Gbade Ogunwale, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged Nigerians to keep hope alive as the nation celebrates its 60th independence anniversary.
In a statement on Wednesday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party expressed sadness that Nigerians are celebrating in a despairing mood.
The party bemoaned the social, economic, and security challenges that have confronted the nation in the last five years but urged the citizens to continue to work for the unity, stability, and progress of our nation.
The PDP said it’s depressing that while the nation had attained lofty heights in all spheres of life since independence, such national attainments in the economy, commerce, industry, education, healthcare, human capital, infrastructural developments, living standards, democratic reforms, and national cohesion have been eroded by the misrule of the last five years.
The statement said: “It is indeed disheartening that whereas October 1 signposts the sacrifices of our heroes past in the quest for national freedom as well as our collective determination to live harmoniously, engender good governance and succeed as one people under a democratic rule, such pursuits have been undermined by five years of a divisive, repressive, retrogressive, corrupt and incompetent administration.
“It is equally lamentable that under five years, the gains achieved as well as our pride as an independent nation, have all been reversed by thoughtless policies, including the mortgaging of our nation’s sovereignty to foreign interests through loans and utter neglect of our productive sector.
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“This has led to the wrecking of our once robust economy and turning of our nation into the poverty capital of the world; a situation that has reduced our once happy citizenry to a life of despondency and misery.
“Corruption and impunity in high places, promotion of mediocrity, nepotism, executive high-handedness, abuse of human rights, electoral manipulations, disobedience to court orders, security compromises, constitutional violations, disdain for the separation of powers, disregard for our federal character principle, suppression of free speech, media clampdown, derision for the sensibilities of citizens, who are also tagged as criminals and lazy in the international community, now threaten our cohesion and essence as an independent and democratic nation under the current administration”.
The PDP further lamented the escalated insecurity, insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry that have continued to ravage various parts of the country.
It regretted that citizens have lost hope in the government and now resort to independent regional and state security arrangements due to the incompetence of the present administration.
The PDP called on President Muhammadu Buhari to save the nation from collapse by using the occasion of the 60th independence anniversary to reposition his government and urgently address the economic and security challenges that have escalated under his watch.
