Our Independence Anniversary Is A Mixed Bag -Hon. Adekanye Oladele

Nigeria’s 55th Independence Anniversary has been described as a mixed bag that has two sides like a coin.

Hon. Adekanye Oladele

According to the lawmaker, who is representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adekanye Oladele aka Lado, Nigeria ought to have gone higher than where it is given its potentials.

He sad that this is in tandem with those who feel we should not celebrate having failed to achieve our maximum potentials.

“Given the human and natural materials that the country is blessed with, we are not supposed to be where we are now. But, this is just one side of a coin. If you go to the flip side, we should thank God that the country remains one despite all that we have gone through in the past.

“Countries that didn’t go through what we went through have been dismembered. During the civil war that ravaged the country from 1967 to 1970, the country was almost dismembered through the Biafran rebels. It could have happened, what is known as Nigeria would have been forgotten,” he said.

The lawmaker opined that the war was dangerous as a lot of lives were lost, a lot of places became desolate and a lot of people lost heir identities and humanities threatened, but that we are still one after the civil war.

He added that not many countries went through civil wars and still remain the same, saying that the country also went through military intervention, which threatened her unity.

According to him, “the military introduced barrack life to us, but an ordinary civilian is not used to that. The time the military spent in power was much compared to those of the civilians.

“From the perspectives of what is ideal, we would not wish to go through what we went through under the military government. For example, see what happened under the late Gen. Sanni Abacha and what he and Al Mustapha did then.

“For no cogent reason, people were just arrested and jailed for frivolous reasons. If you say anything then under Decree 4 of the government, you would be arrested and jailed even if it is the truth.”

Hon. Adekanye said that all these have changed since 1999, when civil rule returned to the country, and that everything might not be perfect, but that ‘at least we are moving, we are evolving. We are getting there, but we can say it is a mixed bag.’

He stressed that it is hoped that the country’s economy improves and that the unity that binds us together as a country continues.

The politician stated further that the security situation in the country has improved, which he sad is why he is happy that President Muhammadu Buhari is embarking on reformation in the country, ‘addressing our problems frontally. We will get there very soon.’

On if the political class should be blamed for not meeting the needs of the people since 1999, he said people view things from different angles, and that he would not blame those, who blame politicians for the country’s woes.

“But everybody is enjoying freedom today. I don’t agree with them, politicians are not the same. We have fake doctors and good ones, we have bad lawyers and we have good ones.

“So, it is not restricted to politicians, you have them in all professions. So, I am not going to deny that. But what we are witnessing today is in relation to the needs of the ordinary man.

“What does the ordinary man want, all the previous government that we have had have been very oligopolistic, caring for the few privileged people. But if you look at the present government led by the All Progressives Congress (APC), they are ensuring that the needs of the ordinary man is attended to,” he said.

He explained that the ordinary man needs fuel, and electricity so that if he is not working in a formal setting, he would have power to operate his engines if he is a tailor, welder or practising some other vocations.

He said: “Look at the motorcycle (okada) riders, they have skills, but they are not working because of lack of electricity.

“But now, more electricity is being generated for people to work. With this, they would face their work rather than joining anti-social groups.
How could we be the 6th largest producer of oil, yet we are queueing to get fuel unlike other countries that have oil.

“We have to be importing the finished products despite the fact that we have crude oil. Politicians are different and this government is taking care of the average man if you look at what is happening now.”

He stated that the present government is ensuring that the basic things of life are provided for the people and that everybody is happy that they have a government that is taking care of them.

“Nobody cares where anybody comes from, they want to know how his policies affect the ordinary man and we are getting there though it is not eldorado,” he said.

While supporting President Buhari for his plan to oversee the Petroleum Ministry, he said that it is not the first time this is being done, and that he might have settled for this based on the level of corruption in the country.

“Nigeria operates a monolithic economy and if you look at what has happened in the petroleum sector, you would see that it is better for him to oversee Petroleum Ministry as he has headed the ministry before. It is better for him to oversee it for the benefit of all of us,” he submitted.