As Nigeria marked its 65th Independence Anniversary on Wednesday, the Social Democratic Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, warned that the nation cannot prosper while millions of its citizens remain trapped in poverty and fear.
The Federal Government had declared Wednesday, October 1, a public holiday to commemorate the country’s independence from Britain in 1960.
However, in a late announcement on Monday, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation disclosed that the traditional Independence Day parade would no longer be held.
In a statement issued in Abuja to commemorate the day, Adebayo said the country’s promise of greatness would remain unfulfilled unless urgent action were taken to confront insecurity, hunger, and corruption.
“No nation can prosper while its people live in fear. Peace is not optional; it is the precondition for progress, the anchor of prosperity, and the oxygen of national renewal,” he declared.
His comments came against the backdrop of the shocking death of 29-year-old Arise News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, who reportedly died on Monday following injuries sustained during a violent robbery at her Katampe residence in Abuja.
The incident, which colleagues say was compounded by her alleged denial of medical care, has reignited concerns over the state of security and healthcare in the country.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s journey since independence in 1960, Adebayo recalled the vision and lofty dreams of the nation’s founding fathers, including the country’s first Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa:
But 65 years on, Adebayo noted, the reality for many Nigerians stands in sharp contrast to the projected vision.
He lamented that 63 per cent of citizens—some 133 million people—are classified by the National Bureau of Statistics as multidimensionally poor with one in three lives below the World Bank’s poverty line of $2.15 per day; and over 31 million are facing acute food insecurity.
“These are not abstract figures; they are broken lives, and they demand a national response as urgent as war,” he said.
On insecurity, Adebayo warned that banditry, insurgency, and communal violence had displaced more than 2.3 million Nigerians by the end of 2024, according to United Nations data.
The SDP candidate argued that without a coherent security strategy that unifies the military, police, and intelligence agencies while deploying modern surveillance tools such as drones and satellites, the country’s development would remain stunted.
Yet, despite the bleak outlook, Adebayo insisted that hope was not lost. According to him, the urgent task before any government was to place peace and accountability at the centre of its agenda.
“The urgent task before us now is to build a Nigeria where no Nigerian is left behind, and where no community is consigned to despair. If we meet this test, we will awaken the Nigeria of our dreams. This is the true promise of independence,” he said.
PUNCH.
