The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has lamented that Nigeria as a country is underperforming by every measure of development.
Obi made this lamentation on Tuesday in a statement to Nigerians as the country marks it’s 2024 Independence Day anniversary upon clocking 64-years-old.
“By every measure of development, from the critical areas to the smallest aspects, we are underperforming,” Obi wrote on his official X account.
“We rank poorly in security and peacefulness, making us one of the most insecure nations globally.
“We are also ranked among the most corrupt countries, and we are noted for our disregard for the rule of law. “
The former governor of Anambra State further lamented that Nigeria as a nation continues its dangerous dance on the edge of a precipice.
He added that when we compare ourselves to countries that gained independence around the same time, before or after us, Nigeria stands out as a nation in decline, urgently in need of rescue from further decay.
Obi has, however, charged Nigerians to on this day, October 1, 2024 make a solemn commitment to build a nation that is truly independent from the state capture that has dragged it into failure and kept its people in suffering.
“We must create a nation free from tribal disunity and religious disharmony,” the former member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wrote.
“We must build a new and productive Nigeria that prioritizes the well-being of its citizens.
That is the independence we should celebrate as a nation whose greatness remains POssible.”
Meanwhile, the PDP had on Monday charged Nigerians to use the 2024 Independence Day anniversary to reawaken the spirit of nationalism in defense of democracy and national sovereignty against what it called “emerging totalitarianism being foisted on our nation by the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
It also urged Nigerians “not to surrender to the bullying tactics of the APC administration, which seeks to undermine the constitution, emasculate citizens, compromise institutions of democracy, and turn Nigeria into a fiefdom where APC leaders arrogantly carry on like lords and treat other citizens as conquered people.”
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba said: “The Independence Day celebration is not the symbolic marching at parade grounds, taking of salutes, inspection of guards, and making of speeches but it is the freedom of the citizens to express themselves, pursue legitimate endeavours, and freely participate in the process to choose those who lead them through an unhindered expression of their will at elections.”
