nigerian entrepreneurs.

There is also something else we are trying to correct.

For a long time, there has been a quiet disconnect between those who make policy and those who must navigate it daily. One side works with frameworks and projections; the other works with immediacy and risk.

Bringing both into the same room is not symbolic. It is necessary.

If policy is to be useful, it must be informed by lived experience. And if enterprise is to thrive, it must be supported by a system that understands it.

On behalf of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, let me express appreciation to you.

Not in ceremonial terms, but in recognition of the role you play in keeping this economy moving, often under difficult circumstances.

Be assured that this administration is not indifferent to your realities. Work is ongoing. Engagement will continue. And where adjustments are required, they will be made.

I encourage you to approach today with candour.

Speak plainly.
Engage seriously.
Offer solutions where you can.