5th October, 2010
A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in Lagos State, Nigeria, Otunba Niyi Raheem has faulted the spending of about N10 billion by the Federal Government to celebrate the nation’s 50th Independence anniversary.
Raheem who is a House of Representatives aspirant for the Agege Federal Constituency said that the country has little or nothing to celebrate in 50 years, adding that rather than dissipate energy on the celebration, the period should have been used for sober reflection.
According to Raheem, “After 50 years of independence, we have little or nothing to show as our achievement as a nation. Instead of celebrating and wasting public funds, we should reflect on where we went wrong as a nation and see what we can do to correct the abnormality”.
“Nigeria remains a nation with huge potentials for greatness; we should reflect on how we can put the country on the path of true greatness,†he advised.
Raheem who saluted the vision of the founding fathers of the country lamented that successive years of misrule had robbed the country of its position in the comity of nations.
He stated that every citizen should be involved in the task of taking the country to the next level of greatness, adding that the 2011 elections should be used as another opportunity to attain greatness for the country.
“If the labour of our heroes past would not be in vain, then every one of us should reflect on what roles to play in the task of building a truly great nation with an enduring democracy,†he said.