President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, called on Nigerians to give his administration additional time to complete what he described as essential reforms, arguing that his government is correcting decades of accumulated mistakes and missed opportunities.
The President’s remarks came during a special Juma’at prayer service at the National Mosque in Abuja, part of the federal government’s low-key programme to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
Abbas, representing President Tinubu, told worshippers that the milestone signifies a nation that has “come of age,” even as he acknowledged a “mixed journey” since independence in 1960.
“Nigeria was bedevilled with a lot of issues in the past and opportunities as well,” Abbas said, conveying the president’s message.
He added that citizens should not loose hope, asserting that “peace is coming back to this country” and “development is coming back to this country.”
Central to the President’s appeal was the assertion that his administration is actively undoing the “cumulative mistakes and the missed opportunities of the past, ” Abbas said.
He said President Tinubu wanted to “categorically make it clear that Nigeria is on the right path; that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that Nigerians have finished making sacrifices for this country to be great again.”
The President’s message concluded with a direct pitch for political continuity: “We should give this government more opportunity for it to come back and finish the good work (it has started).”
The event drew a broad cross-section of Nigeria’s political and security leadership.
Among those in attendance were Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, state governors, members of the National Assembly, federal ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, and service chiefs.
The prayer service was one of several activities scheduled for the anniversary, which will culminate in a nationwide address by Mr. Tinubu on October 1.
