Reactions have trailed the Independence Day speech delivered by President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, October 1, with calls from opposition presidential candidates, leaders, and other stakeholders criticising the address.
Notable personalities who reacted in separate statements include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), among others.
Atiku, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, faulted President Tinubu’s Independence Day broadcast, saying his claim of prosperity does not reflect reality of Nigerians.
In his speech delivered on Thursday at the ADC Headquarters, Abuja to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary, the former Vice President lamented that millions of Nigerians are fighting for food, living wage and safe journey home 66 years after independence.
He said the past three years under Tinubu have plunged Nigeria into most severe cost of living crisis, with families skipping meals, delaying treatment and borrowing to survive.
“What has this government asked of them? More patience. More sacrifice. More faith in figures they cannot eat,” Atiku said.
He said, “Bola, your speech is full of we will.’ We will make farming cheaper. We will power factories. We will create jobs. We will bring down prices. You have been President for more than three years. Nigerians are entitled to ask what you have done with the time already given to you.
“My dear Bola, you said the people ‘cannot wait for tomorrow.’ On that, I agree with you. Yet almost every answer in your address was about tomorrow. But Nigerians are hungry today. They pay transport fares today. They need jobs and safety today.
“Bola, the Promised Land is not in sight merely because you can see it from the villa. Nigerians must be able to reach it. We have chosen a different course, peacefully and together, through the power of our votes; the message is clear: Tinubu must go.”
He criticised the removal of fuel subsidy with one announcement and no credible protection for families, saying petrol, transport and food costs rose.
Atiku said the President’s Independence speech claiming “emergency treatment is over” and “age of prosperity has begun” does not put food on table.
He said slower rise in prices does not restore what families have lost, adding that growth must improve lives.
Atiku faulted analogy of Nigeria as cancer patient, asking why it is harder to buy food, medicine and transport after three years of treatment.
He said Nigerians are not asking for morphine but asking what happened to subsidy savings.
Also in his Independence Day address to Nigerians on Thursday, Obi, who is the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, said Nigeria’s major challenge is not a lack of resources but the failure of successive governments to convert the country’s abundant resources into human development, productivity, security and shared prosperity.
Obi stated that the 66th anniversary of the country’s independence should serve as a period for sober reflection on Nigeria’s progress and the direction of its development.
He said national leaders and citizens must continually ask where the country was, where it wanted to be and how it could move from its present situation to its desired destination.
Obi noted that despite the promises made by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in 2023, Nigerians continue to contend with poverty, insecurity, food insecurity, unemployment, poor access to education and healthcare, drug abuse and low life expectancy.
He cited figures which he said showed that more than 140 million Nigerians were living in poverty and severe hardship, while more than 18 million children were out of school.
He also said more than 35 million young Nigerians were unemployed or underemployed, while more than 40 million Nigerians could face extreme hunger by the end of 2026.
The NDC candidate further expressed concern over insecurity, saying terrorism, banditry and kidnapping continued to threaten lives and livelihoods across the country.
He said Nigeria’s challenges could not be attributed to the country being “cursed”, arguing that the nation had sufficient human and natural resources to achieve development.
Nigeria Worse Off Than In 2023- Turaki-led PDP
On its part, the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faulted President Tinubu’s address, insisting that Nigerians are worse off today than they were in 2023.
The party raised its objections to the President’s claims through the National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, who said Tinubu’s portrayal of his administration as leading Nigerians towards prosperity did not reflect the country’s current realities.
Ememobong noted that Tinubu’s message invoked the biblical story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, but argued that the analogy was at odds with the experience of Nigerians dealing with rising living costs and declining purchasing power.
“Rather than moving from slavery to freedom, Nigerians are travelling through a Red Sea of economic pain caused by insensitive and irresponsible leadership,” the PDP faction observed, blaming the All Progressives Congress-led government for the country’s economic difficulties since 2015.
The PDP also challenged the Presidency’s assertion that “By 2023, poverty was rising, and hope was nearly gone. The country’s situation was darker than ever.”
Ememobong pointed out that while the assessment might have been accurate at the time, “many Nigerians feel worse today than they did on May 29, 2023.”
He maintained that Nigerians have reasons to look back, contrary to the President’s admonition not to do so, pointing to higher rents, transport fares and school fees.
Speech Bereft Of Solutions – Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation
Similarly, the Makinde/Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation, in a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, dismissed the address as a rhetorical exercise bereft of clear plans to address the crushing economic hardship, pervasive poverty and widespread insecurity in the country.
The statement said: “It is indeed disappointing that the President’s address failed to present specific, measurable and binding economy and security policy commitments for which Nigerians can hold him accountable. Instead, the speech remained vague and failed to provide concrete answers or direction on major national issues.
“It is absurd for Mr. President to claim in his speech that his administration’s reforms did not weaken the economy when the abrupt removal of subsidy on petrol and the floating of the Naira created a calamitous economic shockwave that led to astronomical rise in the pump price of fuel from N187 per liter to N1,500 today and the weakening of our currency from N460 to USD1 to about N1,380 today.
“The undeniable negative impact of President Tinubu’s reforms is the crippling of our productive sector, closure of millions of businesses, high cost of transportation, food, medicare and other basic necessities of life, degraded purchasing power of citizens, widespread poverty and utter hopelessness across the country.”
Make Prosperity Felt In Nigerian Homes, CAN Urges FG
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has called on the Federal Government to ensure that the country’s transition from economic reforms to an era of prosperity translates into tangible improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians.
CAN made the call in a statement signed by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, on Thursday to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
The association congratulated Nigerians on the anniversary and said the true measure of economic progress should be whether families could afford food, young people could secure decent employment and communities could live in safety.
It urged the government to make reductions in food, transportation and energy costs measurable priorities, noting that Nigerians who had endured years of economic pressure deserved meaningful relief in their daily lives.
“Prosperity that does not reach the ordinary Nigerian home remains incomplete,” CAN said, while calling for stronger social protection for vulnerable families.
The association also urged the government to strengthen support for education, healthcare and access to affordable credit, stressing that such intervention should be transparently administered and protected from diversion.
On security, CAN said prosperity could not be achieved where citizens were unable to farm, trade or travel freely because of fear.
It therefore called for sustained action to protect lives, secure communities and restore public confidence across the country.
PFN Urges FG To Tackle Insecurity, Economic Hardship, Corruption
The national president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Archbishop Francis Wale Oke, also urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts to tackle insecurity, economic hardship, corruption and illicit drug trafficking in the country.
Oke, in his Independence Day message to Nigerians to mark the nation’s 66th anniversary, also called on citizens to reflect on the state of the country and rededicate themselves to building a peaceful, united and prosperous Nigeria.
The message, contained in a statement issued by the Media Bureau of the PFN, congratulated Nigerians on the anniversary while acknowledging the progress recorded by the country over the past 66 years.
According to him, the Independence Day celebration should not only be a time of thanksgiving and rejoicing, but also an opportunity for Nigerians to engage in “deep and honest reflection” on the nation’s challenges.
“For 66 years, we have seen much and achieved much. The progress we have made cannot be denied, but the challenges before us cannot be ignored,” he said.
Oke identified peace and security as essential foundations for national development, urging the government to ensure the protection of every Nigerian irrespective of location, ethnicity or region.
He called for intensified action against banditry and terrorism, particularly in forests and other areas used as hideouts by criminals.
On the economy, Oke expressed concern over the worsening hardship confronting Nigerians, urging both the Federal and state governments to take stronger measures to improve citizens’ welfare.
You Moved Nigeria To Stage 4 Cancer, Dele Momodu Tells Tinubu
Also, the Deputy Director-General, Media and Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Dele Momodu, described the address as uninspiring.
Momodu, in reaction posted on his X handle, said he watched and listened to President’s speech on television and was not impressed, saying day meant for celebration was turned into day of lamentation.
“Dear Mr President, please permit me to wish you Happy Independence on our 66th anniversary. I will not waste too much time Sir. I have just watched and listened to your speech on television and I must honestly say I wasn’t impressed. Today is supposed to be a day of celebration but your speech turned it into a day of lamentation,” he said.
He faulted President’s analogy of Nigeria as cancer patient that survived on painkillers before his administration, noting that President mentioned morphine as drug of choice by predecessors.
“My heart bled as you went into morbid analogy of Nigeria as being cancer patient that merely survived on painkillers before your arrival as celebrated surgeon. You specifically mentioned morphine as drug of choice by your predecessors. I’m not sure this analogy was appropriate. At time you assumed power, Nigeria probably had stage two cancer at worst. You were expected to stabilise it and not to metastasize it into stage four cancer,” Momodu said.
