By Our Political Correspondent—
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has delivered a searing assessment of the state of the nation on the occasion of Nigeria’s 66th independence anniversary, warning that the country’s deepening crises demand “serious, sober and honest reflection” rather than celebration.
In a nationwide address entitled “Nigeria at 66: Looking Back, Looking Forward”, Mr Obi acknowledged that the anniversary ought to be a day of thanksgiving and patriotism, urging Nigerians to honour the founding fathers and past leaders who “laboured, however imperfectly, to build a better Nigeria.”
But he insisted that independence anniversaries “must never be reduced to mere celebration,” framing them instead as moments of “honest national reflection.”
Invoking the discipline of national planning, Mr Obi posed three questions he said every serious nation must continually ask: where it stands today, where it wishes to be, and how it intends to get there.
He then answered the first himself with a litany of grim indicators, which he laid squarely at the door of the governing All Progressives Congress.
“Despite the enormous promises made by the APC-led government in 2023, our nation continues to face deepening challenges across virtually every critical sector of national life,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor reeled off a catalogue of what he described as national failures: more than 140 million Nigerians living in poverty and severe hardship; over 18 million out-of-school children; more than 40 million people projected to face extreme hunger by the end of 2026; and youth unemployment and underemployment exceeding 35 million.
He further cited a life expectancy of just 54 years against a global average of 74, a drug-abuse prevalence of 14 per cent against a worldwide average of six per cent, and unacceptably high rates of infant and maternal mortality. “Nigeria today is the worst place to be born,” he declared.
On insecurity, Mr Obi said terrorism, banditry and kidnapping continued to threaten lives and livelihoods, noting that 37 young Nigerians “in their productive age” had recently lost their lives.
Quoting Socrates — that “the unexamined life is not worth living” — Mr Obi argued that “an unexamined nation cannot successfully chart its future,” before posing a stark question to his compatriots.
“Are we cursed, or have we become the curse through the choices we have made and the failures we have tolerated?” he asked.
He answered emphatically that Nigeria is not cursed, describing it as “immensely endowed and blessed.” The nation’s fundamental problem, he argued, “is not a lack of resources; it is the failure to convert our enormous resources into human development, productivity, security and shared prosperity.”
Mr Obi disclosed that he and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso had only “yesterday” returned from a two-day visit to Sokoto State, where they held extensive consultations on insecurity, out-of-school children, poverty, youth unemployment and drug abuse.
The visit concluded at the Internally Displaced Persons camp at Ramin Kura, within Sokoto metropolis, where he said the delegation encountered conditions he described as “deeply troubling.”
“Thousands of women and children live in deplorable conditions, displaced from their homes and deprived of the basic necessities of life,” Mr Obi said. “Many of the children have no access to education. Mothers and children have limited access to basic healthcare.”
He added: “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.”
Mr Obi’s intervention is likely to sharpen the political debate as the country confronts mounting economic and security pressures. By casting the anniversary as a moment of national reckoning rather than ritual flag-waving, the NDC standard-bearer sought to position himself as the candidate willing to name the crisis — and to frame 2027 as a referendum on whether Nigeria will “look back” merely to lament, or finally to change course.
