Presidential candidate Peter Obi has said that independence anniversaries must never be reduced to mere celebration.
According to him, they are moments for honest national reflection, a time to look back, examine where we stand today, and ask ourselves whether we are moving in the direction our founding fathers envisioned.
In a statement marking Nigeria's 66th Independence Day anniversary, Obi said that in national planning and strategy, every serious nation must continually ask three fundamental questions: Where are we today? Where do we want to be? How do we get from where we are to where we want to be?
He lamented that despite the enormous promises made by the APC-led government in 2023, Nigeria continues to face deepening challenges across virtually every critical sector of national life.
"Today we stand before the world as a nation: With an extraordinarily large population living in poverty and severe hardship; over 140M. With one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world; over 18M
"Where insecurity, terrorism, banditry and kidnapping continue to threaten lives and livelihoods, just recently 37 young Nigerians in their productive age lost their lives
"Where millions of Nigerians struggle with hunger and food insecurity; over 40M Nigerians will be in extreme hunger by the end of 2026," he said.
According to Obi, with unacceptably high rates of infant and maternal mortality, "Nigeria today is the worst place to be born."
He said youth unemployment and underemployment remain alarmingly high in Nigeria. He lamented that drug abuse and substance misuse increasingly threaten our young population. He noted that life expectancy in Nigeria remains among the lowest globally.
"This reality demands serious, sober and honest reflection. Socrates taught that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” By the same principle, an unexamined nation cannot successfully chart its future. We must therefore ask ourselves: Are we cursed, or have we become the curse through the choices we have made and the failures we have tolerated?
"The answer cannot be that Nigeria is cursed. We are a nation immensely endowed and blessed. Our greatest problem is not a lack of resources; it is the failure to convert our enormous resources into human development, productivity, security and shared prosperity.
"Only yesterday, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso and I returned from a two-day visit to Sokoto State. We held extensive consultations with people from different parts of the state on insecurity, out-of-school children, poverty, youth unemployment, drug abuse and other challenges confronting our people.
"In concluding the visit, we went to the Internally Displaced Persons camp at Ramin Kura within Sokoto metropolis. What we saw was deeply troubling. Thousands of women and children live in deplorable conditions, displaced from their homes and deprived of the basic necessities of life. Many of the children have no access to education. Mothers and children have limited access to basic healthcare. These are Nigerians who should be living in their communities, going to school, farming their land, conducting their businesses and contributing to the economy. Instead, they live as displaced persons in their own country," Obi said.
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