Nigerians have been called upon to remind themselves of the need to break free from oppression, as the country marks its 58th Independence anniversary.
The call was made by pro-democracy campaigner and presidential aspirant under the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, when he addressed an Independence Rally tagged ‘March for Living Wage’, which took place at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Lagos on Monday.
Speaking on the state of things in Nigeria, he said: “Today is October 1st and you cannot find a single Nigerian who is celebrating at all because we are all sad and anguished. There are no jobs after we finish school; we are angry that our roads are bad; we are angry that our politics have been hijacked by criminals; we are sick and tired of working for a country that does not work for us”.
The presidential aspirant urged Nigerian youth to reject complacency and uphold the vision of the founding fathers of the country.
He continued: “Our gathering here is symbolic. We are here to declare Nigeria free from those who have held the nation’s development to ransom.
“Never again will we allow our leadership to be hijacked by incompetent leaders or by sick and tired people who are struggling to generate 3,500 megawatts of electricity in a country of 198 million people.”
Falola Cole, one of the attendees of the rally, when asked his hope for a better Nigeria expressed worry over the state of affairs in the country, stating that “58 years, will Nigeria ever get better? In 2019, if we don’t come out and vote, then we are finished, because I don’t like the way things are going.”
Jire Wahab, a student of the University of Lagos, speaking on the significance of the event, said: “I believe Nigeria will be better and that’s why I am here. I saw the poster that he will be speaking so I came. We will get there if we do the right thing”.
